would be interested to know views on microchipping?
can see the good points but are there any bad?
plus what age would you recommend having a puppy done
also worried would the chip move as puppy grows.

I wish that vets would scan the animal everytime the animal visits vets this way we would all know 1: if it's working and 2: if it had moved 3: if the animal actualy belongs to that owner.

Chips can and do migrate, sometimes resulting in a source of infection if they break the skin for eg.

OTOH they  are a good source of ID and have resulted in a great many pets being reunited with their owners - sometimes many months or even years down the line :)

My current residents are all chipped however in one it has moved to her shoulder - it moved within about a week!   It can be easily felt but not obviously visible due to being a double coated breed.  It's still picked up and read accurately by the scanner but a little less effective perhaps should she ever be lost as not all vets / wardens will take the time to go over most of the dog in search of a wandered chip :(

Some people prefer to permanently ID with a tatoo but it's really personal choice as of course these can fade or be obscured by hair in the ears.

Katt - I often ask my vet to check the chips are where they should be and/or readable when the dogs are there for any reason and I'm sure most vets would do the same even if just popping in for a free weigh in etc. 

To the OP - IMO it gives us all a little extra peace of mind that should God forbid they go missing whether lost or stolen we have a better chance of getting them back but any foreign body put into our animals carries some form of risk so it's worth weighing up the pros and cons :)

HTH, regards,
Teri

I have all my 7 dogs chipped, also my cats, and recently just had my 2 GD DNA profile done costing £15 each. another safeguardm if there were stolen etc..
I would have no problems with chipping any of my animals,  as a previous post said ,wish the vets would check them more often!

con: not all of them, but many vets doing the chipping. as they dont do it properly. the correct way to chip is between the shoulder blades. but vets tend to forget this and chip as they would give an antibiotic injection, which is under the scruff.
under the scruff chips are more likely to migrate than between the shoulder blades.
rescues and breeders are also trained to microchip. i would use them instead.

My vet does scan my dog every year and so I know it is still working.  I can't imagine a vet refusing to scan your pet's chip on a visit, it doesn't cost anything.

My neighbour found a stray cat lurking outside our houses. It was very thin and had somehow managed to get one of its front legs through its collar.  Poor little thing must have been hobbling about like that for a long time because the collar had embedded into the flesh and stank badly. I couldn't take it in because my dog hates cats, but I gave it some food to keep it in the area and it was starving.  My neighbour rang the RSPCA who took the cat and scanned it for a chip and it had one.  The owners were over the moon to have their cat back and bought my neighbour a bouquet to show it.

To me that story alone shows the value of microchips.

lucky i got a scanner so i can check my dogs,
plus it be handy to when i take my bitch aboard to to check ,

This week I had two dogs health tested for my own peace of mind but mainly to contribute to research and establishing EBV..estimated Breeding Values for all breeding stock..a way forward (IMO) in my breed.
Many breeders are using a clear result as a marketing tool and a 'face-saving' strategy. The vet wasn't particualirly interested in my dogs identification ( KC registration or Microchip) and wanted to submit the results for assessment with their pet names. I spent some time explaining how breeders could keep submitting a known clear dog to get all their stock passed, therefore keeping many dodgey breeding stock and he was shocked and hadn't though about 'ringers'. He read my dogs chips and included them on their scans and agreed that permanent identification was the only above board way of maintaining a true picture of the state of the breed.

In boxers it has been known for good graded dogs to be re-submitted to clear a kennelmate and permanent ID could avoid this.......
What do others think?

all my dogs are chipped, and before the litter of pups went to there new homes i got them chipped as well

All my dogs are chipped and i will chip all my puppies before they go to there new homes.

I have all my pups tattooed and suggest that the new owners also have them chipped.

This time I had my own pup chipped at the same time, but decided against chipping the rest of the litter due to the fact that often new owners do not transfer details to their names.

According to the Kennel club I  own about 40 dogs, where in fact I only own four plus two deceased and the two of the new pups (one of whom is staying for good) new pups.

I believe a similar number of mine are still in my name with NDTR (yes I know you can take the transfer off the new owners to ensure it is done at time of sale, but there is enough paperwork as it is).

Hi tooolz

In my breed so far there are currently two recommended health tests, both under KC/BVA schemes  (hips and eyes) so both requiring the registration documents.  I've always thought that to most vets (especially when going to a specialist opthalmic covering a clinic over 3 days at a champ show!) that one dog is going to look very much like another dog (in the same breed at any rate :-D ). 

Faced with a sea of black/yellow/white/sable/merle whatever IMO would be an unidentifiable number of dogs which looked the same yet one known "clear" among them could be trotted in and out for exam indefinitely if a breeder was of that mindset .......

Permanent ID must be made mandatory IMO to close that loophole.

regards, Teri :)

All my pups are chipped before going to their new homes so at roughly 6 weeks or so. I have found the chips don't move in large dogs, but have moved in most of my small dogs and in lots of cats. However that has never caused a problem and they've not moved far. Recently I've started chipping cats higher up than recommended, i.e. at the scruff rather than between shoulder blades, and I've found then the chip stays put.

Teri,
I sometimes think that we are twins, separated at birth.
XX

I bet you're a looker too ;)

And a weegie....uncanny that......
Was your mother a wee dark haired woman?

Spooky - she was indeed! :-D

Our dogs are both chipped and tattooed, incase the microchip migrates or stops working.

Our vet said that sometimes when people think a microchip has migrated, it was just put in the wrong place to begin with, as some people underestimate how loose a puppies skin is and pull too hard, so when the skin is released and returns to its original position the chip is in the shoulder. Not sure if that's true but I guess it may be in some cases.

> Katt - I often ask my vet to check the chips are where they should be and/or readable when the dogs are there for any reason and I'm sure most vets would do the same even if just popping in for a free weigh in etc. 

Teri - If I do not request chip checked it doesnt happen. In my opinion the once a year health check-up the chip should be scanned automatic and written down approx where the chip is. If any new clients then the chip should be checked. Best being safe than sorry and it would give much peace of mind.

> If any new clients then the chip should be checked. Best being safe than sorry and it would give much peace of mind

I agree completely :)

What individual vets do on the issue can't really be guaranteed of course but ideally they would all make it policy to check these regularly - as I've said I pre-empt it with mine as they don't go for routine annual MOTs :)

My dogs are all chipped, except for my 10 year old girl :-( I've just never got around to getting her done.

My 4 year old bitch had to have her chip removed after it had migrated and a new one was implanted. I informed the KC and they changed their records, but her KC document still has the old number on it. This caused me problems when I put her in for her x-rays. The vet phoned me up to check that I had given the right dog, or document ;-) Even though it was the same vet that had done the re-implanting ;-)

Both of my last 2 litters have been chipped before leaving home, and my future litters will be chipped.

Teri do you know of thise website: http://www.vetsgetscanning.co.uk/ It's got good info for owners and vets :)

No - new one on me katt but it seems a good idea which appears to have gathered interest :)

thanks for the link, Teri

There are lots of answers on the chips themselves so I'll just comment on the age. My most recent puppy's vet asked me to wait until she was 5 months old to get the chip. She's a golden retriever so a fair size at 8 weeks but still small for such a large needle. He had two reasons; one, they are less likely to hurt by the big needle if older. Second, he wanted her first visits to the vet to be as pleasant and stress free as possible as so many dogs learn to hate or fear vets while very young. I have to say there was a big difference between her and my first golden. He was done at 10 weeks - a proper 10Kg chunky boy but he really cried when they chipped him. He's only cried in pain twice, once with the chip and once when a vet punctured his ear drum so he's not much of cry baby. My girl at 5 months didn't even notice the jab. So based on that small sample, any of my future pups that aren't done at the breeder's will get their chips at around 5 months.

My preference is for tattooing, but I do both & do litters for both @ the same time. None of mine migrated & Wukee was chip & pinned(as my assistant calls it)@ 6 weeks old.

When I've done older dogs some haven't noticed being done & some have had  quick whinge.

My Rjj's chip was put in the correct place & migrated first backwards to the end of his ribs & has ened up in the front of his chest !!

Thank you all for your replys
  to my questions on microchipping
  you have been most helpfull

My last two litters were chipped at 5 and 7 weeks, if they didn't have owners at the time, my friend who is a qualified micro-chipper, left me the blank copies of the Petlog papers and I filled in the new owners details once they had new homes.  One copy to new owners, one to Petlog, the other to the implanter.

all ours are chipped and we also have our own scanner/reader which we always take abroad with us as i once had a bad experience of a defra scanner not reading an overseas chip!!! Some of our hounds chipos have migrated about 12 inches and one has completely disappeared altogether despite a full body xray search!!! I regularly run the scanner over them to ensure all present and correct after that!!!

She's a golden retriever so a fair size at 8 weeks but still small for such a large needle. He had two reasons; one, they are less likely to hurt by the big needle if older. Second, he wanted her first visits to the vet to be as pleasant and stress free as possible as so many dogs learn to hate or fear vets while very young.

I can see the point about first vet visit for sure (so yet another good reason for breeders to do it BEFORE they sell the pups) but it shouldn't ever need to HURT. The needle is that sharp it should just slide in. I know I've mentioned it before but when I accidentally chipped myself once I never even noticed until somebody pointed out that I was dripping with blood. :)

I do find older dogs are MORE likely to make a fuss than pups though. Same with cats and kittens. So personally I definitely prefer to do it young. I also don't understand any breeder who doesn't get it done before selling a pup -it's just that bit of extra security. :)

> I do find older dogs are MORE likely to make a fuss than pups though. Same with cats and kittens. So personally I definitely prefer to do it young. I also don't understand any breeder who doesn't get it done before selling a pup -it's just that bit of extra security. :)

I prefer the visibility of the tattoo and only chip because it is required for Pet Passport.

MarkSurrey: Our vet said that sometimes when people think a microchip has migrated, it was just put in the wrong place to begin with, as some people underestimate how loose a puppies skin is and pull too hard, so when the skin is released and returns to its original position the chip is in the shoulder. Not sure if that's true but I guess it may be in some cases.

Hello Mark, could be misunderstanding your post here?
but your vets comment might be proving my earlier point, that on the whole, vets dont know how to microchip properly.

as when you chip there shouldnt be any loose skin at all, whether its pulled tight or not.
the comment implies he is talking about the scruff???
and chips shouldnt be implanted into the scruff.
it should be right at the base of the scruff between the shoulder blades, where there is barely any loose skin.

>it should be right at the base of the scruff between the shoulder blades, where there is barely any loose skin.

With most puppies all the body skin is loose - it's as if they're wearing a couple of sizes too big! It only fits properly on the legs and tail. A tight skin on a puppy is a sign of ill-health. Even on most adult dogs (certainly all the gundog breeds I come across) there's still plenty of loose skin on scruff and rump.

Im getting trained to microchip next month yay!!

Hello Mark, could be misunderstanding your post here?
but your vets comment might be proving my earlier point, that on the whole, vets dont know how to microchip properly.

To be honest, I'm not 100% sure what he meant, as it was a very general comment. The breeder we got the pup from implanted the microchip, and I was simply asking the vet his view as to the likelihood of migration, hence his comment. I wouldn't like to draw a conclusion either way as to his skill/experience off the back of a single statement.

Hi LouiseDDB who are you doing your course with? i done one at the beginning of the year and it was excellent.
One of my girls who was chipped by my vet the chip has now moved to by her shoulder, my other ones i had done by a breeder who lived local to me and they are still in the same place.

> I can see the point about first vet visit for sure (so yet another good reason for breeders to do it BEFORE they sell the pups)

Yes, if they get it done at the breeders you don't get the negative associations of the vet's and they haven't reached the fear stage of their development yet. I'd be happy to get a puppy that was chipped. As for hurting I think it's like getting your blood drawn isn't it. You can get someone who is brilliant and gets right in the vein with no fuss and those that try to give you an elbow lobotomy!

My vet also advised waiting a while before having Hugo chipped, he too wanted his first few visits to be pleasant. He believes pups should all ideally be chipped before they leave the breeder.

I would also really like to have him tattooed but have no experiance of having this done.
I have a black, long haired puppy. Does any one know how successful a tattoo would be and what the best age to have it done would be?

The very best age is between 6 & 9 weeks with the breeder, I've had a dog with black skin inside his ears & the black ink we now use was quite clearly visible & he was done the week I got him @ 8 weeks old

I didnt have freddie microchipped until his last jab at the vets for the reason mentioned above - its importnat for the first few visits to the vets to be as pleasant as possible. My vet also tole me the needle is quite large and he was happier doing it on an older pup. (when i saw the needle i understood what he meant!)

My dogs were microchipped when they got their first injection.  Rory's migrated to his breastbone!  The vets were adamant that this type of chip didn't migrate blah blah blah so it couldn't have migrated.  Well, says I, scan him then! I do think microchips should be a legal requirement though - esp with identity fraud (for dog health checks and KC reg) and dog theft.  And all dogs should be scanned by the dog wardens and vets and police at every visit.  I wonder if it might even be an idea that the dog wardens were notified of every id number living in their area?  And certainly the id number should be on the KC documents for the parents etc.

I am interested in getting my dogs ears tatooed also, although some tatooes are hard to read, guess it depends who does it.

I have registered for registering my puppies on-line and there is a facility to update records for those dogs in your name (which includes pups before they are transfered) with their tattoo and chip numbers.

So all my owners will get their new reg documents with the tattoo numbers included, and of course the chip and tattoo numbers are included on the documents for the dam (sire too if they have them).

I can agree with mandatory permanent ID for breeding animals but would prefer the choice of chip or tattoo or both, as neither method is foolproof.