As pet products go, this is a great idea, especially for families like ours that live out of town without security lights, where it’s very dark at night.  The collars we had did not come with any form of instruction, however, and we have seen others remark on this as well.

The first collar we ordered had a buckle and holes, like a belt, making it easy to adjust the size to fit our dog’s neck comfortably.  The glow from the collar was as bright as promised, but the charge only lasted a few days.  Granted, we did not leave the collar turned on for any length of time, we only turned it on for the short periods we are outside at night with Sahara, so it might be that the collar simply doesn’t hold a charge well when not in regular use.  The charge pack appears to be detachable from the advertisements, so we detached it to set it in the window to charge.  Leaving the pack out from noon until sundown we tested to see if the collar was charged.  No power.  In the end, we chose to use the USB cable whenever we next turned on the computer to check emails.  That worked quickly.

Sadly, once we reattached the battery pack to the collar we had major issues.  The pack is held on with a combination of snaps and Velcro, I assume the snaps make the connection to the electric parts of the collar while the Velcro holds the pack in place.  The battery pack is flat, a dog’s neck is curved, so once you reattach the pack to the collar, it is no longer a tight seal, the connections are iffy at best.  After two days, either because of the way the collar was shipped to us or because of an actual flaw with the power pack itself, the collar stopped working altogether.

I contacted SafetyGlo with some questions about charging the collar.  Had we done something wrong?  Was this typical behavior for these power packs to not fit properly?  My questions went unanswered, but I was offered a replacement collar at no cost to me.  I was even allowed to keep the non-functioning one.  This all sounded good to me, so I agreed and gave up hounding them for answers.

The new collar was not identical in make, the buckle was now the clip type, like ones used on fanny-packs and backpacks for children, which changed the sizes available.  Gone were the easy adjustments to fit our dog’s neck.  Now the collar only closed to a certain size and because of the clip there was an extra length of collar that was not adjustable, making our new collar just slightly too big for our Sahara, even though it was listed as being the same length as the one we replaced.  The battery pack is still working after a year of occasional use, however, so I give them credit for that, at least, however, we have not removed the pack from the collar this time and we charge it with the entire unit plugged in to the computer.

We continued to use the non-functional collar for Sahara’s daily use because it was a very sturdy and nice looking collar.  We loved the belt-like adjustment closure and the whole package (beyond the battery pack) worked well for our outdoor lifestyle.  It lasted through many rolls in the mud and all of the washes that followed as a result.  We only replaced it as her regular collar when she scratched at her neck (as all dogs do on occasion), which created an opening through the orange fabric, exposing the lighting fixture beneath.

Overall, I can’t remind dog owners enough that as for pet products, this is a wonderful idea and I really loved the color choices that were available.  The price was good for what we got and the customer service, while willing to replace the product, weren’t exactly friendly or helpful in solving our problems or answering our questions.  These things could have changed in a year’s time, however.  I would willingly try out the leash or harness at some point, if we ever come around to needing those items.  I wish that we were able to continue with the better quality product that we were sent the first time and that it had worked better for us.

Pros:

• Buckle fastening (if you get it)

• Bright glow is attention getting, but not distracting (unless you have it on blink mode)

• Charges with solar and USB power

Cons:

• Fanny pack clip (if you get it)

• Length of time the battery holds a charge

• Fabric eventually rips to expose glow tubing.

I am Sahara, and I approve this message.

Where to Buy The SafetyGlo Dog Collar