Our Path
Outdoor exploration has been a lifelong ardour for Ruffwear founder Patrick Kruse. Whether hiking, biking, flying, or sailing, he’s continually sought methods to share these adventures with his canines companions.
Born in Patrick’s garage, Ruffwear has grown into a world chief in overall performance canine gear. From the start, we’ve been dedicated to innovative ingenuity and sustainable practices, striving to do greater with much less and limit our environmental impact.
For 30 years, we have stimulated and improved out of doors adventures for puppies and their human companions. Our ardour for exploration stays as robust as ever.
1961
Patrick is born into a pack
This Kruse household image is taken three years earlier than Patrick is born. Yet these two dogs, Olin and Rexie, are vital household participants that Patrick experiences from an early age. Dogs proceed to be quintessential household members, instilling in Patrick a deep perception of the bonds four-legged buddies have in our lives.
1973
A signal of matters to come…
From a younger age, Patrick and his household hike and backpack in the Sierras. Patrick desires to convey his canine Marriah along, so at age 12 he heads to an Army Navy surplus keep looking out for a solution. He finds some bags, which he sews collectively with his mom’s computing device to create his first canine pack.
1977
A extraordinary path
Following his wanderlust, Patrick passes his GED at 16, heads for the Caribbean, and crews on a 72-foot ketch, Taormina. From diving on tropical reefs to experiencing communities in turmoil, Patrick beneficial properties a broader world perspective. Living earlier than the mast additionally requires ingenuity, and Patrick takes on mechanical repairs, woodworking and sewing, inspiring Ruffwear’s faith in doing greater with less, being creatively resourceful, and constructing items to last.
1982
Island fever
Feeling drawn once more to mountains and rivers, Patrick returns to California. Leaning on capabilities won in the Caribbean, he launches his personal business, Mariner Marine Works. It teaches him the cost of being responsive to purchaser needs, which leads to Ruffwear’s customer-centric outlook.
1989
Passion meets profession
From mountain biking to windsurfing, Patrick’s passions take him outside. On a Green River trip, pals and household introduce him to whitewater kayaking, and Patrick acknowledges that fabric and methods from different outside tools should make for higher kayaking equipment. He sees a want and strives to clear up it by means of beginning any other business: Salamander Paddle Gear.
1992
The spark
During a day mountain biking in California’s Los Padres National Forest, Patrick observes his buddy struggling to provide her canine a drink the use of a plastic bag. Inspiration and want once more converge. If cloth can hold water out, why can’t it preserve water in? Days later, he creates a prototype collapsible bowl. It’s the establishing of the 1/3 endeavor: Ruffwear.
1993
A megastar is born and a emblem created
An deserted junkyard canine determined in downtown LA turns into the notion for the Ruffwear logo. Ursula teaches her guardian, Patrick’s pal Lynne, about responsibility, dedication and unconditional love. Ursula’s story is the notion for Ruffwear’s faith in partnering with corporations that assist positive adoption campaigns.
1994
Customers lap it up
Patrick brings 15 Ruffwear bowls to the Outdoor Retailer Show and locations them on a desk in the Salamander Paddle Gear booth. The bowls intrigue many, together with an LL Bean purchaser who orders 8,000. Ruffwear places a new product class on the map — out of doors canine gear. This method of bringing canine tools to the out of doors market in addition nurtures Ruffwear’s spirit of innovation and devotion to following our personal path.
1994
Learning with the aid of doing
Working from his garage, Patrick scrambles to preserve up with demand for Ruffwear’s bowl. Industry gamers like Title Nine and Outside journal function Ruffwear, and Patrick does the entirety from designing merchandise to making income to enjoyable orders. This learning-by-doing strategy lets in him to scale up the enterprise whilst persevering with to be Ruffwear’s sole employee.
1997
Road trippin’ and product research
Patrick hits the street to discover and to join with clients at shows, occasions and festivals, logging 40,000 miles in the first yr with his canines sidekick Otis. Through listening and observing, new product thoughts are conceived, putting a popular for Ruffwear’s customer-driven product design.
1998
Growing the pack
Patrick strikes to Bend, Oregon, drawn with the aid of the area’s aggregate of mountains, rivers and desert. It’s an best location for an out of doors way of life and to develop an out of doors business. Patrick hires his first employees. Continuing its path of commercial enterprise unusual, Ruffwear reinvests its income to develop sustainably as a substitute than take on debt. This strategy presents the freedom to take possibilities whilst focusing on ardour and purpose.
2001
Supporting working dogs
After the catastrophic occasions of 9/11, a journalist asks a rescue employee what they want most and the reply is “dog boots.” By coordinating with customers, FedEx and Search & Rescue, Ruffwear helps make certain the much-needed components make it to the search teams. While Ruffwear has helped working puppies in the past, this tournament cements the dedication to helping the desires of working puppies and their handlers.
2007
Supporting wild places
Committed to the want to shield wild locations the place puppies and humans play, Ruffwear joins The Conservation Alliance, supplying an annual contribution and protecting exceptional match sales, with all proceeds going to the organization’s mission to shield public lands. The Ruffwear pack additionally volunteers in The Conservation Alliance’s Backyard Collective, rolling up out of date fence, getting rid of invasive weeds and performing different restoration work in the field.
2008
Buried alive and digging it
Patrick attends the Wasatch Backcountry Rescue Dog School at Alta, Utah, to examine the wishes of avalanche puppies and their handlers. In the following years, Ruffwear will become the avalanche canine uniform dealer of preference for U.S. ski inns and worldwide teams. Ruffwear’s product improvement crew participates at the college to this day, the place they lend a hand, get buried in the snow and reap precious product insights and feedback. It’s section of Ruffwear’s core fee of designing for function.
2009
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Sniffing for science
Ruffwear companions with Conservation Canines, a nonprofit that rescues hard-to-home puppies and applies their excessive strength and competencies to sniff out scat for scientific lookup and useful resource management. The remarks won from these hardworking puppies drives domestic precious insights about designing equipment from a dog’s standpoint whilst contributing to maintaining our herbal resources.
