Beta-testing the Bulletproof tugs. Also: projects!

As you may have seen, we are completely stoked to be in full production of our new Kevlar Bulletproof Tugs, and no one is happier about this than the Raw Dog himself. He's incredibly, remarkably hard on his toys. As a baby I made him those gorgeous sheepskin tugs, with a soft, plush grip--good for puppy mouths. As he got older (and stronger, and more destruct-arrific) his toy needs also evolved. As wonderful as that sheepskin is, these are dogs bred to catch and hold giant wild boar and mountain lions. His grip and pulling strength is absolutely indescribable. Eventually he was able to rip the double layers of sheepskin after a fair bit of use, so I started making his toys out of sturdy bullhide, or rough elk suede.

The bullhide tugs satisfied for grip and strength for a good long time, but in listening to the needs of some professional agility and obedience folks, we developed a tug with the comfort and grip of a braided toy, with the kind of tensile strength a hard-core tugger needs. Simon -loves- this tug. He can grip it so securely that he was almost able to out-wrestle Mr. Armadillo. In the photo you can see Simon's feet are blurry--that's because he'd brace himself and launch his whole body sideways and backwards for full-body tugging action. After countless tugs, they still look like new. I'm impressed with the materials and am happy to have found them.


In other news, a couple of this week's projects...
A sexy spikes-and-domes collar for brindle boxer-mix Karma up in Alaska:











And in progress, a custom harness for Jiro:
What you are seeing is the back saddle and belly band, with the shoulder and chest straps in progress. I'll be working on the chest plate over the next couple of days. Once the chest plate and padding are fit to the body harness, I'll adjust, decorate, and finish the shoulder straps.
The ring at the top of the saddle where the flames point is part of an optional seat belt system.



I -love- building harnesses. For one thing, it's always a chance to stretch my craft muscles. It's also a challenge to custom-fit something to a body that I can't actually put my hands and eyes on. It's for this reason I don't offer standard harnesses. I think any equipment--but particularly a piece of gear that fits around the chest and body--should be properly sized and comfortable and built to suit the individual needs of the dog and uses of the equipment. A tracking harness is built differently than a draft harness, which are both built differently than service harnesses and casual harnesses. All are designed to suit specific tasks and performance needs with the comfort and individual body shape of the wearer in mind. Building custom harnesses is a real treat.