Hi all,
         Just had my boy's microchip checked. He's 18 months old now, and was done as a pup. The vet nurse almost gave up and asked me if I was sure he had a chip, then we heard the beep- almost in his "armpit". He still has a little growing to do, so I will have to keep an eye on it. Not sure how often to get it checked? Should it stay put once fully grown? Anyone else got experiences?

Jess

Yes, had mine done as a pup and it is now in the region of his elbow.

My girl, who was microchipped as a young pup, now has hers at the front of her left shoulder.

One of mine now has his on his chest, it's been there since he arrived here in the UK at 11 months and hasn't moved since. He's 5 now

Check out the search facility (at the top of the page) and you will find hundreds of very interesting threads on this subject :)

I did do a search, promise :p got 6 pages of results with nothing relevant- but I did so on my phone, dunno if that gets less results.

Anyway, I doubt his chip will move much more then, and it sounds like it will stay there. How often do people get them checked if they're in a funny place? Just whenever you happen to be at the vets?

Microchip Migrated to Throat

FAQ Forum: ~Microchips Still Migrate!!

****Microchipping****

I would not worry to much. If you get your vet to check its location whenever you are in there, that should be ok.

I'm not worried at all, I know they often move, just wanted a rough idea of how others monitored migrated chips, from the horse's mouth so to speak :)

Thanks very much for the links, Admin, will have a read through.

I think unless you are lucky enough to own a scanner, then you will need to leave it in the hands of your Vet. I would not advise you to 'fiddle' with it (to make sure it is still where you last found it!) just in case you accidently manipulate it into moving again. I can not speak for anyone else, but from past experience, mine moved until it found a place to lodge (elbow). It didn't do any harm there (that I am aware of) and I guess the 'joint' stopped it from moving any further. They are pesky little things but I don't think any real harm is done by their manoeuvring :)

It is not the fact that it is moving may harm the dog, think that unlikely, but if it moves to a position were people do not find it then it is not doing the job it is intended to do. If those looking try the usual place and the area adjacent then they will be likely to declare the dog is un-chipped.

Implanters are trained to scan the complete animal & I mean the complete animal, however few vets/rescues do & usually just scan the neck, back & chest :-(

This has always bothered me....I once took a young dog I bred to get his hips x rayed at 13months and had a hell of a job finding his chip which was eventually found down his chest.

Because of this I now always leave until pup has finished growing and have them done just before their annual BVA eye test at 12 months.

Have a pup here now 10 weeks old and was going to risk it and have her done with second vaccine but thin i'll now wait

Ali

I know this is by no means a scientific experiment, but I ask all owners of the dogs I microchip to get them scanned whenever they visit a vet and to let me know if it has moved at all. Noone has ever gotten back to me saying it has migrated. Whether or not they didn't ask their vet, or if they did they haven't contact me, but noone has ever got back in touch and I have microchipped well over 150.

As others have said, just a case (if you don't own a scanner) of asking at the vets for the location to be checked, when you go in - doesn't have to be the vet to operate the scanner :) The bad news is that chips can continue to move when fully grown :(  Got a friend with a large dog ... his chip regularly moves. From left elbow to chest, to right elbow, to shoulder :O

There's a new scanner aimed at pet owners - still comes in at just under £50 though:
http://www.seapets.co.uk/products/dog-supplies/dog-toys-and-treats/dog-tags/microchip-scanner-for-pets/halo-microchip-scanner-reader-for-pet-owners.html?ref=googlebase&gclid=CJ6QoMK1yrgCFU3LtAodOHUAgg

I know someone looking at getting one for her agility club, so all members can check the location of chips whenever they like, good idea for a club to buy one - think most members would be willing to contribute towards the purchase cost.

parrysite - actually, it could be a very scientific experiment. Looking at the migration of microchips would be a very good research option for a PhD student, I've always thought. Looking at breed, size of dog, age of chipping, etc, - not come across any published papers of this having been done so far. If I could afford another 3 or 4 years of study/research I'd love to do it ;)

I definitely think it needs looking into. I have a theory- and it is only a theory- that those dogs microchipped when under sedation or microchipped in the 'sit' position or lying down are at the higher risk of movement. The man who trained me has been microchipping pretty much since they came into the UK market and noticed that they reduced the risk of migration by having the dog stood up, almost like a show stack. When I microchip a dog I make sure they are stood up properly and not sitting or lying down- I think sitting down on lying on the side really does make a difference as you don't implant it into the 'normal' position that your dog would be in.

I used to microchip my pups before they went to their forever homes, and any newcomer to my household was chipped as soon as I could get them to the vet. Not now. I have had several chips move. All the pups were either sitting or standing at the time of implantation. They were all done round about 7/9 weeks old. I have told my pup owners that I will pay for the chipping but have asked them to wait a while, just to give the pups a chance to grow a bit. This is a large gundog breed. I wonder if it is more to do with the person doing the chipping than the actual chip itself.