Billion Dog Lighted Pet Vest, Small, Lime Green

This review is for the Extra large green vest. I am waiting on a replacement. Why did I give it 4 stars then? Because besides the wiring I am extremely impressed with the quality of this vest, it looks like it should have cost 30 to 40 dollars or more. With the one I received there is some kind of an issue where the wiring connector plugs into the led panel for the light display. If I squeezed it or jiggled it around I would get a blink or two out of the lights. If they would improve the wiring standards and connectors used they would have 5 star reviews from all I am sure.My Australian Shepherd is 85 pounds and has a decent sized chest. The large fits very well with plenty of room for adjusting bigger and smaller. The light panel seems very high quality and when the lights work it is a solid even light across the grey area which is impressive since I was expecting spotty LED lights behind the grey areas (the great areas around the orange logo are the lights that light up in succession.Another great thing about this vest is that with other vests that are just light up, they are great in the dark but not so great for visibility at dusk and before. Between the large reflective area and the lime green you can not miss my little buddy. Another great thing about a vest like this is that for long hair dogs like mine, if you get a harness or collar you can not even see the lights from under the fur. Well with the large panels on this vest it keeps the lighted areas above the fur making it easy to see the lights. I am also going to augment this vest with some blinky multicolored lights that I will pop some holes in the vest and clip them in, there will be no way anyone could miss my disco dog.One other complaint i would give this vest is that the slot for the d-ring from your dogs collar to fit through so you leash can hook into the collar through the vest, it seems a little too far back. I think if they either moved it or just added another slot about 2 inches or so closer to the head it would fit perfectly.The other reason I am giving this 4 stars instead of less is that I am good with wiring. The connection between the LED panel and the wire lead that comes from the battery pack seems extremely flimsy and any kind of very active dog like mine will result in issues with it loosing connection. Once I get one that works and I can see that all of the lights work and blink properly I plan on cutting a hole in this vest and seeing if I can make a better connection between the battery pack leads and the LED panel. I am hoping it is just a connector between two wire leads, if so I am going to take the connector off and solder the wires together so I have a permanent fix. If the connector is solid enough that the wires are tight into the connector I may just even take the simple step of taping the connector tight or using glue instead of soldering, I will know more when I open it up. I did not want to cut this one open to play with it since returning would then be an issue and I am just guessing that I will be able to perform the above procedure when I get one that works.It seems that a lot of the feedback complaints are about the connections not being good. I think another reason for this is that the panel is stiff and when they squish everything together to fit it into the tiny box it comes in they are breaking the connection to the LED panel. I would highly suggest to the manufacturer to change their packaging to maybe a flat pack where the bend in the fold is no where near the connector to the LED panel. It should not be much bigger in square inches than it is now, maybe even smaller. If you could have packaging like a tiny pizza box where you lay the panel flat then fold the soft area over it so your packaging is maybe an inch high by 8 inches wide by 6 inches long or so I think you would see a huge reduction in your returns and bad feedback about the connectors failing. If I were you I would also maybe look into a more flexible connector to connect the LED panel to the battery leads to also reduce your returns and feedback complaints.I hope I helped someone or the manufacturer out with this review. If you have one that you have used for a while and the connector failed and it is too latte to return feel free to comment on this, once I open one up I will have a better idea of how it is wired and the connections they are using. From what I could feel it felt like maybe a ribbon pinch type connector and if I am correct the answer may just be a drop of super glue where the wire clamps onto the connector to protect it. I will advise if anyone is interested and leaves a comment.I love the vest and I love the way the lights look when they work. I am also more comfortable with this than the mesh type orange vests with a couple of reflective stripes you see in the pet stores, this will be my go to vest during hunting season around here since I run my dog off lead.If I can do it I will post some pictures of the connector once I have one open so you can see what I am talking about and possible remedies to make it last longer.

I bought three of these vests in three different sizes; XL for my Rhodesian Ridgeback-Mix approx 80lbs, L for my mini-Poodle approx 25lbs, and M for my chihauah-mix approx. 15lbs. I love the concept of these vests as we live in a rural setting where I enjoy long walks on old railroad beds and hiking along wooded trails. Hunting season always presents us with additional worries and daylight savings time adjustments shorten our visability in the late afternoons. The Orange vests come with nice reflective area across the chest and both sides of the back where the lights are which is very nice as we get to the trails by walking along the roadway. The lights are easy to turn on and off when need be and they are visable from a distance (especially when combined with the reflective area when on the road). One vest arrived with defective lights (only two of the three lights worked and only sporatically). I sent a return request for replacement and it arrived within days. I printed out the return label and used the box from the replacement to send the defective one back. Very easy process. Shortly after the replacement vest arrived, the M size vest lights stopped working. I changed the batteries thinking maybe I had forgotten to turn it off, but that was not the issue. However, I noticed while moving the vest in my hand to push the on/off button, the lights would flicker when in the "on" position, so I derived that it is a wire issue as the lights flashed longer when I moved the fabric a certain way. Overall, I think the vests are an awesome concept, sizing is reasonable and they are quite comfortable for the dogs, but I would not recommend buying these until they can do something to make the lights work consistantly. This is an expensive item and to have it worn only 3-4 times before breaking is not worth it. If you are looking for a bright orange vest with very nice reflective technology and want to spend the money I would say go ahead, but if the lights are what is attracting you to this vest (as it did me) then I would say wait a year or so until they can rework the product.

Unlike some other reviewers I found this vest to be very well made. I ordered it in lime green. My purpose was to have my mini-dachshund highly visible to me in daytime hours while hiking/walking pecan orchards and farmland, and while at the dog park. Dog is brown, dirt is brown, tree trunks are brown, can't see the little brown dog easily. I can now spot her immediately. The vest on the dog is impossible to miss. It seems to almost glow, and 'screams' during daylight hours.I have not used the lights. I didn't order this vest specifically for the lighting system, but for the color and adjustability of fit. I cannot rate the lighting system. When I walk my dogs at night I keep them on a leash and heeling beside me. I don't think I'd ever depend on a lighted vest to keep my dogs safe at night while walking in traffic. Personally, I think the oddness of the sight of bobbing and weaving lights at low ground level might actually distract and/or confuse most drivers, and that would not be good. I can, however, understand the desire for a lighted vest when night hunting, or hiking in the boonies off leash.I ordered a small vest. It perfectly fits my 10 lb mini-dachshund. She has a thin neck. The neck strap is adjusted using Velcro, and works quite well. The belly strap has room to either adjust down or up on her from her current fit. The vest length ends slightly more than 1/2 way down her back. That's fine for my purposes. The schnauzer in the ad picture has a short back. Many dogs don't, so this vest likely won't fit most dogs from neck to tail. I don't need the vest to do that. I just need to be able to see it easily at a distance.Couldn't ask for a better vest to fulfill the needs I had in mind when ordering this one.