It just asked our local dog warden re tattoo's and they only check for them if greyhounds, otherwise it's chip only

>I don't have my dog's names on their tags, just our surname and address and telephone no.  On the back, my mobile no, which never changes, I've had it 14 years.   The second tag says tattooed,  NDTR and the phone no.

My tags have my affix (it's easier and shorter than my surname), and my address and phone number on one side, and they have I am tattooed and Microchipped please contact NDTR and Petlog (and one is Petrac) on the other side. 

I like their tags to jingle so they also have one of the oblong  ali green chip tags.

I would hope with THREE methods of ID, Two semi permanent (well as people say tats can fade a bit and chips stop working/move) and replaceable collar tags, I'd hope they would get back to me.

Sadly my friends Norwegian Elkhound male 'Bragi' 6 days on (from 22nd June 2014), with Ear Tat and Collar tag is still missing, please please share, he could be anywhere now, though missing in Scotland. https://www.facebook.com/findbragi?fref=ts

Shared Brainless,   hope they get him back safe and sound soon.

We're going to get the dogs chipped - it will be compulsory anyway, although I fail to see what advantage it will have. 

Puppy farmers may chip, but as soon as the dog is sold and transferred, that's them out of the picture, so no way of knowing how many dogs end up in rescue from puppy farms/BYBs v responsible breeders :(

This is my main gripe with the chip regist4ries, they don't have to permanently keep breeder details, and there's no provision for a breeder to notify them of their change of address, which is where the run by dog people NDTR score.

If pups have to be done by the breeder come 2016, I will send OH on a chipping course, but otherwise I will continue to have pups tattooed and then let the new owners get them chipped as I encourage now.

I see some mentionning the difficulty of finding a Vet to scan when the Vet's office is closed.  Don't other people have scanners?  In my area a GR breeder around the corner has one and some pet stores in rural areas do too. 

However I agree, can't tell you how many strays on my street the neighbours have simply ignored.  "Leave it, it'll go home on it's own."  One even told me.  Well one was miles from home.  And that's dogs, cats they don't even see.  Heck, that one that was miles wasn't chipped but it had a rabies tag and I found the owner in a couple of minutes because I bothered to read the tags.

We have had them here for hours though.  My OH even slept outside in the garage with one overnight.  He was afraid she'd be scared out there alone and she stank so badly I would not let her in to contaminate my house,my dog and cats.  That one had no collar and no chip.

I have a pair of scanners in my head.  They work 24 hours a day and 365 days of the year :--D 

Thing is, Petlog claim they are open 24/7 and 365 days a year, but unless you've bought a scanner, you won't be able to return the dog until the dog warden etc is open - and that could be quite a long time if it's a bank holiday or Christmas/ New Year

It doesn't matter is a local breeder has a scanner, most people in the neighbourhood wouldn;t know, unless the breeder advertised the fact - and why would they do that and put their own animals at risk?

Lewis's microchip is halfway down his front leg so yes they do move.

I know ;-)

That's what got me, this woman from the Dogs Trust was so forceful and adamant that the only chips that moved were because the owners didn't follow instructions not to groom/bathe/massage the dogs in that area for a few days.  So the owner's fault.

Where does that leave you with more than one dog, or a litter of pups you've had chipped,  do you have to keep them apart to make sure the chip beds in?

Thing is, they implant the chip in an area which is subject to quite a bit of movement anyway - behind the shoulder blades, which move everytime the dog gets up and walks, and even if the dog is sleeping they still move around!

[Thing is, they implant the chip in an area which is subject to quite a bit of movement anyway - behind the shoulder blades, which move everytime the dog gets up and walks, and even if the dog is sleeping they still move around!
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This is another reason why I prefer tattooing - I believe we will have more trouble with 'lost' chips when the legislation comes in that breeders have to chip them prior to them leaving.

From knowing our local dog warden and dog handlers they scan all over the front of the dog as everyone knows they can travel, what's te problem with this? It moves but can still be scanned. Doesn't affect the dog in any way..

Doesn't affect the dog in any way..

Unless it moves into a joint & has to be removed. No point in scanning the front of the dog if the chip has travelled to the tail ! The correct way to scan a dog/cat etc is a full body scan as advised by the chip companies

Fair point about the whole body... Have you ever come across it getting into a joint?

I've come across it going across a shoulder, rupturing, causing an allergic reaction and a huge abscess, that caused raised ropey scarring ending a smooth coated breed bitches promising show career.

Not to mention pain for the dog and large vet bills for the owner.

I have also had a vet have to take ages to find the chip he knew was there, (change batteries and try again) so I wonder when a chip was not found easily, how long they would keep looking before assuming there wasn't one in a stray.

I don't see that there is any fail safe way to identify any dog, there are flaws in anything we have right now

So having as many as you can, hopefully one will work.

Exactly, Better to safe than sorry brainless :)

I see some mentionning the difficulty of finding a Vet to scan when the Vet's office is closed.  Don't other people have scanners?  In my area a GR breeder around the corner has one and some pet stores in rural areas do too.

Our local pet shop doesn't have one :(. And we live in a pretty far out area. Of course another dog owner would have some a sense about getting it read. But people that don't own dogs really would have a clue. I've been at the village pub before when a wandering dog appeared tag-less. It was pot luck that the neighbour of the owner was at the pub too! I think if the dog had approached someone who "had had a few" in this case they wouldn't think about finding a breeder/petshop/vet to get it read. I think tags are just better for people that have little or no dog knowledge.

Totally agree Barbara

Don't care what the law says , since having someone stop to pet my dogs and have a sly look at their tags I am never putting my address on them.

Mine have the dog's name on the tag (some people disagree with that), my postal code and phone number on the front of the tag, and my vet's phone number on the reverse.

Somebody here talked about tags on collar CHAIN.   Please, if this is a choke chain, never leave that on your dog - it's fine for control when exercising, but must always be taken off otherwise or the dog could so easily get caught up on it, and choke.

We're going to get the dogs chipped - it will be compulsory anyway, although I fail to see what advantage it will have.

Puppy farmers may chip, but as soon as the dog is sold and transferred, that's them out of the picture, so no way of knowing how many dogs end up in rescue from puppy farms/BYBs v responsible breeders :-(

I'd share this concern too ..................!

ps   Re these chips moving (which is why I didn't jump at getting this done early days btw), my Basset, who was chipped a while back, has been having intermittent (twice actually) lameness on one front leg.  Could this be down to the chip - it comes on fast, and goes after a night's rest in his crate .... he comes out perfectly sound.   Currently I'm on a wait and see game with him re x-ray which if it happens again, he will have done.   Currently he's been on anti inflams./pain killing meds. although since this resolves fast, it a tad pointless really!!  Next time I go into the vet I'll have them check where the 'chip actually is now!!

>Somebody here talked about tags on collar CHAIN.   Please, if this is a choke chain, never leave that on your dog - it's fine for control when exercising, but must always be taken off otherwise or the dog could so easily get caught up on it, and choke.

It is not just a risk of getting caught on things. Dogs can catch their jaw in collars on other dogs when playing. More than one dog has died because they got caught and then strangled the other dog in their attempts to get free. With a chain collar even if you are right there it would be impossible to cut if this happened.
http://www.whole-dog-journal.com/issues/16_5/features/take-it-all-off_20740-1.html
http://yourdogsfriend.org/death-in-the-dog-park/
http://www.breakawaycollar.com/yourdog.cfm

Not me personally, but one of the vets at a practice I have used had to remove one from a GSD's elbow, the dog had gone lame on the leg & as he had 0 ED score they knew it wasn't ED. They scanned him for his chip for another test & it was found in his elbow :-( Bayer(the chip company)paid for the operation to remove it, as they had previously stated that their chips didn't move in some literature. Took a solicitor's involvement though to get them to pay :-O

BTW if a Dog Warden, Rescue etc fail to check for a tattoo & rehome the dog other than to the NDTR registered owner it is a criminal offence apparently.

Not me personally, but one of the vets at a practice I have used had to remove one from a GSD's elbow, the dog had gone lame on the leg & as he had 0 ED score they knew it wasn't ED. They scanned him for his chip for another test & it was found in his elbow :-( Bayer(the chip company)paid for the operation to remove it, as they had previously stated that their chips didn't move in some literature. Took a solicitor's involvement though to get them to pay :-o

Even more I'm going to get my boy scanned for his chip!!   What I can't understand about his two 'lame' episodes is the fact that both times he was lame, he'd done absolutely nothing different - the first no excessive abnormal exercise and the second time, he'd been fine until he had rolled around on his back, which he's prone to doing when he's 'feeling good'.   He got up and wouldn't put the foot to ground on his front nearside.   I could feel nothing and produce no squeek - he was obviously feeling something not to be using it however.   This was on a Sunday.  He went to bed in his crate as usual after spending the evening sleeping quietly on his bed in the living room with us.   On both occasions, he came out the next morning perfectly sound again.  I saw my vet on the Monday morning and despite pulling him about lots on that leg, only in one direction did he get a slight reaction.  He gave him an anti inflammatories/pain relief course of tablets.   If it happens again, the plan is to x-ray.  But before I do that now, I will ask them to scan for the 'chip!!!    I'd gone to OCD actually (but at 4.5 years isn't he a tad older for this?) and this lad did have premature closure of the growth plates, ulna both sides so even for a Basset, his front legs now turn out too much - it was suggested this was putting extra strain on elbows.