The idea behind Paul Mott's unique business venture was born out of tragedy. In September 2014, he lost his beloved dog, Buffy, to a vicious coyote attack.
Mott was corralling his three dogs back into the car after a day at the park in San Diego, California, when a coyote attacked Buffy, he told BuzzFeed News.
He heard her yelp, only to turn around and see her hanging in the mouth of the coyote as it ran into the hills. He never saw the dog again.
"It was the most terrible thing," he said. "I cried for a week. I felt so guilty. I felt so terrible. I've never been able to let it go."
To cope with his grief, Mott began developing dog vest prototypes that could prevent other small dogs from being attacked by coyotes.
Just a year after Buffy's tragic end, he launched CoyoteVest.
The vest is made of kevlar, the same type of fabric used in bullet-proof vests. The basic vest is lined with spikes around the collar to prevent coyotes from biting a pup's neck.
The full armor includes the vest with spiked collar, spikes along the cloth lining, and porcupine-like nylon whiskers along the vest's spine.
The whiskers are designed to prevent a coyote's face from coming too close to the dog, but Mott says they're also intended to scare off a coyote before it even considers an attack.
"I'm trying to make the dog look bigger and strange and weird," said Mott. "You want the coyote to scratch its head and say, 'I think I should find another target.'"
The company's most popular item, though, is its "Coyote Zapper" which sends an electric charge down the silver-lined black cloth strips. The current doesn't affect the dog, but will shock any coyote trying to bite.
The dog wears a collar with a small black box attached around its neck. The owner uses a remote to send a current down the vest when a coyote attacks.
The vest is not just designed to stave off coyotes — Mott said it could be used to protect small dogs from attacks by any larger animal.
"Customers are less worried about coyotes than large dogs, like pit bulls, and large livestock," he said. "I think there's even more people out there in the world that just want to make sure their dog is safe when they go to the dog park or dog beach."