by Dave Cox | on August 11th, 2011 | in Features, Swag the Dog
The Ruffwear isn’t the first ski joring system I’ve used. My first setup (no need to drop names here) used inch-wide webbing bonded together with stitches and glue, and although like the Ruffwear, it had a shock cord between me and my dog, it shredded apart before the snow melted. What makes the Ruffwear a superior system, I believe, is that it employs fabric stitched together like a backpack that lies across the top of Daisy’s back, the webbing is then stitched onto the pack’s body. I haven’t skied with it yet, but I’ve been trail running, which is far more jolting because I’m not sliding, and it’s holding up well, even when a random squirrel forces us to take the path less traveled. My only gripe is the front of the harness doesn’t have a quick release, making it a bit of a hassle to put on an excited dog at trailhead, but it is otherwise a great system, the belt has an emergency quick release should you take a tumble, or hit a snag, and it has pouches and a slot for a water bottle.
