Microchip Common?

[Cherry Heart]

Arwen was chipped the day we picked her up (8 weeks old) with an AVID chip. She is registered under our name with the "Alternate Contact" being the breeder, incase we aren't home or can't be contacted. She didn't show any discomfort however when we got her last series of shots done at the vet, there was a small bump where the chip was/shot was given for about a week before it went away.

[BostonRott]

Many breeders have themselves listed as the alternate contact on the form, so that if the owners can't be contacted, the breeder is and can arrange to have the dog picked up, etc.

[PuppyLove]

Both my dogs and my horse are microchipped (the horse, primarily because of the fire/evacuation dangers - for identification purposes in the event the horses are evacuated to an emergency facility by emergency workers).

[Diva'sOwner]

What wonderful testimonials about the usefulness of chipping. She'll get chipped next week then when she's spayed. I think the procedure is way more common now than it was a few years back. It will be nice to know that there is a sure way to identify her in the event that she gets lost or stolen.

[SABELLESMOM]

All our dogs are microchipped (and registerred with the issuing companies) from the scraggly little rescue to the show dogs. We did the rescue (Home Again) at the vets. The girls (AVID)were done at the breeders before they came home, but I was there for the process.

I know around here if you get a dog from a shelter? They get chipped before you leave the premises.

[ACERSMOM]

The other problem with tattoos are that they fade in time or in the case of one of my dogs they absorbed the ink, which I have heard is fairly common.

[alex221]

Now, when they can apply the LoJack technology on these things, I'll be impressed!!

With my recent experience (see Otis' Great Adventure) I was thinking the same thing!

I also want to mention here, that if you happen to rescue a dog and your told they are microchipped, make sure you get a form to register with the company. When I called Home Again, the company that was used to microchip Otis, they only had a record of the shelter in NYC that had him as an 8 week old pup. I didn't know I should have been given a form to create an account with them. Silly me.

[RottnDogs]

One downside is that in smaller towns like ours, the Animal Control doesn't have the funding for a scanner. We chipped our dogs anyways, since we spend a lot of time on the road and in neighboring (larger) cities.

[frontierrots]

Originally Posted by alex221

With my recent experience (see Otis' Great Adventure) I was thinking the same thing!

I also want to mention here, that if you happen to rescue a dog and your told they are microchipped, make sure you get a form to register with the company. When I called Home Again, the company that was used to microchip Otis, they only had a record of the shelter in NYC that had him as an 8 week old pup. I didn't know I should have been given a form to create an account with them. Silly me.

The rescue SHOULD have transferred the chip into the group name. MOST rescues register chips in their names and the adoptors are NOT allowed to transfer the chips. This is to the dogs benefit as evidenced recently when a NERR dog turned up at a Florida shelter. The chip allowed the shelter to contact NERR. Adoptor evidentally vanished and thus NERR got Miss Jelly Bean (whom I chipped as an 8 week old by the way) back to New England instead of her being euthanised!


Also most vets have scanners now as most offer chipping

[frontierrots]

also, the majority of Homeagain chips are NOT registered with Homeagain themselves but with the AKC CAR (companion animal recovery)

[alex221]

Thanks for that info. And now that you mention it, when I called the number on the tag, they gave me a different 800 number to call. That must be what you're referring to. I still don't understand though, why the rescue didn't at least transfer him to their group name. Anyway, they have my contact info now.

[ArwensMom]

Both of my dogs and all four of my cats are chipped and I'll tell you why . . .

Moggie, my first dog, the Shih Tzu, came with a microchip. I used to tell people it was kinda like "puppy lojac". I always thought it was cool, but sort of useless, not something I would have opted to do to her. Nevertheless, I registered the chip. I am one of these fanatics who has every tag imagineable on my animal's collars in the event that they get lost . . . rabies tag, license, name and number tag, and microchip tag . . . one day about two years ago right around Christmas, I gave Moggie a bath and left her collar off so she could dry. Of course this is when she managed to find a hole in the back gate and disappear without a trace. I was terrified . . . at the time I lived very close to a very major street that had heavily used train tracks on the opposite side of it. She was nowhere. We walked the streets, asked neighbors, called all three local vets and gave them information, and finally, off to the shelter we went to check the deceased list and see if she'd been picked up. She'd been gone for about 8 hours when I started to think it was hopeless and she wasn't coming home. I got a phone call. "Are you missing a puppy?" She'd been found on the other side of the train tracks, under a semi truck, filthy and shivering. The woman who found her had the presence of mind to take her to the vet and have her scanned to see if she had a chip, and lo and behold, because all vets and shelters are required to scan all found or stray animals for chips nowadays, 8 hours after she disappeared, my puppy came home again. I don't even want to think about how she managed to cross that hugely busy intersection and cross those train tracks , but thank God for that microchip . . . I will never again not chip an animal and I will talk anyone's ear off about the benefits of doing it to anyone who will listen.

[Diva'sOwner]

Haley got chipped! She's home from being spayed and after one day of droopiness, she is back to her old naughtly self. I can't feel the chip in her back area at all though. Am I supposed to be able to?

[BostonRott]

No, you shouldn't be able to, it's roughly the size of a grain of rice.

Moderate her activity a little for the next few days, you don't want her pulling any sutures open (I know this is easier said than done, I had a heck of a time keeping Frol from being Frol after I spayed her. )

[Diva'sOwner]

Originally Posted by BostonRott

No, you shouldn't be able to, it's roughly the size of a grain of rice.

Moderate her activity a little for the next few days, you don't want her pulling any sutures open (I know this is easier said than done, I had a heck of a time keeping Frol from being Frol after I spayed her. )

LOL! Yesterday, I thought, who is this sad little puppy they returned to me? This morning she has almost all of her charm back. She even stole a piece of tissue from the trash! She's resting in her crate now (and will for the whole day). She has one of those cone collars around her head and she really HATES that thing (she's whining about it now). I've really glad I got the AVID chip though.