One of my favorite dog brands for gear is Ruffwear! When I had Loki and Kato, they would sport the Cloud Chaser, Soft Shell Jackets. Not only were they light weight, warm and cozy, they were great for using as a holter jacket too when it was time for their heart check ups. Now that I have a new pup to spoil, Ruffwear is a shop we have been spending way too much money at! We’re not sponsored or compensated in any way by Ruffwear, (But Ruffwear people if you read this feel free to send us free stuff!), though I often joke that Sully is an unofficial Ruffwear model. Check out the reviews of the gear we have and use daily!
I love this harness! For starters it comes in some super nice colors! We have orange and blue, though the orange one doesn’t really fit anymore as my puppy is growing like a weed. Believe it or not I think it’s hard to match brindle to things, the electric blue looks amazing on Sully. They also make a hot pink, purple, grey and green. I think my favorite thing about this harness is the padding and how comfortable it is for all day wear. We went on a road trip to Colorado earlier this year and with all the stops and potty breaks, he wore it throughout the day when we were traveling and he seemed quite comfortable in it. It is very adjustable, at the chest and neck and even has a pouch to attach your pets tags in on the back. I use the metal clip on the back of the harness, but there is a front clip too that can be used for a leash. If you have a leash with 2 clips you could even hook one to each clip, I’ve done that before and it works great! Washing is super easy, we just put it in the washing machine on cold and it came out looking good as new, no shrinking or fraying of stitching in our top load washer! The buckles are also sturdy and the straps and webbing are high quality and are standing up great to a puppy who can pull like a freight train sometimes! (We’re working on that 😛 )
As collars and leashes come, these are great. We went with the blue for both, a mountain design on the collar and a plain blue leash. The nice thing about the leash is it has a padded handle, as well as a traffic handle closer to wear it attaches to the collar. This is great because it provides an extra grab point, plus more control in situations where you’d rather have your dog close. If you’re pup tends not to wander off you may not use this feature, but since we’re very much still in the learning stages, we use this handle a lot. The leash is also light weight and the collar has a tag silencer on it too if jingling annoys you! Again the collar and leash are super well made and strong, and come with sturdy clips and metal hooks for fastening.
Admittedly I bought this for myself, but y’know, to fill with dog things so they’re not all over my car…OK this is how I’m justifying it to myself 😛 We went with the 2015 edition as it was listed under the “specials” section of the website so it was 15% off, Bonus!! But I super love this bag. It’s big without being obnoxious, it has reinforcement in the rim of the bag which helps to keep it open when you’re arranging everything in there, and it has ample amounts of mesh pockets inside which are perfect for spare leashes, treats, clickers, collars, all the dog training things you might need. I took it to our puppy class the other night and had so much room to spare I even threw a sweater in as our class is in a big warehouse type building and the temperature can change quickly. There is an ID sleeve on the side too, so you can add your info and a strap that makes it easy to put over your shoulder and still have 2 hands to contain your wild beast…errr I mean fluffy puppy 😛 I leave the bag in the back of my car and it’s like our “Go Bag” for training, shows, events and outings. When we start dock diving again in the spring this will fit everything we need, including toys and a life vest!
So I tend not to wear women’s fit T Shirts because I’m not the most slender person and I generally don’t like tight fitting clothes, so I opted for the mens fit T shirt. The only bad thing I have to say is that on the website when I bought these, there were a number of sizes out of stock for men and women. Other than that, these shirts are super soft and well designed. The website does say they run small though so I ordered Large as I was concerned about that, I could have definitely gone with a medium or even a small if I were to tuck it in so personally, I don’t think they run that small. Either way, buy them! They’re super comfortable and great for dog walking, training, hiking, and everyday wear!
So there you have our first, unbiased review of dog gear we use on the daily. If you have any questions, reach out. If you have any dog brands you love, let us know! If you love Ruffwear, or any other brand, share your stories with us! I’m all for trying out new dog stuff! More reviews coming soon!