Pack for carrying a puppy

Question

I have planned a smaller lake trip for me, my girlfriend and our two dogs(10 year Labrador, 5 month Eurasier). What I didn't think of is the fact that the puppy might need to be carried for a part of the distance since he's a wee bit too small to be trusted with walking on marsh-planks.

I did a field test the other day and found it quite difficult to carry him in an orderly fashion for more than 800m, fully geared up. So I'm at a point where I either have to re-plan the trip, or solve the problem at hand.

The dog is not the problem per se, it comes down to my ineptitude to hold him both securely and comfortably for more than some hundreds of meters. My first thought is that some kind of baby carrying pack might work, but I'm not sure.

So, is there a product that will work better than me carrying him in my arms?

Answer 1

Baby sling may be a much better option, because it weights less and is easier to pack when not used. It would be also easier to adapt to the size of the dog, and with a bit of skill, you can make it yourself from a bit of an old sheet or something similar.

Answer 2

I did this with my dog the other day.

He seemed to quite enjoy the experience...It was much warmer in the bag than out.

Answer 3

One purpose built solution: The Airlift by Fido as demonstrated in this photo from their website:

It is effectively a trapezoidal tarp with holes for the dog's legs and slings that come together into two shoulder straps. It would obviously not be particularly comfortable for a long walk, but drastically increases the feasibility of a rescue (especially in instances of a high dog-to-human ratio).

There are, of course, other manufacturers of similar products. Searching for terms like "dog rescue sling" and "dog rescue harness" will give a slew of options.