Back Packing is a very enjoyable pursuit for both you and your dog. Both Inca and Finn have back packs that I imported from America in 2005. I spent a lot of time researching what types were available and receiving recommendations from people in America, where back packing is far more popular than in the UK. After careful consideration I chose the Kelty ChuckWagon back packs and have been extremely pleased with them. Below is a photograph taken during the AMWA backpacking weekend.

Photo taken in the Cotswolds, 2006 © K. Parker

In 2009 we started working towards our WPD titles. Unfortunately when we moved house in 2006 Inca's pack was lost so before starting the titles I had to do some further research into what backpacks were now available as unfortunately the ChuckWagon's had since gone out of production. After looking into the latest designs I settled for the RuffWear Palisades II packs. They were similar in design to the ChuckWagon's with a chest strap but had detachable paniers which would be a good addition on the long hikes we had planned. I initially bought a medium for Inca and was so pleased with it I ordered a large one for Finn. Finn's came in the older design which I wasn't quite so happy with at the time as it had less padding than the newer design, however I kept it and designed my own padding for the harness which has worked well. One thing I have noticed is that with the newer style packs, the amount of gear the dogs can carry is reduced as there is less space, so you have to pack carefully! Zeph started to wear Finn's ChuckWagon pack to get him used to having a backpack on.

WPD hike April 2009 © K. Terry	Finn and Zeph hiking © K. Terry

The boys stopping for a dip © K. Terry	Inca hiking © K. Terry

To fulfill the requirements of the AMCA WPD programme, each dog has to carry a minimum of 30% of their total body weight. We had the dogs weighed by a vet a couple of days prior to undertaking the first walk, Finn weighed in at 42.8Kg and Inca at 33.0Kg. This meant that they had to carry 12.84Kg and 9.9Kg respectively. We started them off with 13Kg and 10Kg, this weight only decreasing by natural consumption. Our first hike was 11.9 miles long and Inca finished with 7.6Kg whilst Finn finished with 11.5Kg.

We have since completed all the walks required for our WPD. When Inca was out of coat we noticed that the medium Palisades was a little large for her, so I looked into further packs that were available. Ruffwear also do the 'Approach' pack which, whilst it doesn't have detachable paniers like the Palisades, fits Inca very well. I bought her the Approach pack from AMCUK and now Zeph is using the medium Palisades which fits him perfectly.

We started working towards our WPDA with both Inca and Finn in June 2009. We had them weighed again by our vets and this time Finn weighed in at 41.0Kg and Inca at 30.0Kg. To fulfil the requirements of the WPDA we need to walk a minimum of 80 miles in 1 - 4 trips, each trip requiring a campout and an average of 10 miles of walking per day (therefore a minimum of 20 miles per trip). Our first trip was in the Matley Wood area of the New Forest. We did a two day trip with an overnight campout, the first day we walked 15.9 miles and the second 10.9. We followed this up two weeks later with a 3 day trip, again to the New Forest, but this time to Roundhill. We walked 10.2 miles the first day, 12.4 the second and 12.5 the third. We had now accumulated 61.9 miles towards our WPDA. Undertaking the WPDA gives you a real appreciation of how amazing the dogs are and the weight they are having to carry as you are also required to carry your own equipment, due to the overnight campout(s).

Our backpacking activities over the summer were solely dependant on the weather, we required the cooler temperatures and as the temperature remained warm we stopped our packing activities until the cooler temperatures were back. We climbed Snowdon in August and the boys wore their backpacks on that trip, to keep them fit. We resumed light packing activies in September when the weather cooled down and completed Inca and Finn's third WPDA walk at the end of September. This time we walked 24.3 miles with an overnight campout, 12.4 miles on the first day and 11.9 on the second. This gives Inca and Finn 86.2 miles in total, meaning that they have now completed the requirements for their WPDA titles (subject to AMCA confirmation). Zeph also joined us on this trip and completed the first leg towards his WPDA title.

The dogs have a break from packing over the winter months whilst the rally season is on, however when the Spring arrives we started getting the dogs used to wearing their packs again. This gives us time to build them up to full weight again so that we may resume our hiking activities in the spring when the rally season has finished. We have recently resumed our packing activities and Zeph has completed a further 20.2 miles towards his WPDA.