Back to its Roots: Ruffwear Specializes in Higher-Performing Outdoor Dog Gear

Brandan Hill has had several prominent positions in product development, merchandising and sourcing across a variety of top-tier brands that include Chaco, Wolverine Worldwide and Simms Fishing Products before landing at Ruffwear in March 2019 as director of product development.

In 2022, Hill was named president of Ruffwear, where he leads the company in driving strategies for continued growth across Ruffwear’s various channels. Pet Age recently spoke with Hill to learn more about the brand’s history and his plans for the future.

How does Ruffwear design its products from a dog’s perspective?

Designing from a dog’s perspective has been a 30-year journey for Ruffwear. Our brand was created because our founder recognized a need for higher-performing outdoor dog gear. We believe that canines and humans are partners in exploration, and, as humans, we often take our dogs to places they wouldn’t naturally go. Their trust in us lets them follow on adventures into the backcountry, on water, through rain and snow, and it’s up to us to help them be successful in these environments because we want our dogs to explore with us.

Designing from a dog’s perspective means that, as a brand, we must be highly observant of dogs, their movements, and how they interact with the world around them. Through observation, we can design products that are better suited for them and perform exceptionally well. This can be through purposeful choices like materials and fit or with subtle features that improve performance. One small example of this would be how we made sure the direction of the handles on our packs and some of our harnesses were oriented in a way that would reduce the chance for our dogs to get caught or hung up in bushes or shrubs after observing how they explore on the trails.

By close observation and thinking from a dog’s perspective, we’re able to create performance gear on par with what their human companions might have access to. It’s rare these days to find gear brands that can both tell great stories and have products with thoughtful, intentional designs. It’s one of the key reasons I joined Ruffwear and, I am certain, one of the most important brand attributes to our retailers and customers.

What inspired Ruffwear to create its cooling collection?

Our cooling collection is another great example of how we look at product creation from a dog’s perspective. For those who wanted to explore hot environments with their dogs whether that’s a summer hike or just heading out the door as the day heats up – there needed to be a technology that would allow our dog partners to be successful and comfortable in hot temperatures.

Dogs sweat very differently from humans. We needed a technology that would regulate their temperature, similar to how sweating (i.e. evaporative cooling) does for humans. The simple principle is: a human is hot and sweats; moisture on wet skin evaporates into the air, taking heat with it and leaving cooler skin behind. Our cooling technology allows us to extend the comfort of the dog because it mimics evaporative cooling for them. Stacked materials hold water close to the dog’s body and stays moist for an extended period, pulling heat from their body and allowing evaporative cooling to lower the temperature of the dog’s skin. The material can recharge by simply getting it wet again. It’s a unique tech solution that has allowed us to apply it to different product platforms that range from apparel and harnesses to neck gaiters. It’s a very successful category for Ruffwear because it helped open up more exploration in hot environments for our customers while allowing us to expand the gear systems in which we integrate it.

Why does sustainability play a pivotal role in Ruffwear’s mission?

Sustainability has been part of the essence of our brand from day one. Our founder Patrick Kruse has a deep passion for things that we create being useful and well taken care of. And we know that when we create our dog gear with resources from the planet, we are instantly creating a product that is trying to make its way to a landfill. The culture of Ruffwear has always been to be aware of our impact, good or bad, and take care of everything we create with the materials and resources around us. We understand the importance of reducing our carbon footprint and taking positive actions now, but we’ve truly built a brand for the past 30 years on the idea of sustainability from a time when that wasn’t a priority for brands. The joy of creating comes with the responsibility to the planet. There’s a balance of creating and caretaking and that has been a part of our DNA from the start.

What have been the biggest obstacles for Ruffwear over the past 30 years?

There’s a weight of history and heritage that comes with 30 years as a market innovator and leader. Our biggest challenge is to stay connected to our deeper “why” while evolving how we run our business to match how market conditions and consumer habits have changed – especially post-pandemic. We have to and have asked ourselves tough questions and challenged our assumptions about how we do things. Newer brands in this space don’t have the burden of history to compete against. We need to stay nimble, stay curious, stay simple, and show up for these challenging market and consumer conditions in new ways. Part of this comes in the form of our organization including how we’re structured as a company and how we drive sales, build brand awareness, and connect with consumers. Thirty years is a major milestone but for us, it’s also a motivator to embark on our next phase of growth while remaining thoughtful, adaptable and true to our North Star.

How does Ruffwear support retailers that carry its dog gear?

One of the challenges coming out of the pandemic was how we support our retailers and what tools we give them to be able to talk to their customers about Ruffwear. We’re getting back to our roots as a brand with strong product storytelling that will help retailers wayfind our product line for their customers, leading them to discover what Ruffwear products will work for them and why. We’ve reset around that idea in a deeper way and are supporting retailers with the right kind of communication assets to empower better planning, POP opportunities and education to help reduce friction around what the product line is, why it exists, and how a consumer fits into it. We’re passionate about brick-and-mortar because of the deep connection retailers have to their consumers. In-person selling is very compelling, especially when you’re talking about a Ruffwear product where you can explore the deeper product details in your hand, the product creation story, why something was built, the intentional design and how it opens up more adventuring for dogs and their human partners.