We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Janice/Alison Voth/Columbus. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Janice/Alison below.

Alright, Janice/Alison thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. We’d love to have you retell us the story behind how you came up with the idea for your business, I think our audience would really enjoy hearing the backstory.

We’ve worked at the same vet clinic together for the past 10 years an we had seen so many dogs come in that were attacked. We wanted to come up with a product that would keep these little dogs safer from getting hurt or killed.
Research was key in figuring out where a predator first grabs onto a small dog. Coyotes, for example, will crush the ribcage or grab the dog’s neck and run away with their prey. We wanted to create something that would prevent this from even occurring, giving the owner a split second to react. If a coyote or a bigger, aggressive dog tries to grab onto a dog wearing our harness,
our spikes are positioned where they would get sharp pressure on the roof of their mouths and their tongues and would have to let go.
Our harnesses are unique because they have removable spike strips, mesh for ventilation and also come with a spiked collar attached. Because our spike strips can be removed in a friendly play situation, our harnesses can also be worn at dog parks. (We don’t suggest wearing the spikes to dog parks or to play with friendlies)
It is our goal to outfit as many small dogs as possible. In our industry dogs are treated for bite wounds on a daily basis. Unfortunately the medical costs can be too much for some owners and sadly their only option is euthanasia. It’s our hope that we can save lives as well as help owners decrease vet costs by minimizing injuries.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

We have worked at the same vet clinic together for the past 10 years and we have seen so many dogs come in that had been attacked. We wanted to come up with a product that would keep these little dogs safer from getting hurt or killed.
Research was key in figuring out where a predator first grabs onto a small dog. Coyotes, for example, will crush the ribcage or grab the dog’s neck and run away with their prey. We wanted to create something that would prevent this from even occurring, giving the owner a split second to react. If a coyote or a bigger, aggressive dog tries to grab onto a dog wearing our harness,
our spikes are positioned where they would get sharp pressure on the roof of their mouths and their tongues and would have to let go.
Our harnesses are unique because they have removable spike strips, mesh for ventilation and also come with a spiked collar attached. Because our spike strips can be removed in a friendly play situation, our harnesses can also be worn at dog parks. (We don’t suggest wearing the spikes to dog parks or to play with friendlies)
It is our goal to outfit as many small dogs as possible. In our industry dogs are treated for bite wounds on a daily basis. Unfortunately the medical costs can be too much for some owners and sadly their only option is euthanasia. It’s our hope that we can save lives as well as help owners decrease vet costs by minimizing injuries.

Can you tell us the story behind how you met your business partner?

We have been friends and coworkers for 10 years. Alison is a Registered Veterinary Technician and Janice is a Veterinary Assistant. Together we came up with the idea for our harnesses and have been equal partners from day one. Our friendship goes way beyond our company and that has helped us through the tough times we encountered when we were just starting out three years ago.

Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?

When Covid hit the Vet industry was slammed! As we are an ‘essential service’ we never closed and had to pivot overnight to accommodate all the changes. Understaffed and overworked, we worked tirelessly to keep up with all the ‘Covid puppies and kittens’ that were arriving at our door. Because of the increase in unsocialized dogs due to the pandemic, there has been a huge increase in aggressive dog on dog interactions. More than ever before we see a need for our harnesses

Contact Info:

• Website: PredatorBWear.com
• Instagram: @predatorbwear
• Facebook: @PredatorBWear

Image Credits
Hong Photography