The thing I dislike about this time of year is it begins to be dark earlier and it stays dark later in the mornings. Many times the dogs and I are walking in the dark.
In the colder months, I have an ear muff with a visor and I have a little light that clips on the visor. (Perfect to keep your hands free for rewarding or picking up….um…stuff.)
This little light of mine…
Except at the end of last winter one of the clips on the light broke AND I can’t find the visor or the light.
So far I haven’t needed a light to walk the dogs either in the morning or evening. Except for last Thursday. Last Thursday we woke up to rain combined with a little bit of fog. Sampson and Delilah don’t care, as long as I’m willing to walk in the weather, they are too.
Some mornings when we walk we never see a person or car. Other mornings there are many people out and about. Because it was darker than normal I needed something to light me up in the darkness. I have no reflective clothing, which is something I really need to get. Sampson and Delilah have reflective vests, but I can only find one.
So we improvised.
Yeah, I’m fashionable!
It’s Hubby’s headlight lamp adjusted to fit over my neck. It worked as a temporary light, but it’s not really functional for walking when it’s dark. And it only highlights me. 🙁
While I typically pay attention to my surroundings and either place the dogs on the inside between my body and the curb, or bring them up off the road, I’d still like them to have something that is either reflective or lights up.
Amy from Go Pet Friendly shared a post last week highlighting some great new products she found at SuperZoo, one of which is a new line of reflective gear from Alcott, and these are definitely on my list of items to check out.
I know many of you walk your dogs at night or early morning, and I was wondering, what do you use for your dogs to make sure they are visible to any cars you might encounter? For me it’s not feasible to carry a flashlight, I’m not coordinated enough. 🙂
I wouldn’t dare walk my girls on our road in the dark but here’s an idea for you: you said you can’t find one of the dogs’ vests, right? Well how about a doggie backpack with reflective strips on them? The Outward Hound backpacks I bought several years ago have a reflective strip on both sides. You could use the vest for one of the dogs and the backpack for the other. And, trust me, I’m not coordinated enough to carry a flashlight and walk the dogs at the same time either.
PS. I have one of those led light visor clips (that I’ve never taken out of its packaging) laying around here somewhere. If I can find it, it’s yours if you want it. I don’t need it in the back yard.
Sadly the nights are drawing in here too but luckily we don’t have to walk when it is dark. Gosh hate to think who we’d meet up with on our park? Things are not so nice there after daylight. Have a marvellous Monday.
Best wishes Molly
We’re afraid of the dark, so we go out and back in pretty quickly when it’s dark. Mom carries a flashlight in her hand to find the “stuff” (which I don’t usually do in the dark), and I wear a Nite Ize headlight on my collar so she can make sure I’m not eating things from the ground.
Love and licks,
Cupcake
Mostly our dark walks are in the morning. We have reflective collars and after the first block we are on the sidewalk and most areas have some street lights, so we don’t worry much about lights. In the early dark morning it is rare that we ever see another human out so no need to worry about that. When Mom runs in the dark, she does wear a reflective vest.
Hunting and Fishing stores usually have some varieties of Lighted Hats and arm bands.
You are the style maven Jodi. LOL, As long as you are safe.
I like to strap the lamp light on my head too, but it is difficult to get used to. I try to walk where there are a lot of street lights. I’m not looking forward to shorter amounts of sunlight.
The weather in Minnesota has been beautiful this summer, and I’ve been able to take Lila out for long walks without worrying about the heat or humidity bothering her.
I like your fashion. 🙂
We walk in the dark a lot!
I enjoy evening walks. We always go down by the river, and visit the fountains, they are all lit up at night. Just beautiful
ღ husky hugz ღ frum our pack at Love is being owned by a husky!
We are lucky since I work my own schedule I can walk Rita whenever I want, so we go late morning. If we ever go at night when it’s dark, we only go if The Daddy can go along – and he carries the flashlight. And it’s a big ass light that doubles as a potential weapon. 🙂
I know Walmart (which I try to avoid whenever possible) has had some light up leashes in the past and I saw some glow-in-the-dark leashes out with the Halloween stuff at Petsmart the other day. Maybe one of those options would be good? My sister has some things called knuckle lights that are flashlights that have a little strap that you slide on over your hand for running–we’ve used them to walk the dogs before; they aren’t too hard to navigate treats and leashes with, but they are a little bit pricey.
You look great in anything you wear! I don’t walk in the dark so I don’t have to put anything on them, oh hell I hardly walk them at all.
I have some of the Pet Blinkers that I attach to the girls’ harnesses, collars or leashes. Sometimes I even clip one on my back. We have some light up leashes and collars that we use at night, too. My shoes have reflective bits on them and the girls’ harnesses have glow in the dark and reflective strips on them, along with reflective thread. Yeah, I guess we stand out in the night crowd! lol
I recently saw some magnetic clip on led lights at the local running store!
I think I saw a hat with the light at Meijers recently. That is a good idea. We use reflective collars for the dogs. There are also lights that you can clip on them. I don’t really like to walk in the dark, but I suppose I won’t be able to avoid it soon. 🙂
As you know, I often hike in the dark this time of year. I know I may be slightly twisted, but I prefer nothing reflective. Do you realize how much fun it is to notice other hikers and their flashlights coming down hill and then quietly slip off the trail to let them pass and then have them gasp in fright when they finally notice the dog and human standing stock still? It’s pretty hilarious.
One of the reason I always live in the city is for the protection of sidewalks and street lights.
But I wish you luck in coming up with gear to keep you, Sampson and Delilah safe after dark.