I put a flashlight on my dog’s collar so I know where he is when he is outside at night. This was my first attempt at providing a light source for this purpose. I have to admit it kind of worked but not for long. 

The problem stemmed from the fact that the flashlight was round and bulky. The collar of my dog was also not made to have anything other than a leash being attached to it. Because of this there was no way to properly secure the flashlight to the collar that would last. I guess it would have worked if I had a lazy dog that just laid around and was mostly inactive. For my wonderful Vulcan (my dogs name), that is not in his personality. 

I tried everything from rubber bands to rope and even super glue. No matter how I tried to connect the flashlight to the leather collar, it just would not stay for more than one chase of the cats that would enter my backyard at night. Yes that was Vulcan’s entertainment in the evening. He would patrol the back yard and keep all of the neighborhood cats out. 

Unlike a cat, he did not care what he hit or how much force he had to apply to get through anything like the hedges or bushes to get at the cats that were brave enough to enter his domain. This would dislodge the flashlight each and every time.

I even tried smaller flashlights, but the same result would also be produced. This is when an idea dawned on me. I was using the wrong type of light. Vulcan did not need a light to see. I needed the light to locate him. This is when I looked into beacon lights. These were designed for people to see other people that were wearing them, just like I wanted to locate my dog. I also noticed there were special beacon lights made specify for a dog to wear. They could be securely mounted to my dog and could last the rigors of Vulcan chasing cats all night. 

There is also available a clip on light that can be attached to the collar. Both of these have worked for Vulcan in his nightly roamings. I first used the beacon in the flash mode. I noticed Vulcan was annoyed by the constant flashing light and it also helped the cats to be aware of his exact location. This is when the cats began to tease him by entering and exiting the backyard just out of his reach. This is when I switched to the Nite Ize Pet Lite or the Adventure Light Guardian LED Dog Light. They both have a good collar attachment just like the beacon so being knocked around did not disable it. This also made it harder for the cats to locate Vulcan, but I could see just where he was all the time.