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Just as our collapsible bowls have come a long way over the course of Ruff Wear’s 16 years, our Bark’n Boots™, which originally debuted prior to 1999, have also come a long way.
Original Design of Ruff Wear Boots
Original 3D Bark'n Boots™
Designing a boot that would protect and stay on a dog’s very narrow, straight and delicate paw was no easy task, and it required years of research and development in order to produce today’s version of the Bark’n Boot™ Grip Trex™—one of Ruff Wear’s top-selling selling products!
We believe the names of our products are as important as the names of the dogs who use them. To make sure we come up with the most creative, funny, outdoorsy, or geographically-relevant names possible, we gather ’round the office twice a year with a dog or two in one hand, Northwest beer in the other, and brainstorm for hours until we find the perfect names.
Here are some of our favorites:
The Palisades Pack™ pack, created for long backpacking adventures which require packing additional food and water, was inspired by the long-distance backpack to get to Palisades Basin, a region in Kings Canyon National Park, California.
Palisades Basin, California
In the summer of 1992, while Patrick Kruse was mountain biking with some friends in the Los Padres National Forest, his friend Liz stopped to give her dog, Moqui, a drink. She offered him some water she had poured into a plastic bag. Two slurps and half a water bottle later, Moqui walked away, panting and still thirsty…and Liz was left literally “holding the bag.” With no way to set it down, and nowhere to put the leftover water, Liz turned to Patrick and said, “You need to do something about this.” That challenge sparked the inspiration for Ruff Wear’s first product.
Prototype of the first collapsible bowl
Fifteen years after the release of Ruff Wear’s first collapsible bowl, the Quencher™, the need for portable, packable, easy-to-use canine hydration still exists. As a tribute to our heritage and the foundation of our company, we are proud to introduce the Bivy Bowl™, the next generation of collapsible dog bowls.
The Quencher™ was Ruff Wear's first product
This January, we are starting the new year by taking a look back at our heritage. We thought we’d start with the story of how Ruff Wear began: through the inspiration of our president, Patrick Kruse, whose ingenuity began as a young child.
Humble Beginnings
At the age of 12, Patrick Kruse built his first dog pack out of navy surplus gas mask bags for his dog, Mariah. His early passion for dogs, product invention, and the outdoors paved the way for Ruff Wear’s humble beginnings.
Young Patrick designs a dog pack from Navy surplus supplies
The Challenge
In the summer of 1992, Patrick took a mountain bike ride in the Los Padres National Forest with a friend and her dog. This adventure inspired Patrick to figure out a better solution for watering dogs during outdoor adventures.
Patrick is challenged to come up with a solution for dogs on the go
The Collapsible Bowl is Born
Patrick experimented in his Southern California garage with some tent fabric and a sewing machine to create a dog bowl that was waterproof and easily portable.
The original collapsible bowl—The Quencher™— debuted at the 1994 Outdoor Retailer Trade Show to an intrigued crowd who were amazed a fabric bowl could be waterproof. Soon after the Quencher was invented, Patrick relocated to Bend, Oregon. Ruff Wear® performance dog gear was born.
Patrick invents the original collapsible bowl
A Company is Born
Bend, a high desert mountain town, proved the perfect testing ground for new product designs. Otis, Patrick’s Australian Cattle Dog, became Ruff Wear’s first product tester, joining Patrick for many hiking, exploring, river, and travel adventures. Ruff Wear’s passion was, and continues to be, providing innovative solutions to real customer needs, resulting in products that inspire and facilitate outdoor adventures for canines and their human companions.
The first Ruff Wear logo
Our Commitment to the Future
Guided by our mission, “To build performance dog products that enhance and inspire outdoor adventures for dogs and their human companions,” we understand that our success requires an environmental commitment to protect the lands we recreate in. Ruff Wear is an active member in the Conservation Alliance, a group dedicated to ensuring that future generations have open spots to enjoy (after all, dogs live to run free of a fenced yard!).
Ruff Wear team volunteering with the Conservation Alliance
January Dog Tale of the Month – 2-Day Broken Top Adventure
from: Lindsey, Product Designer and her dog Kaya
location: Broken Top, Central Oregon
On August 24th, 2009, Erik, Kaya and I set out to play for a few days on Broken Top, acomplex stratovolcano exposed by glacial erosion. Broken Top is spectacular, close to Bend, and has a fun jeep road leading directly to the base of the mountain… all good reasons to head out there!
- View of Broken Top from the trailhead
We didn’t really have a plan, but had food and gear for two days and one night out on the mountain. Being the ski junkies that we are, our primary goal was to get better acquainted with the area and scope some ski lines for next winter.
Broken Top doesn’t have any maintained trails, so you are pretty much on your own. We decided to head straight up the West ridge to check out some glaciers and the upper alpine area.
After about 3 hours of steep scree climbing and loose rock scrambling, we reached a saddle and had lunch. At this point, we discussed our options and decided to keep climbing until we found a suitable campsite. Plan B was to return to the saddle if we couldn’t find anything farther up.
- Kaya hanging out at lunch
We climbed for a few more hours, continuing to scramble up the steep scree slope. The humans were sliding back with every step, but Kaya was light on her paws and didn’t seem to mind the terrain.
- Kaya taking a break with South Sister in the background
- Mount Bachelor with Tumalo Mountain off to the left
Erik was climbing about 15 – 20 minutes ahead of Kaya and I. When it looked like he was getting quite close to the summit, he yelled down to us to stop climbing higher. Apparently the climbing got more technical and exposed, and he was worried about having the dog up there. So Kaya and I waited while he downclimbed back to our location. We enjoyed the view while we were waiting.
- The view across the bowl… check out those stripes!
Getting down was fun; now I can add scree sliding to my outdoor repertoire. We were basically in a controlled slide back down to the saddle. It reminded me quite a bit of sluff management, a technique for dealing with moving snow while skiing. We all got the hang of it pretty quickly and got used to the constant movement of the ground beneath our feet. Kaya made the humans look bad while she booked down with confidence and speed…
- Erik and Kaya headed back to the saddle
The handle on Kaya’s Palisades Pack™ was super helpful for getting her down off some of the larger rocks that we encountered on the way down. Kaya is totally fearless in general, but did seem to get a bit worried about hucking off the larger rocks into scree. Smart girl!
- About to pull a suitcase maneuver
Once we got back to the saddle, we set up camp. This was an incredible place to camp! Looking right, you could see South Sister’s East side and some of the Green Lakes. Looking left, you could see the lights of Bend in the distance. Looking up, the summit of Broken Top. It was spectacular!
- Camping up on the ridge, with Sparks lake in the distance
- Erik cooking breakfast, Kaya relaxing on her bed (spoiled dog!)
The next morning, we decided to head back down into the main bowl and cruise around in that area. The only way off the saddle was either to downlimb the way we came (not ideal) or head down the small bowl filled with snow just below our camp. Kaya, being the powder hound she is, ran right down the snow with total confidence. Erik carefully walked down the slope. I slid on my butt. It was the easiest descent of the trip!
Getting down into the main bowl was more crazy scree sliding and downclimbing. I probably dumped out my boots 10 times in about 1,000 vertical feet.
Once we were in the bowl, we got to enjoy the fabulous wildflowers growing along the streams fed from glacial runoff. The water was nice and cold, but not as delicious as I was hoping…
- Glacial stream with Broken Top in the background
- Kaya sniffing the breeze
After resting and rehydrating, we continued to wander along the streams toward Todd Lake. We did a big loop and finally ended up back at the trailhead, exhausted and happy.
january comment of the month – judy
January 1, 2010 in Ice 'n Snow | Tags: customer comments | by ruffwear | Leave a comment
January Ruff Wear Featured Comment of the Month
From: Judy
Location: Sterling, Alaska
After trying 3-4 different types of booties, these (Ruff Wear Grip Trex™ boots) have worked the best for our Aussie. He’s highly active and LOVES bounding in the deep snow.
Started with the booties last year when we first got him as our winter was bitterly cold and he still wanted to play outside. Tried some fleece booties and they ice up due to his hot little pads. They were also very slippery on hard packed snow. It was a chore to take him on walks or play and keep him from trying to rip them off of his feet. I also had to try the coban to help keep them on. Tried some leather soled booties with more padding and an elastic “sock” that came up higher on the leg. These didn’t stay on for beans. Tried nylon booties (similar in make to the fleece ones) and had problems with the booties icing up from the heat of the dog’s pads. They also wouldn’t stay on. Then tried the ones with the “skins” on the soles, and came up higher on the leg. These stayed on for all of 1 minute once the boy got out the door.
This summer I bought these Ruffwear booties. Tried them with the first snow and once he got used to the hard sole, he LOVES them! I can now play fetch with him in the snow and he doesn’t stop to try and tear them off his feet (couldn’t do that with any other type). I can also take him on walks with them without him even skipping a beat. We’ve had the deep snow with the icky crusty layer on the top this season. He loves to punch through it to go exploring and we haven’t lost a bootie yet. I just have to make sure to tighten the velcro strap tight enough.
I’ve been super pleased with these booties so far this winter and am looking to buy another pair for our other new Aussie. They both are high energy and highly active dogs. We walk, run, ski, snowshoe and snowmachine with them. With the booties, the kids can play in the snow and the cold with us without freezing their pads or collecting the ice balls between them.
The vibram sole takes a little bit for the kids to get used to. It’s great entertainment the first time you put them on. But for us, when the snow gets hard-packed & icy, these give the kids more traction than any other bootie I’ve found. Even when I got the ones with the skins on the sole to stay on their feet, the kids slipped all over the place.
I would recommend these to anyone with highly active dogs!
Bark this: