Ruffwear in Mexico: Meet Bernardo & His Four Shop Dogs

Here at Ruffwear, we believe every dog is an explorer. It is our mission to equip both dogs and their humans for many types of excursions, but especially the ones that reach beyond our backyard of Bend, Oregon. With a presence in over 45 countries, our gear enables outdoor adventures across the globe.

Today, we want to introduce you to Bernardo - the owner of Outdog who lives in Mexico - and his four shop dogs, Frida, Chelsee, Cesarin, and Leika.

Can you tell us more about yourself and your shop?

It all started with Frida & Chelsee. We have been in business since 2012, and we started with an online store - not as a side business, but as a hobby. Frida loved a frisbee called the Floppy Disc, and we would lose it on the roof of the neighbors house so often that there was no way to get those toys in México. The same thing happened with a ball that Chelsee was obsessed with, so we decided to go buy some stock and bring it home. We opened an online store that was exclusive for dog toys!

At first we only stocked toys, and then we started adding more and more products. That's when we got to know Ruffwear, and everything changed from there, even the store. We changed the assortment to be able to represent Ruffwear better, and I changed as well. I became even more outdoorsy and was inspired by Ruffwear. Then, we got the privilege and joy to distribute and work closer with the Ruffwear Pack - I love it!

What is the local community like that shops at your store?

A: Most of the consumers that go for Ruffwear in our area are active, outdoorsy people and people that consider and treat their dog as a family member. They go to amazing places in the country and always with their dogs.

Do you have a shop dog? If so, please tell us more about him/her!

A: We have four shop dogs (Frida, Chelsee, Cesarin, and Leika), and they are all mega Ruffwear fans! Frida and Chelsee just passed away. They were 14 and 13 years old, and the shop was inspired by those two girls. They are still the most important part of this project!

FRIDA

She was obsessed with toys and was always by our side, no matter the trail, no matter the weather. She loved to run, jump, and catch frisbees on the fly. She also loved the water and was an amazing dog.

Two of her favorite products from back in the day were the Bivy-Bota, a Bivy Bowl that stored water and would help us keep her hydrated on the go. Also, as she loved to get into water, another piece of gear that she loved was the Headwater Collar in orange. We had bought it in 2013, even before we had anything to do with Ruffwear, and she passed away with that exact collar (I even have it now in my nightstand lamp). It was very easy to clean. Of course, I don't clean it anymore, but I still keep it by my side.

In her late days, when the hip problems got worse, the Web Master™ Harness and then the Doubleback™ Harness helped us (and her) so much to keep going outside. When the problem was slight, it would help us get further. When the problem got bad, it helped us get out every day in the neighborhood.

P.S. Of course she had more collars, but we always came back to that one.

CHELSEE

The most beautiful Border Collie ever, she was ball-obsessed and she never missed a walk. Even if she was not in her best shape at the end of her beautiful life, she would be up for anything and would get super excited.

Due to her black hair, she would get very hot and look for shade - I don't blame her. The Swamp Cooler™ was the way to go, and that product helped us improve her happiness as it improved her performance. More performance means more time on the trails and on the street, which translates to the greatest joys. I can assure you that the Swamp Cooler MADE HER HAPPY!

Another product that helped me with Chelsee was the Pack Out Bag™. She had a weird behavior where she would poop 3 times, sometimes even 4 times per walk, even when just going around the neighborhood. So the Pack Out Bag made me, the human, very happy as I was not carrying three bags of poop anymore.

CESAR (AKA Cesarin)

He is a street dog, rescued in Puebla around eight years ago, in a pizza place called Cesar´s Pizza. You can tell that's where the name comes from! Also, his first night at home with us, he stole a piece of pizza, so the name is perfect!

He is a nice, small dog - a mix of a French Poodle and a Maltese (that's what we think). He is white with maple syrup colored eyes, and he is just a gorgeous dog.

He also loves to play with toys, especially the frisbee. He is very smart but mainly, very agile. His agility and speed is marvelous, but he is a leash puller, so the Front Range® Harness has been the way to go. The Front Range has made a 12 kg dog feel like a 4 kg dog when he pulls. We also combine it with a Roamer Leash with the hands-free system. The bungee system just turns those 4 kg of pulling left into probably 1 kg - we can barely feel it anymore.

The Gnawt-a-Rock is his favorite toy. Sometimes, he does not want to eat the kibble from his bowl, but if we put the same exact kibble in the Gnawt-a-Rock, he will start playing and eating from it. We also love the Gnawt-a-Rock because it makes no noise against the walls and doors.

LEIKA

She is the youngest and is a street dog as well, rescued by my wife and me. My 4-year-old son loves to hear the story of how we rescued her. She is easily his favorite of the four dogs, but I will leave that story for later.

Leika is just a “big muscle” - she will bark at everything, and if you are wearing a mouth cover, she will go nuts. As you can imagine, she pulls, and pulls, and pulls, so we try to go out as often as possible to open land where there are not many people, so she can be unleashed.

With Leika, our “no questions asked” favorite product is the Flagline Harness. It gives us so much control when she goes off barking at other dogs, cats, humans with mouth covers, trash bags, and almost anything else. Also, the Treat Trader helps us keep her attention when we’re out on adventures.

The Crag™ Leash is amazing for her for two reasons:

1. The hand-free option combined with the no-pull front ring on the Flagline helps us walk her to and from the open land. Otherwise, it would be so difficult to get out and control her.
2. It gives us so much flexibility to make it short when we need even further control or make it longer when we want to give her some freedom. It also is so lightweight that when we get to the open land and we release her, we don't feel like we are carrying a leash.

What is your favorite activity to get outside and explore with your pup?

I love mountain biking and hiking, but for me, mountain biking is healing. I go with Leika and her Singletrak™ Pack, so each of us can carry our own water supply!

What is your favorite piece of Ruffwear gear that you carry in your shop?

A: Ugh! This is a hard question to answer. We love the Pack Out Bag™, Bivy™ Bowl, Treat Trader™, Gnawt-a-Rock™, Roamer™ Leash, and Flagline™ Harness. This is a difficult question to answer, so I will just be brave and choose. If I absolutely had to pick just one, it would be the Flagline Harness.

How does Ruffwear gear change the way you adventure outdoors with your dogs?

It has allowed me to go to new places and on new adventures. To give you an example, we got a kayak and a paddle board because we could go out in the water with our dogs thanks to Ruffwear's dog life jacket. For our family, if we can not do an activity with our dogs, we simply won't get into that sport. For example, I love tennis, but I won't play because I cannot play with the dogs. I would rather use my time in dog-friendly sports and Ruffwear gear opens all those doors. Thanks to Ruffwear, we have many more options now.

It has also really inspired us to go out not only in the outdoors, but also around town!

If you're looking to add some warm weather adventures to your social feed, follow @ruffwearmexico on Instagram.