I live on a dead-end street that is not big on infrastructure. There are no sidewalks and the streetlights are spaced far apart. Thus, when I need to walk Toby after dark, we can be pretty much invisible, especially since I generally wear dark colors. One of my neighbors even made a point to caution me that the dog and I were hard to see when we walked up the street at night.
When I saw a blogger outreach call for Safe Glow dog collars, I was immediately interested. The company sent me a free collar (a $29.95 value) in blue, and Toby and I have been using it for several weeks now.
As described by the company, the collar is made from "wear-resistant nylon and it houses a flexible, light-transmitting polymer core that illuminates when the collar is turned on. A reflective stripe adds additional safety by providing passive reflectivity. Powered by a super-efficient (100,000 hour) LED bulb."
It has three "on" settings, two of which make the lights flash, which I don't personally like. However, the regular non-flashing setting is impressively bright and provides enough light to illuminate the ground in the front of the dog. I don't know what it looks like from a distance, but I imagine that between the light and the reflective strip, it would make an oncoming driver at least pause to see what was up.
The collar is rather wide, so when I put it on Toby above his other collars (thin leather collar with tags and Sentry Calming collar), it rides pretty high on his little neck. Thus, I only have him wear it for outdoor excursions. The clasp is nice and solid yet easy to release, so that hasn't been a problem.
I happen to have a lighted leash as well, but I like the collar a lot more because unlike the leash, the light glows uniformly in a wide strip around the circumference of the collar. The leash has LEDs spaced several inches apart and I wonder if that's ideal for visibility.
Now that sunrise is coming later, I think I'm going to start having Toby wear the collar for our early morning walks. I'm always concerned that a sleepy driver might not see us crossing the street, but it feels as though are odds are better if the dog is sporting a bright blue glow.
I was quite impressed with the quality and operation of these collars and I'd recommend them for anyone who walks a dog on the street. Visit the dog training collars site to check them out!
Standard disclaimer: Although I received this product at no charge, the opinions noted here are my own.
Comments