I've already been asked many times why Ratuski, well let me explain that to you. I have a small Hungarian Vizsla named Kiwi, she is ginger and sometimes can be a bit of a rat. At home she gets called "little ratty" or "Ratuskiwis" as a bit of a running joke in our flat. I wanted to incorporate Kiwi into the brand as she was the reason it all started after all. Hence came the name "Ratuski". So how exactly did the leads come about ? If you don’t already know Fletcher and I are both avid climbers and lovers of the outdoors and the environment.

Fletcher and I have both climbed for a while, we started back in high school, Fletch has climbed ever since and has some pretty cool skills that he learnt while under going his degree. I started climbing again only in the last few years as our local gym closed down and I didn't have the skills to climb outside. We both absolutely fell in love with the sport and what it does for your mental and physical health. We both love the technical side of climbing and the freedom that the sport brings you.

I have had dogs from a young age and so has Fletcher. How ever i became responsible for my own dog at a much younger age then Fletch, so being an adventurous person I have had to learn how to fit my dogs into this life style. This means that they have been a lot more places than other dogs ever get to go. I love taking Kiwi on adventures, she pushes me to do things without other people and gives me responsibility and companionship. It is honestly one of my favorite things seeing how happy she is when we are out and about doing an adventure.

We both spend a lot of time in the outdoors and have a high understanding of the impact that we have on the environment as humans. We also know that big change has to happen with small actions. On a daily basis we do what we can to minimize our environmental foot print and are always looking for ways to improve. When we are in nature doing the things we love we follow the leave no trace principal. We want to preserve the nature that we have for generations to come.

How the leads came about

Fletcher brought home a rope one day that he’d retired as it was no longer fit for climbing. I also had a couple of retired carabiners laying around and thought it was a perfect opportunity to make a dog lead, as I had recently seen another dog with one and thought how cool it was. After using the lead out and about I had a few comments on them and friends that also wanted them. So started the production of Ratuski leads, as any good small kiwi business word of mouth was how we were initially distributing our leads. Then we thought if we want to make more of an impact and raise more money for the projects that we care about, we need to reach a wider community. So we then spent all of our spare time when not working, climbing or walking the dog, creating the Ratuski website that you see today.

We have big goals for Ratuski, we don’t just want to make leads, but full on outdoor wear for the adventure dog. Like packs, harnesses and even lightweight sleeping bags. We also want to step into the world of climbing gear, we would love to be able to work on creating more environmentally friendly climbing gear. Such as ropes ,made from recycled plastic plus so much more. We are a business that is here to support the things that are important to us and that’s…

-Our customers 

-Your furry friends 

-The environment 

-Climbing of course 

We know that the fight for the environment is a never ending battle but we want to do everything we can to support it. So don't forget that any action no matter how small can contribute hugely. It will allow you and others to get out in nature for years to come.

We hope you support us in supporting the charities and projects that are near and dear to us. If you want to know more about the charities we support see “who we support”.