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Cynthia Boyd’s two French bulldogs, Chloe and Henry, loved to play in her fenced back yard every morning — until Boyd saw a coyote hop neatly over the fence and stroll around her swimming pool.

“They are rampant in my neighbourhood,” said Boyd, who lives in West Vancouver. “It’s completely changed our lives.

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“We had one in the backyard, my neighbour had one in her garage. Three came running up my street including one very aggressive male.”

Chloe and Henry are 20 pounds each, about snack size for coyotes. Boyd was worried.

Her dog walker suggested she get a coyote vest. The brightly-coloured body armour for dogs feature spiked collars and high, flexible whiskers that make Chloe and Henry look something like neon punk rockers, but the Kevlar vests are remarkably effective in protecting small pooches from predators like coyotes, owls, even bears.

The vests are the brainchild of San Diego-based Paul Mott, a former software developer. Back in 2014 Mott was at the local dog park with his three small dogs, when he heard a yelp. “I turned around and saw my little dog Buffy in the jaws of a coyote. He took off with her into the brush. I yelled and screamed and did everything I could but we never saw her again.”