Walking Your Dog Safely With Accessories
Whether you walk your dog in an urban or country setting, the key to reducing the risk of accidents is to make sure that you and your dog are as visible as possible to other highway or footpath users. Fortunately, there are various affordable, hi-tech accessories that you can use to increase your dog’s visibility and they are broadly divided in to two types of visibility aids. A dog trainer who also knew much about the puppy training such as the dog training provided the following information.
Reflective accessories make the dog more visible when light from vehicle headlights or bicycle lights shine on it, whereas light emitting devices generate and transmit light, making them effective in all conditions, including complete darkness. So, which safety accessory will best suit you, your dog and the conditions in which you walk it?
One of the least expensive and most effective accessories for increasing the visibility of your dog after dark is a collar safety blinker. This is a tiny battery-powered plastic LED torch which attaches to your dog’s collar and produces a flashing light. The blinker is highly effective as a means of alerting other pedestrians and cyclists to your presence. However, for situations where vehicular traffic is the main hazard, it’s best to consider using one of the more sophisticated safety accessories.
The ultimate in LED dog safety accessories is the Vivid? flashing collar because it does away with the need for batteries and can be recharged either via the mains or a USB. It offers four different light settings, including a revolutionary light-sensitive mode which means that the collar will come on automatically in the dark, without any human intervention.
A useful adjunct to a reflective or LED safety collar is a reflective dog lead. This will alert motorists not only the presence of the dog, but also the dog’s position relative to its walker. The last thing you want is a driver swerving to avoid a dog and running over its owner instead, which is why visibility for the dog walker is as important as for the dog.
Owners tend to buy coats either as fashion accessories for their dogs, or for the protection that they offer from the extremes of weather, whether it’s cold, wet or very hot. Some of the more sophisticated dog coats, such as the range made by Ancol, incorporate safety features which include reflective stitching and coat edging. These combine the benefits of weather protection and enhance visibility in the one garment.
