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My wife and I are planning a camping and climbing trip and we would likely need to rappel with our medium-sized (45lbs/20kg) dog. Holding the dog is obviously unacceptable, and using the dog's backpack is also unacceptable due to the flimsiness of the straps and buckles.

Simply from a technical perspective, and assuming the dog is capable and isn't traumatically afraid of heights (she's basically a mountain goat in a dog disguise), what equipment would I use to rappel with a dog? Would it be similar to rappelling with a child (except with a dog-specific harness, of course)?

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Chris Mendez
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1 Answers1

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Your dog needs a climbing harness:

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I have a friend who goes everywhere with their dog, and they have a pro-rated harness for them. You need to get your dog a harness, and tandem rappel with them just like you would another person, or with a heavy gear bag, by clipping them into the same point on your harness as your device.

REI sells dog climbing harnesses:

enter image description here

ShemSeger
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