Star Light, Star Bright, May My Dogs Be Seen Tonight

I’m not known for my sense of direction under any circumstances, but one recent evening, I found myself in a bit of a panic as I misjudged how much daylight I really had to complete a walk in the woods with my dogs at a location that I still haven’t become that confident navigating. I decided to take what should have been a shortcut back, but found myself completely lost. Of all the days to have left behind my full set of keys with the LED key chain!

The only light source I had on me was my iPhone with the battery half drained. Although it was a scary experience, it was a good reminder to make sure to carry a light on future walks, even when I don’t plan to be out after dark. It would also have been comforting to have some sort of light attached to my dogs so that I could more easily spot them playing at a distance as I started to realize that daylight was fading and I wasn’t sure exactly where we were.

As daylight hours grow increasingly shorter this season, many of us will find ourselves walking our dogs primarily in the dark on workdays. This presents several potential dog walking problems: making sure we can spot our dogs as dusk descends when we walk a bit too far in the woods, making sure drivers and cyclists can see our dogs when we walk around town and picking up dog poop when our dogs aren’t considerate enough to do their business conveniently under a streetlamp.

I remembered noticing a variety of light emitting and reflective products for dogs at Active Paws in nearby Waltham, and made a trip back to take a closer look. (You might remember this tiny shop brimming with fantastic swag for pets from a previous Weekly Yip titled “.”

When I explained that I was on a dog visibility mission, shop owner, Cara Armour, joked about the “free light show” on display nightly at nearby Beaver Brook Reservation, made possible by the many Pet Blinker lights they’ve sold to local dog owners. They are a popular product!

Pet Blinkers do just that: they clip easily to a dog’s collar and flash on and off. This is what I clip to my dogs’ collars when they go out in the yard at night for a potty break.

In addition to the benefit of being able to see where they are when they go far out into the yard, my hope is that the flashing light might also deter any skunk or other critter that might otherwise linger for curious dogs to get into trouble with. However, I honestly think the flashing might make me a bit crazy if we used the blinker for an entire walk. My boys don’t seem to mind the blinking, but if it makes me batty, what might it do to some of the other dogs or people we encounter along the way?

I haven’t yet tried Active Paws’ Spotbrites Safe-T-Tag (a red, heart-shaped,  dog light also designed to clip easily to a collar.) It, too, blinks, but I wonder if it might not be as intensely bright as a Pet Blinker. Another product I might try out is the Nite-Dawg Light-Up Dog Collar, although at just over twenty dollars in my dogs’ size, it requires a little more contemplation than the blinkers did at less than ten dollars apiece.

Another option for making dogs clearly visible to drivers is to outfit your dog in reflective gear. The staff at Active Paws showed me a plethora of reflective leashes, collars and jackets for dogs. I’m afraid I’ll still be on the hunt for the right option for my borzois. I’m too attached to their leather leashes to swap them out for reflective fabric ones. Leather is so much easier on my hands, especially when attached to hundred-pound hounds. My guys wear greyhound collars because they can too easily slip their pointy heads out of regular collars, and I’m afraid their long, curly locks would cover a reflective collar, anyway. I loved most of the reflective jackets at Active Paws, but the only style that comes in a size large enough for my dogs comes exclusively in a shade of yellow I just can’t bear. We are an unusual case, though. I think most people with less exotic beasts will readily find multiple reflective options that work perfectly well for them at Active Paws.

Until now, I’ve talked only about items I found to make our dogs more visible, but another important consideration is being able to see well enough to effectively pick up after our dogs. Although I don’t personally use (or like) retractable leashes, those who do use them might like the Leash Light I found at Active Paws. It’s designed to affix right to the side of the leash handle so that you don’t have to fumble with a flashlight. Borrowing from that idea, my own plan is to get a couple of LED keychains to keep attached to the handles of my dogs’ leashes so I can hold the leash and light easily in one hand without worrying about dropping the light, which I am inclined to do.

All discussion of the details aside, one thing is clear: daylight hours are growing shorter. Anyone who walks their dog at night needs to have a plan for making their dog easily visible on walks. Bringing along some sort of light that makes it easy to see well enough to clean up after their dog along the way is important, too.