I should clarify my response to you, Sam. Our dogs are microchipped and I definitely recommend doing it. In addition to microchipping, I use this organization called Help Me Find My Pet and AKC Pet Recovery site.
Hi Sam! Yes, all of our doggies are microchipped. It can't come off or get lost like a tag. We keep those tags on them too, but the microchip is just an extra insurance...and I think it is part of the new law out here anyway, but ours were done way before that.
If you decide to get one, I recommend AVID over the others. If you want more info, just holler!
Mac has the Avid microchip. They seemed to be one of the bigger microchip companies when I had it done for him a couple of years ago. They don't appear to have an online access to update the information so I guess I'd have to call them if I ever have to do that.
One thing about microchips though ... They're not obvious to someone that finds a dog. I've heard about several stories about dogs being found years after they went missing. Those stories usually involve the dog getting loose or lost somehow and ending up with people who end up keeping the dog. Years later, the dog gets loose again and ends up in an animal shelter that reads the microchip. And the dog is returned to the original owner
I wonder sometimes what the animal shelter procedure is. If a shelter finds a dog with a license tag, will they check to see if he has a microchip and whether the information is consistent with the tag? If not, there could be many situations where a stolen or "unreturned" dog is given a new license and when found by animal control, the dog is returned to the wrong owners.
Recently, I was reading about tattoo IDs. I'm not sure that's the solution since a determined person will keep a lost or stolen dog no matter what. But the idea is that a number is tattooed to the dog. Several organizations register tattooed IDs but I noticed that one sends you a dog tag that has a warning that the dog is registered and tattooed with and ID number. I think it also states where the tattoo is located. Though not a perfect system obviously, I was thinking that might remind some people that find a lost dog that the dog can be clearly and reliably identified since they'll always see the tattooed number. It might remind most people that the dog has an owner that has taken measures to ensure that he finds his way home if he gets lost.
I don't know if I'm convinced about dog tattooing for identification. But I thought I'd mention it and it's purpose to fill in a function that the microchip lacks. The problem with it I guess is that I think it still relies upon a collar to clue the person in on how to identify the dog.
Gus got a chip about 2 months ago, and it didn't bother him at all. It is a great service, and I get emails from Home Again when a dog in the area is lost, complete with pictures if the owner has uploaded one.
Yes...I like Avid. There registration is a one time fee and you get a discount on a group of dogs unlike HomeAgain that you need to pay annually and no group discounts not to mention their privacy policy w/any distributing the chip is minimal.
Also..another great program for breeders is the AKC CAR program. Its an excellent program that I will be starting in my kennel for all of my pups. Its securing that no pup I produce will end up in rescue or shelters. Thats security I like. Check it out on the AKC website.
Both of mine are chipped (AVID). One terrible, terrible day (before the chips) the gardener left the gates open and both my babies were gone. Worst of all, they didn't have on their collars because they had just been groomed. My husband and I were out of our minds combing the neighborhood, I can't describe the feeling, it was so frightening. Luckily we found that a neighbor (we didn't know) spotted them together and they'd been hanging out by their pool all day. They had planned to take them to the Vet the next day and have them scanned. I will never go through that again.
We had Max microchipped when he was neutored. We took him to the SPCA and it was only $30. It feels good to know that if he does get lost if I ever, for one second, take my eye off of him, that he will have a better chance of getting home to his family. They did all the paperwork and registered him to our address and gave us a tag that identifies him as being chipped.