Hi everyone. I havent posted in a while but I did have a couple of things that are bothering me at the mo. Ill try to keep it brief and may as well ask all my qus in one post! Thanks for any help and advice, Lisa.

1) Cracker my IG, is now nrly 7 months old, he is booked in to be microchipped next week, but is this a good idea? any tips or experiences? Is there a particular 'type' i should use as the vets only does one 'type'. He is only a small dog with thin skin, will this make a difference?

2) Cracker has always had a bit of a cough. we still havent gotten to the bottom of it and the vet says not to worry about it. However I have noticed that on occassion he will take maybe two or three loud breaths for no apparent reason? could this be a problem with his soft pallate or maybe something else? any help or info much appreciated, Lisa x

Leo was microchipped at 12 weeks and he was fine, it was the pet ID chip which registers them with petlog which i think is the most well known.

Not sure about the cough but if you are worried maybe get a second opinion?

Hello,

I think microchipping is a good idea even though it relies on other people but there are lots of dog lovers out there! I work for the police and when someone rings to say they have found a dog I always ask them to take it to a vet to see if it's chipped..we do have some happy endings, it's fab xxx

I have had no problems with my dogs being chipped.  The owner of one of my pups phoned to tell me that she had had her chipped at 10 weeks and they had no problems either.  I always get my dogs chipped as if they just have a collar on and that falls off or gets taken off then they still have a form of ID.  My vet only does the PetLog chip.

Can't help on the cough/heavy breathing unfortunately.

Only advice I can give on chipping is this:-

1.  Always make sure you update Petlog of any telephone number, or address changes.  Even a temporary change.

2.  Should your dog go missing, contact Petlog immediately tell them to put a stop on the chip.  That way no one can ever change the details including a rescue or vet.

3.  Get a tag saying microchipped and a telephone number (no name)

Hope this helps you

I had my working cocker microchipped when she had her initial jabs.   When the vet got the gun out I had quite a shock as it looked like such a big needle for a little pup (and I am completely needlephobic myself LOL).  She yelped really loudly(she didn't feel anything when she had her vaccinations) and the site bled for quite a while afterwards and when we got home she was sick and really lethargic all day.  I would take a favorite toy or treats with you and make sure Cracker isn't going to be left on his own when you get him home, just in case.  I felt really guilty afterwards, but I still think microchipping is a good idea: maybe I'd just leave it a bit later next time.

My boy was done at 10 weeks and didn't flinch at all.  I'd say the earlier the better based on my experience.
Hope the cough and breathlessness is nothing to worry about.  I'd get a second opinion if it was really bothering me.

I don't chip my dogs as I don't like the idea of inserting FBs into their body.

If I did chip I would do it at another time than their vaccinations.

Thuja can minimise vaccination reaction.

You can also tattoo dogs which I think is preferable as there is nothing to migrate or stop working and it does not need a scanner to read; the disadvantage is that it is not that wonderful on the dark coated animals.

thanks for the advice everyone. as it turns out Cracker got a bout of gastro...us? (not sure of the spelling). He was very poorly for a couple of days but is now fully recovered. So his chipping has been put off for a couple of weeks. These things all seem to come at once. Apparently a couple of his milk teeth havent fallen out, so he may have to have them removed in a few months and his tonsils are STILL enlarged after months now, so the vet has said she does want to get to the bottom of it and may take a swab in a week or so. She says it cud be some unusual bacteria??  Anyway thanks for your help and i will keep you posted! Lisa x ((and ill make sure im in after his microchip has been done.))