Our Story & Team
At Litto Howler, we believe that shopping small should feel personal. When you make a purchase, you’re connecting with real people who genuinely care. We answer your emails, we celebrate each new order with a little happy dance, and we’re always thrilled to know our products are heading to new homes.
If you're new here, let me introduce myself and my family. I'm Jess, the Owner and Creative Director of Litto Howler. My partner, Isak, is our Production Manager and the mastermind behind making all your leash dreams come true. When we’re not creating adventure-ready leashes and gear here in Los Angeles, you’ll find us exploring the great outdoors with our own pack of four dogs.
Litto Howler started back in 2017, born out of the simple need for a safer, more durable leashes for our dogs. As avid rock climbers, we trusted climbing rope to keep us safe in some of the most extreme conditions, even entrusting it with our lives. So, we took an old gym rope, tied a climber’s knot, added a carabiner — and just like that, we had our first leash prototype.
But as our pack grew, so did our need for a better leash system that would make city walks easier — and most importantly, safer. That's when we designed and created Litto Howler’s tangle-free leashes. Handcrafted right here in Los Angeles, our leashes are made from genuine climbing rope and gear, crafted for adventure and designed with safety in mind.
Fast forward to today, my team and I are committed to making the safest, most durable, and most adventure-proof leashes possible for you and your pups. In just a few short years, we’ve built a community of passionate adventure-seekers who never leave their dogs behind — our #LittoFam. Thanks to you, our leashes and gear are embarking on incredible journeys, and we're honored to be a part of your stories.
Whether it's a rescue dog’s first leash that helps reignite her confidence, or a leash that's traveled with you through narrow canyons and up towering mountains, there’s no greater satisfaction for us than knowing our products have found a place in your life.
As always, adventure on!
Jess
Owner + Creative Director
We stand proud knowing that we're an Asian American + Woman Owned Small Business. Jess makes all the business decisions around here at Litto Howler, creates the newest collections, and also run the socials. As a micro-small business owner, it's no surprise we all wear a lot of hats. Jess is also in charge of ordering supplies, maintaining the website, and also sourcing materials. Jess and her partner Isak have a pack of four dogs and love exploring the outdoors together. They're avid campers, overlanders, hikers, climbers, and huge foodies. Jess is born and raised in Los Angeles and used to work in the fashion industry as a Creative Director before fully committing to Litto Howler.
Isak
Production Manager
This is Isak. He is the mastermind behind all of our leash designs. He's been a climber for 10+ years and has much knowledge of safety on the tall rocks since he's a lead + multi-pitch climber. He's climbed all the tallest mountains in Brazil - where he's originally from. He speaks 5 languages that includes his fist language Portuguese, English, Korean, Spanish, and a little Tagalog since he's also lived in the Philippines for 10 yeas. He's super talented and crafty which is why he makes sure each and every one of your leashes are perfected before we send them out. Isak is a beer lover and his favorite day ever would be a day in the mountains with the dogs + a pack of his favorite beer. Cheers!
Uncle Paul
Production Assistant
Paul aka Uncle Paul is Jess' Uncle Grandfather. He's a retired small business owner and helps out with production a few times a week. Paul used to own a furniture business in Santa Monica for over 30 years so he's super crafty. He loves playing golf with his free time, and enjoys spending time with his kids and grandkids. Paul has a gift of brightening up any room with his positive light and has such a young spirit. We have so much fun with him when he's at the HQ and he truly enjoys coming in and working on your leashes . It's become a hobby for him and we are so thank. The shop dogs are obsessed with Paul because he always brings them treats. His favorite shop dog is Kiko!
Jorge
Production Assistant
Jorge just started working with us not too long ago, but boy is he talented. He's learned super quickly and is currently assisting Isak with production full time here at Litto Howler. Jorge is a dad to the cutest 5 year-old named E. His son E is who motivates him to be the best version of himself. Jorge's main focus in life is to provide E with opportunities Jorge didn't have while growing up in South LA. He is determined to work hard and be a role model to E, and show him hard work will always pay off. We are inspired by his active lifestyle to break the glass ceiling for his loved ones. Jorge used to be in construction, so he's extremely crafty and takes direction very well. We're really excited to have Jorge on board the Litto Howler team and happy to support his dreams.
Shop Dogs
Watch Commanders + Poopers
Above is (from the left to right) Ekko, Kenzo, Meka, and Kiko! These are our shop dogs, aka watch commanders + poopers, because that's literally all they do. They hang out at the HQ all day with us. They help us test out the products and literally inspired us to create the safest dog leashes on the planet. Meka is a skittish dog that had a lot of fears growing up. When she was about a year old, she made some jolting moves when a skateboard rode by, that resulted in her (non Litto Howler) leash coming undone. She bolted to the middle of the street which was one of the scariest moments of our lives. It was a carabiner type of leash that had to be manually screwed to lock and it was a user error of us humans that didn't lock it all the way. As climbers we used auto-locking carabiners for our belaying, and knew it was the safest mechanism that ruled out human error. So what did we do? We were the first dog leash business to ever create a leash with auto-locking carabiners so now it's a phenomenon the industry has caught onto because it's truly the safest clip out there for leashes.