# Dog



## NightShift (Jul 20, 2001)

I think LEDs would be your best bet. They are bright and last the longest on batteries.
I was thinking like a collar with LEDs on it...something like this:

http://farmpetsupply.sureshopping.com/searching.asp?cat=Collars&cR=categories

Or you could hang a photon from their collar...forgot how long they last on batteries...


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## JonSidneyB (Jul 21, 2001)

I have some dogs that I want to be highly visible at night without weighing the dogs down by turning them into a christmas tree. I have long thought about a way to put a light on a dog collor but thought that everything I have seen is not that practical. Things may be starting to change. I live in the country but there is some traffic out where I live. I think if my dogs were easy to spot or hard to not notice, they may be in slightly less danger of being a road hazzard. My dogs do not run loose but are fenced and get walked on a lead regularly and the dogs have managed to excape my grasp once in a while. When walking my dogs on a lead, I think that perhaps a Photon Rave might make them easy to see, is there something better? Now comes the though question, is there a light that I can keep on the dogs collars while they are in the yard in case of escape? It would have to have a long life, maybe a week between battery changes since of course I would have no way of knowing when an excape opportuning might occur. Any opinions or advice would be most welcome. 
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## **DONOTDELETE** (Jul 26, 2001)

I have tried the collars that night shift linked to. The work pretty well even with our Malamutes (very heavy coats). Have also tried a little photon from Pelican that clips on their tags, Does not work as well as the lit collar. 

Also, they make some scrunchies or wide bandanna collars using illuminite fabric that reflect pretty well too. May be a workable idea for leaving on in the yard.


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## John N (Oct 28, 2001)

I've been using an LED based color that I found at my local PetSmart retailer. They have them on their web page:
http://www.petsmart.com/dog/shopping/collars%5F%5Fleashes%5F%5F%5Fid%5Ftags/products/product%5F21714.shtml 

They are interesting in that they use an LED, but the LED lights up a clear, flexible (silicone?) "light tube" which is sandwiched between a standard reflective surface, and a yellow plastic cover.

The reflective content means that it works fairly well as a passive reflector too. 

The effect is good - the whole surface glows.

The gotchas: 

The parts with the light module, buckle, and D ring cut into the lighted surface area so maybe only 80% of the collar blinks. 

The circut is not potted and isn't waterproof.

It's fairly bright, but, you know... Need... more... power...

I've been thinking about taking two collars and making a collar that does a full 360 as well as maybe make it brighter and waterproof. 

FWIW, even though this works well, depending on the angle the dog is to you it can "dissapear", even with a blinking light. I think more power will help (as well as getting a full 360), but I think you need more areas of the dog need to be lit to prevent this - sides and spine come to mind. Of course then you get into the Christmas tree issue you mentioned.

A reflective vest might not be a bad idea.

-john


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