collers... on or off?

I have the same question as lil. pros, cons? price? any effects?

 

Pro with Tattooing is that there is no question the dog has the ID information, however if someone brings a dog to the vet the profess as theirs but it truly is not Neither form of ID will help if the "owner" of the dog doesn't make any effort to Chip etc...the dog... If that makes ANY Sense at all... HOWEVER if I find a stray, keep it with an add etc...that was never answered then take the dog to the vet and that dog has a tattoo there's no doubt there's ID...whereas it's up to the vet to scan for chips and some won't...or don't...

There is a heartwarming story I heard from a breeder about three sisters. She had a litter and had three females that proved to be above average. Best buddies the works. She sold one of these girls to a woman who then did not contact the breeder for nearly a year. No contact and worry from the breeder about the dog. She found out through searching that the woman had sold or given this dog away etc... Later on down the road...about a year later... This breeder gets a phone call that there's a dog with a chip that traces back to her... She goes to the shelter and finds this female one of the three sisters, emaciated and in terrible shape... In the end she now has the three sister dogs and they all lived happily. Had this dog not had a chip she likely would not have had a good prognosis...

Countless stories have been told of dogs being found through the chip process or tattooing... A tattoo can be red no matter what "model" of scanner a shelter has....however I don't beleive there's a universal number or mode of identification for Tattooing... SS number is what I've heard more often than not so that'd likely be a good method as well...

Hmmm.... I think there are WAY more pros to Chip or Tattoo than NOT doing it.

 

I think it really depends on your living situation, area, how many dogs you have and what type of collar. You just have to use your best judgement and sort collar proof their area...look for dangers from catching collars. There was a discussion about collars for cats on the cat boards a while back and it seemed people were equally divided on it. Myself I leave my cats collar on and my husbands german shepard wears a choke chain at home. He's a police dog and he has many different collars for different reasons that he wears at work, so his collars are always changing and he is always with us at home or out working with my husband. He's our only dog and very mellow at home so we don't worry about it. Plus both animals are chipped and tattood. Tho the cats tattoo isn't visible unless shaved. The dog tatt is in his ear. We pretty much have all of our bases covered on identification. The cats collar is also a breakaway collar, but if she ever slipped out the front door for any reason, then at least if someone picks her up other than a shelter, they have a number to call me if she's still wearing it. Not everyone thinks to bring a stray to the shelter or to a vet to be scanned. Plus a lot of people would be more likely to try to help a stray wearing a collar that appears to be somebody's beloved pet. JMHO.

 

My dogs are left inside when we are out so the chances of them getting out or running away are very slim. When they are outside, they are supervised. Well, except when I am in the shower in the morning.

As for tattoo vs. microchip - I don't know! I have heard stories of chips migrating in the body, and of course they are foreign objects which are never good inside the body. But I have also heard that the newer chips don't migrate. There are always horror stories of tattoos and bad people cutting off body parts so the dog can't be identified.

Nala is chipped because the shelter where we got her chips all their dogs before they leave. I need to decide what to do with Bonnie. I will probably get her chipped.

You do have to look into the scanner issue. There are different types of chips. Many shelters now have both scanners or a special one that can detect either one.

I remember reading about the woman who lost her dog because the shelter had the wrong scanner. It sounds like she was relying on the chip and sitting at home waiting for someone to call her and tell her they had her dog. By the time she bothered to call the shelters and ask about him, it was too late.

 

That is really neat that at Nalas shelter they put them in already, sounds like that shelter has everything in order!
How long does it take to do either one, do they anesthetize (sp?) the dogs for them?
When I went to the vet with my cat he said that here starting in July if you want to travel to Germany you have to have the cat (or dog too I think) chipped. So I guess I'll have to get it done sometime or another.

 

Microchips are actually very small and usually given as a shot or with a little injecter gun that sort of looks like those tag guns for putting price tags onto clothes. The shelter where I worked didn't use any type of anesthetic for chipping, not sure if a vet would, I've never seen it done that way. I believe the shot is less painful than the gun, but either way its a thick needle, and its common for the spot to bleed a bit afterwards, but most animals are fine immediately after the needle is out. Some don't react at all and some whine and cry. May depend on skin sensitivity or thickness.

 

thnaks everyone for all your opinions. I took their collers off the other day and i think i will put them on when we got out. It sure is a lot quiter without those collers on though, im getting more sleep now, hehe.

 

The vet Anesthetizes for a Tattoo.... Some vets don't do it themselves and have a real life tattoo artist do it...others do it themselves.... My BF is a Tattoo artist and his boss was often called to the vet to do tattoos... Now the vet does it themselves it seems...

It may be different wiht a possible stamp type thing like racehorses...

 

I have seen them do chips at fundraiser benefits. You just line up with your dog, pay the money, and while you are holding the dog they just shoot it right in.

 

I chipped everyone of my puppies. Basically its a little gun with a thicker needle. The microchip is about half the size of a grain of rice. You basically inject it just like you would giving a vaccination shot. Right in the scruff of the neck.

I'm planning on having Smokey tattoo'd with his microchip ID #.....not sure how much that costs though....