My two dogs and I live for our daily walks in our hilly neighborhood. Gracie, the older of the dogs, is at least 13 years old and is struggling with arthritis. When the vet limited her walks to bathroom breaks only in October, I moved her to a large, sturdy dog stroller that I had bought for her earlier for longer walks, but she was so tense in the stroller that even walks in the stroller seemed to leave her sore afterward. Thus, we all stopped going for walks in accordance with the vet's instructions. I didn't have the heart to take my other dog for walks and leave her at home day after day.
After seeing the K9 Sport Sack Rover, I decided to give it a try, fully expecting that it would not work for one reason or another--either I wouldn't be able to carry Gracie's weight, or Gracie would not like being in a backpack, or it would leave her sore, or all of the above. But after watching the videos and examining the design carefully, I bought Gracie a Rover for Christmas.
To my happy surprise, Gracie seems to be really enjoying her Rover! Gracie seems comfortable in the Rover and she is very snug and secure within it. Even when I bend over to put on my other dog's harness or scoop up after him, Gracie seems comfortable and calm. She doesn't exactly jump in the bag on her own or anything, but she does not fight being put into it. The first couple of times I put her in it, she trembled a bit at first (not an unusual response for her), but once we got out on the street and started walking, she immediately stopped trembling, relaxed, and focused on checking out all of her surroundings. Gracie seems to really enjoy the high vantage point. When she gets out of the bag, she does not exhibit any additional soreness. And because we are able to go for daily walks again, she is perkier and more joyful all day long.
The design is great. I knew in buying it that it had several of the same features as my high-quality camping backpack, and Gracie--at about 40 lbs--is similar in weight to my camping backpack when packed. In practice, the Rover works very similarly, and I have been able to carry her comfortably up and down the many hills in our neighborhood, despite not being super athletic. It feels like a daily workout--energizing but not too much.
Many thanks to K9 Sport Sack for coming up with this design, which has made it possible for us to resume our daily walks!
We bought this backpack in anticipation of a flight we were taking and trip we wanted to include our dog on. Unfortunately our backpack arrived with a problem that wasn't going to be able to be fixed before our trip. I contacted customer service and let them know about the issue and the trip. They were quick to respond and told me to contact them after we got back and they'd replace it. When we got back I contacted them and as previously promised they got a replacement in the mail and sent me a return label to send back the pack we had. It was very quick and painless.
During the trip our dog, Scotty, was nice and snug and comfortable. She was a hit at the airport and people constantly stopping and taking pictures and asking us about our backpack. She rode in the backpack at our feet and handled the plane very well. We are looking forward to using the backpack for hiking as well. She's right around 30 pounds. We did buy a block to go with this to help her be more comfortable.
This turned out to be a wonderful purchase. My daughter was preparing to fly to California right after Christmas. Her Pittie, Leo, is her ESA and the airlines was requiring something to keep him confined. He's obviously too big to be in a carrier sitting in the space beneath the seat in front of her. I was a little concerned about how on earth she would manage to get him into the backpack and keep him there, not to mention carrying him. And I was really hoping the flight was not full so she could possible spread out a bit.
It was Leo's first flight and since he doesn't like car rides very much, we were concerned about how he would handle a flight. He doesn't like take-off or landings but hey, not too many of us humans enjoy them either. He did great and it turned out to be a terrific travel experience. It appeared that everyone loved to see the K9 Sport Sack. Pics were taken through out the airports she was in and people came up to talk to her about it and her dog. Free publicity for your product! Hopefully folks who were interested will follow through.
Was looking for a good carrier for awhile, tried a couple others, but she grew out of them quickly. Love this one, just need the booster block and we’ll be complete <3
We bike everywhere and wanted to bring our dog but she is a 55lbs mix who won't fit in a carton on the back of our bikes. She fits perfectly in to the XL Rover Pack and is soo cozy and chill in it. The pack has everything you could think of. There are air vents on the side of the backpack so she can get some good airflow. The waterbottle holders are large but you can synch them down to make them fit almost any sized waterbottle. The buckle on pack and the area to stash treats and toys is really nice for longer days out. While our dog is heavy, the pack feels very sturdy and well made. We were also shipped a pack that had an XL label but was actually a L. The customer service team immediately emailed me back and sent me a XL pack the same day before I had even shipped back the L pack. Such amazing customer service.