This is Nelson, Amy Proctor’s Golden Retriever. Amy sent us this picture and the following message about Nelson’s Banzai pack:

Wolf Packs, I just wanted to thank you for the wonderful dog pack. My dog loves it. It is durable, wears well and it does not rub him. Nelson is a 85 pound golden retriever and he wears the medium pack. I have included a photo of him hiking in Algonquin Canada.
 
Thanks for making good quality dog packs!
 
Amy

Size & Color: Medium, Blue

This is Jim Miller's 2½ year old Golden Retreiver, Amber. Jim describes her as "very intelligent, motivated, curious, helpful, playful, a quick learner, and of course pretty." She sounds like the perfect companion!

Amber is a service animal trained specifically for persons with seizure disorders. A seizure alert dog notifies someone when a seizure is pending, sometimes as far as 30 minutes in advance. That person can get to a safer place, sit down, notify a bystander, and prepare for an oncoming attack. The dog can either standby or go get help if necessary.

You might be interested in reading more of Jim's comments (see Amber's ID Cape) about Amber and her gear.

Size & Color: Medium, Orange

Blaze, owned by Jennifer Tucker, helps carry some gear with his burgundy Trekker dog pack. This picture was taken during a cycling trip on Kukopf Island (Rhine River), in Germany. The trip was about 12 kilometers with Blaze happily carrying his water, a Frisbee, and snacks for everyone! Jennifer sent us this nice message about Blaze's pack:

"Blaze, our crazy ten month old male Golden Retreiver, has had his very snazzy Trekker dog pack for a couple of months now. It took a bit of getting used to. At first he looked at me like I was mad and refused to move. Somehow the pack seriously affected the use of Blazes legs even when being enticed by a biscuit! But then all of a sudden voila! He could walk again, all be it a little off balance but he managed :)

Now Blaze wonders what all the fuss was about. As soon as it's on and I give him the all clear, he's off - no stopping him! Well in just one afternoon Blaze managed to prove Wolf Packs correct. While he's wearing it he can walk, run, sit, lay down and even 'Oh boy there goes a squirrel, it's running through the bushes, I don't care come on let's chase it!' He gets even more attention from people when he wears his pack. We often hear comments like, "Look at the dog, he's so cute!"

Thank you Wolf Packs for such a great product.

Jenny and Blaze
Germany"

Size & Color: Medium, Burgundy

This is Jim Greenway's Golden Retriever Bonnie at the top of Brasstown Bald (elevation 4,800'), Georgia's highest mountain. Brasstown was too foggy for scenic shots, so Jim photographed Bonnie on the deck of the lookout. She is proudly sporting her orange Banzai dog pack, complete with patches showing some of the miles she's logged.

This photo shows Bonnie sitting near the marker for the Southern Terminus of the Appalachian Trail, located on Springer Mountain (elevation 3,782'). Her dog pack setup includes an ingenious leash created by Jim.

Here is an email message we received about a tornado that Bonnie's pack survived:


Date: Tue, 2 Jul 1996 18:10:01 -0400 (EDT)
From: Jim Greenway
Subject: Testimonial

On Palm Sunday, 1993, a powerful storm system passed through the Southeast, spinning off a number of tornadoes. One tornado traversed my neighborhood and almost leveled my home. Both of my dogs required treatment after their kennel was pretzeled. All but a portion of my house suffered extensive wind and water damage. In digging through my former kitchen, I saw a spot of orange underneath a muck of broken glass and spoiled food from my overturned refrigerator. It turned out to be my Wolf Packs pack. I didn't expect much of it after it was blown through the house and buried under rather smelly garbage. However, the pack was unscathed. A good washing and another coat of seam sealer made it as good as new.

I continue to use the pack, and the tough fabric and manufacturing still serve me in good stead. Last fall, I returned it at the last minute to Wolf Packs for an upgrade before an Appalachian Trail trip. Linda didn't think twice about processing the request and turning it around to me in time.

Ironically, Bonnie and I were bumped out of that trip when Hurricane Opal steamrolled through the southeast three days before my trip. Maybe we could put Linda and The Weather Channel together....

Jim Greenway

Size & Color: Medium, Orange

Trapper relaxes in his red Banzai dog pack during their hike in the White Mountains of New Hampshire. One of the nice features of our designs is that they all allow dogs to lay down and relax while wearing their dog packs. As you can see in the photos, Trapper is resting peacefully after a long hike. He doesn't look like he's aware that his pack is still attached.

We received several email messages about Trapper's pack, which we will share below.


Date: Tue, 19 Mar 1996 20:57:03
From: Geoffrey Blair
Subject: Trapper's new backpack!

Hi Linda -

Can't tell you how pleased we are with Trapper's (our Golden) new pack. We dove right in and bought the top of your line and are glad we did. He is not easy on it and it has been through the toughest of brush, rock, snow and ice without losing a stitch! It's also hard to believe how much better he walks / runs with it over the last pack he had (from another manufacturer). It sort of just hung on him, hitting his elbows and shifting forward whenever descending a mountain.

Your pack is terrific. Thanks for all your help on the phone just before we ordered it.

Geoff and Fran Blair (Bloom)

*****
Date: Sat, 22 Jan 2000 18:42:46 -0500
From: Geoff Blair
Subject: Our Banzai
Hi Linda -

Was looking at your new site (new to us anyway). It's great.

In doing so, I saw that we had bought Trapper's pack almost four years ago. Trapper has somewhat retired from the arduous hiking and our new addition Summit is taking over, WITH the four year old Banzai! Not a stitch has broken...not a tear in the cloth. Trapper has climbed 39 of New Hampshire's 4,000 footers with his Banzai...through narrow rock openings, under low blow downs, through ice arches, and has been swimming with it on virtually every hike and the Banzai keeps on ticking! I can't say enough for the overall quality. It was certainly worth the few dollars over what was certain to be a far inferior product!

Hope things are well with you. Looks like the company is in a steady growth mode!

Take care,
Geoff Blair

Size & Color: Medium, Red