The Most Fun You Can Have With Dogs in the Dark and Cold

Always at the ready

I’m servant to three, highly energetic, mixed-breed-but-mostly herding dogs: Peeko, a heeler mutt; Kip, a mostly Aussie girl; and Monty, a mostly border collie boy. Together, we trek between two and ten miles every day.

Especially during the winter, many of those outings happen in the dark. And living, as we do, amongst prey and predators in southwestern Colorado, I’m especially interested in my dogs not chasing game (It seriously stresses wildlife and, in many states, your dogs can be shot for doing it.)

We walk, run, and ride almost entirely off leash and my call or whistle keeps them close. But how to keep track of the dogs at night when darkness means they might be right behind me or bounding up the next hill?

The same dogs with NiteHowls

Enter the NiteHowl LED Safety Necklace, by Nite Ize, a Boulder, Colorado company. The NiteHowl makes monitoring your dogs’ night movements fun and entertaining.

We tried the Safety Necklaces in three different colors (super handy for identifying individual dogs), red, green, and blue.

Out of the package, the NiteHowls were easy to adjust. One simply cuts off the excess plastic and fits the new end into the unit opening. Batteries are included and a simple button push turns on the glowing collars. (An extra button push alters the constant light to a flashing light. But, really, who would want this option? I could imagine both me and my dogs having seizures with that selection.)

The dogs went about romping and racing, seeming not to care about the device. I easily followed their movements with great amusement. Darkness challenges solved!

Check them out here, just 12 bucks

New and Improved

Nite Ize recently upped their game by offering rechargeable LED necklaces. Even better, I say. Each necklace can be switched to one of three colors (or switch it to cycle through the colors for extra fun) and trimmed to fit each dog, like the original NiteHowl. Thankfully, the freak-your-dog-out flashing mode is gone. Recharge it easily with a micro USB cord. That’s not included but is likely the same cord you use to charge your cell phone. Just 20 bucks here.

The rechargeable safety necklace by Nite Ize