Our Story

The Rescue Ready K-9 Protective Vest got its start as a team research project component for the 2016 First Lego League competition. The theme for the 2016 competition was “Animal Allies” and the Rogue Robots of 4-H in Claremont, New Hampshire were tasked with designing a project that would help people better interact with animals.

The Rogue Robots team members started by visiting a variety of facilities where people and animals worked together. While interviewing a Lebanon, New Hampshire K-9 police officer, the team learned that police dogs have “all or nothing” protection while working in the field. In dangerous situations a canine officer wears a personally tailored 5.5lb Kevlar vest that costs about $1,400. A walking harness is the only other option and provides no protection for the dog.

The team learned that Kevlar vests are heavy and can cause a dog to overheat quickly. They

heard about several situations involving dogs that were impaled by sticks, suffered from barbed wire lacerations and were victims of stabbing incidents. Some of these injuries proved fatal to the canines. The club members decided that they wanted to develop a vest that would protect these hard working canines from such injuries.

The research began in earnest and a stab & slash proof fabric was procured and tested. Prototypes were designed and successfully presented at the 2016 First Lego League competition, earning the team a spot at the state level championship competition.

Over the course of the next few years the team members dwindled to 2, yet they persisted in dialogue with the fabric company, a veterinarian, and worked with 4-H mentors and a local seamstress in developing and testing numerous prototypes. By 2018, beta testing was in progress with family and friends and in 2019 the vests were tested by the Rutland, Vermont Police Department K-9 unit and the New Hampshire Fish & Game Department canines. Each department gave suggestions for specific tailoring to the needs of their canines, leading the team members to develop two similar versions of the vest to meet the specific needs of each department. The team then procured a trademark for the RESCUE READY K-9 PROTECTIVE VESTⓇ in November 2020.

The RESCUE READY K-9 PROTECTIVE VESTⓇ is slash-proof and stab-proof in accordance with the claims of the fabric company. It is breathable and weighs less than a pound. The present pattern fits medium dogs, such as those breeds typically used for law enforcement and search and rescue work. The three-inch girth adjustment allows for a secure fit, with quick release buckles and leash attachment hardware. High visibility options are available for search and rescue vests.

The two remaining club members who have stuck with this project, delayed greatly by Covid, are very pleased with the protective level and fit of the vest design. After watching tragedies like the Surfside condo collapse in 2021 and the Philadelphia and Bronx apartment fires of 2022, as well as extreme weather events and wildfires, this team is hopeful that the RESCUE READY K-9 PROTECTIVE VESTⓇ will become available to those canines that protect, serve and rescue without adequate protection.

After six years of work on the RESCUE READY K-9 PROTECTIVE VESTⓇ, they are ready to sell the business to an entity that will be able to produce these vests at a scale that will have a positive impact on the lives of canines that faithfully serve, rescue and protect us.