Dogs are frequent companions of runners and walkers and we need to make sure we take adequate precautions to keep our pets safe and make sure that they can be seen in all weather conditions. Motorists sometimes cannot see dogs as well as people as they are below the driver’s line of sight. So it’s important to keep illumination and reflectivity in mind when exercising with your dog. There are several safety measures that I recommend.
First, try to get a dog collar with a reflective strip or a reflective leash. Keep in mind the reflectivity can wear off over time. If it wears off, you can either replace it with a new collar or add Brilliant Reflective stick-on safety strips to the leash.
Secondly, the dog leash may be our best hope of keeping our pets illuminated due to its length and the simple fact that the leash is always moving as long as our dog/we are moving. Up until now, I’ve had 3 Brilliant Reflective strips on Misty’s leash, two on one side and one on the other. However, these strips have been on her leash for many months and I decided to test the reflectivity of the older strips as well as add some new ones towards the middle of the leash to make sure we have better illumination. Today we applied four more safety strips to Misty’s leash: 2 purple and two blue.
Knowing that today’s run was likely to be rainy (and it was), we added the strips before the run to test them in the rain. Also, I wore my Petzl headlamp as it was very dark when we were leaving so I could test the reflectivity of the safety strips.
First we’ll share the pictures of testing the old safety strips and then show the application, use, and testing of the new ones today.
As you can see, the purple strips are the narrow ones and the blue ones are the wider strips. I thought I would add some color diversity to make the leash a little more visible in daylight, knowing that the nighttime visibility would be about the same. So before we had 3 Brilliant Reflective strips on the leash, now we have seven. The photos where the strips look white were all photographed with flash to show you the degree of reflectivity. With the principle of biomotion in play when we move, walk, and run, we will see these strips as brilliant bright moving flashes of light.
After applying the stick-on safety strips, we pressed each one down to make sure they were fully affixed to ensure attachment through today’s rain. It only takes a few seconds to secure them. Just make sure you have the strips placed where you want them as the adhesive takes over quickly. And note that there are tiny anchor pieces that you can use so your fingers don’t stick to the safety strips (see photos above).
How did the safety strips perform today? All stayed attached and reflected well. No peeling in high humidity and rainy conditions. Some of the photos will look a little rainy and others are action shots so you can see biomotion in action. Note that the purple strip reflected into the grass in one of the pictures, that surprised me.
All too frequently, dogs can be injured or killed if drivers/pedestrians cannot see them. Motor vehicles are the main threat. If dogs can be seen and brilliantly illuminated using Brilliant reflective, a reflective collar, and a headlamp if it’s dark or running predawn/night, it’s a much better situation for everyone to keep our pets safe. Dogs do so much for us with unconditional love, care, and support they lend us. We owe at least as much to them, to take every precaution to make sure they are kept safe, especially when we are running/walking.
We gain added peace of mind by taking all necessary and prudent precautions to protect our dogs/pets from harm. As we train for the Puppy Run virtual race, I don’t have to worry that Misty’s leash does not have enough reflectivity on it.
Are you interested in trying Brilliant Reflective? If so, here’s their website: BrilliantReflective.com. If you have any questions on Brilliant Reflective or how we use it to stay safe, please feel free to contact me.
Are we doing all we can to keep ourselves and our dogs/pets safe on the run? If not, let’s do something about it. Safety first. Thanks for listening.
P.S. Here’s what Brilliant Reflective looks like after today’s rainy run.
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