Outback Fright Night
The other evening, I was having
dinner at Outback Steakhouse. As usual, Glindy was curled up at my
feet under the booth. The young lady taking my order knelt down to
use the table as a writing surface, and practically jumped out of
her skin when she saw Glindy peering up at her from the darkness
under the table.
She hadn't really been expecting to see a dog there, as she hadn't
been present when we were seated. That's perfectly understandable,
really. Even when you like dogs, you can still be surprised to find
one in an unexpected place--especially at eye level.
This isn't the first time that's happened. For Glindy's safety in
dark restaurants, and for the cardiac care of future wait staff, I
decided I needed to do something about it.
Naturally, I went shopping.
I bought a bunch of different stuff from my favorite place,
SitStay.com, in order to make Glindy
a more visible--and less-surprising--restaurant patron. Here's what
I bought:
- PolyBrite
Lighted Safety Collar
- A battery-powered, fluorescent collar that glows red. It works
reasonably well, and the steady glowing is less obnoxious than some
of the other things I've tried. The downside is that the glow strip
on the medium-sized collar is only nine inches long, centered on
the D-ring; that leaves 8-12" of matte black webbing centered on
the plastic buckle. This works great when you're walking the dog
and the D-ring is up top, but when used with a heavy leash clasp
like the Buddy System, the glowing strip can end up facing the
floor; then, when Glindy is laying down under the table, the glow
is further obscured by her body. In short, I like it, but it's not
sufficient by itself.
- White/Blue Bling
Bling Blinker
- This is a rather obnoxious strobing LED. It is highly
visible, but I find it too distracting for prolonged use. I don't
know how Glindy feels about it, but I find the rapid strobing
creates a visual sensory overload for me. I'd still recommend it
for high-visibility needs, though, because it will get
attention.
- The
Beacon
- So far, I like this strobe the best, although we haven't
finished putting it through its real-world paces yet. It's not as
eye-catching as the Bling Bling Blinker, and is a bit large, but it
provides a slow, steady red pulse that is visible without being
distracting. It also has three different methods for attaching to
things: a top-clip with notch for D-rings, a tension side-clip, and
a small split-ring for connecting to dog tags or other connection
points. My plan is to use its side-clip to attach the strobe to the
trailing edge of Glindy's service vest, which should make her quite
visible under tables unless she happens to roll onto her back, or
somehow knocks it off. We'll see how it goes.
Each of these products has pros and cons, and it is my expectation
that they will work better in conjunction--for example, pairing the
lighted collar with a flashing strobe. In the end, success shall be
measured in decibels--waitresses can scream pretty loudly--and by
the absence of accidental tail-stomping.