Micro-chipping?

[katsola]

Does anyone recommend this? Have any of you guys done it. My mom's vet is having a March Madness Micro Chip special. My dog is an indoor dog unless I am with her, but sadly I saw a sign at a pet store about a pit bull that got out during a robbery. She looked like a sweetie. Very gentle looking. Makes me worry and want to micro chip my dog. Can anyone give some advise?

Kat

[jmann4]

Both my dogs are micro-chipped. Took about 2 seconds and it was over.

Most everyone here with a rescue probably has a micro-chipped dog. It's something I would recommend everyone do.

If, by some small chance, your dog does end up in a shelter, having one will increase the odds you get your dog back in a timely fashion.

[elegy]

my dog was chipped at the shelter before she came home.

i'm planning to get her tattoed as well when i have to put her under anesthesia for something else (teeth cleaning probably).

i don't expect to "need" it, but you never know.

[LeeLoo]

how much is it to tat or micro chip your doggie and how will anyone know its microchiped if they find em????

[jmann4]

Leeloo,

Most shelter's these days have scanning devices that are specifically meant to scan the chips. If your dog has a chip, the shelter will use the scan and detect it.

At the time I did it, the cost was $35 per dog. It varies from place to place I'd say.

[jcolt32]

I just got my 2 pits chipped. It was 40 bucks for the visit and the plan is $40 for up toi eight doigs when you register. I live in an area that does have dog fighting. ANd, my worst fear is that my dogs would be stolen and used for bait. Chipping doesn't prevent this. But, god forbid it happens and my dogs soemhow survive and wind up in a shelter, I can get them back. It's unlikeley. i ahve an alarm system on my house and a Pit Bull on every floor. They love people. BUt, i am pretty sure they would scare the daylights out of an intruder.

THe choipping is a good idea. It took 2 seconds. The needle is pretty big. BUt, my guys were great for the vet as theyt always are. In fact vets usually like owkring on Pits more than a lot of other dogs because they are so well balanced and ahve high tolerance for pain.

[CinderDee]

I just had my dog chipped last week. I paid $40.00 at the vet and had to send $12.50 to register the number.

He came from the shelter but wasn't neutered or chipped when I got him.

My dog is always with me, but I always worry about fires, robberies, etc. It's better to have them chipped IMHO.


Dee

[Bulldogger]

All of my dogs are micro chipped. I use the Avid system when I microchip my dogs. The Homeagain chips are useless!! They don't come up on the scanners half the time and they aren't relliable. JMO My vet was charging me $25.00 a dog, Which is a awesome deal. If you have several dogs I recommended buying the kit and you can get the chips in bulk, it's also cheaper. You have to know what you are doing it basically like giving a dog a shot. My vet showed me how to properly apply a chip.

[wndrtwns04]

Microchipping is a must! Have any of you heard about GPS implants?

[CinderDee]

Bulldogger,

After I read your post I went and checked which chip I had, and sure enough it was Home Again. :roll:
I wish that I would have researched the chips beforehand.

Thanks for the info!
Dee

[wndrtwns04]

OK i just checked and mine is a Home Again. So you think it sucks? Oh no! I am sad now.

[buckaroo]

My only problem with micro-chipping is that there are different chips and different chip readers. Your dog could be found somewhere that can't read his chip and they may assume he doesn't have one. If there were a universal system, I would be more inclined to do it.

I think the old fashion collar and ID tags work fine for now. Anybody that can read knows where my dog belongs.

[CinderDee]

I think the old fashion collar and ID tags work fine for now. Anybody that can read knows where my dog belongs.

That's a good point, but what if the collar comes off, or if the dog just happens not to have one on?
I feel better having the extra protection.

Here's a story of something that happened to the APBT that I was originally going to foster.
Her name is Petie and she finally found a home after being in the shelter for almost a year.
Her owner owns a few homes and he was in Florida with Petie for the winter, a few months after he adopted her. Somehow she jumped out of the car and ended up missing for months. I guess that her collar came off somehow. He had everyone looking for her! He was offering a large reward, etc. He did all the right things, but no one could find her.
He finally came back up north, but everyone was still trying to find her.
A woman from a rescue just happened to go into a Florida shelter one evening right before they closed and spotted a white Pit Bull with a spot over her eye. The dog was due to be PTS the next day. She went back and got her. Here's the part that really shook me up.
Petie's poster was on their wall AND Petie was chipped. I guess they never scanned her or looked at the "lost dog" posts.
It's scary. Petie and her owner were very lucky.
Kind of makes you want to tattoo too.

Dee

[buckaroo]

some animal shelters don't even own scanners. :roll:

I would actually tattoo before I would microchip. Too much can go wrong with the microchip.

[pocketpit]

I don't think any one form of I.D. is sufficient. I say do it all. Scary story like the one above, I visited the shelter one day on a whim and noticed a female German Shorthair in a kennel who'd been there for a few days. That's not a breed we see a lot of here so I guess that's why I remembered her so well. On the way out of the shelter I noticed a lost dog ad that matched her descripton and called the person who posted it. They in turn went to the shelter and discovered it was her! She was chipped, and the shelter staff had listed on her card that she wasn't. So something went really wrong there! My own personal story, my Staffy Bull was stolen and gone for almost 4 years. She had a collar and a tattoo. I did all the appropriate things (3 different newspapers carried ads, posted flyer in the neighbor hood, pet stores, and every vet's office, visited our two local shelters every possible day, ect). Still no dog. In fact, I was told by a human society officer that she was picked up dead off the road several months after this happened. She viewed pictures of te dog and everything so I assumed she was correct and I gave up looking for her. Wrong, I'm at work one day and get a phone call from my husband about my "missing dog". Turns out she (THANK GOD) ended up in another shelter the next county over and Diane Jessup just happened to recognize her. If she had a microchip, she might have been returned sooner. Maybe not, but maybe so. I'm a vet tech and in my office, we scan every stray dog that comes in the door be it a stray at large or one someone has decided to keep. We managed to reunite an owner with their Pointer that had been missing for a year this way. Someone adopted him, and he'd been brought in for a neuter. Our scanner is an AVID scanner and it does show if a dog's been chipped with the Home Again system. It doesn't show the number, but it indicates it's been done. At least we then know where to go looking.
Bottom line, do everything possible to i.d. your dog or you run the risk of never seeing it again.