Can anyone give me some info on tattooing please? ( for my pup i might add -not myself !!) :)
I've asked about microchipping but have no info on tattooing at all . When is it done ? Does it fade with time ? Is it more reliable than chipping or would you get both done ?
Anthing that helps my pup get returned should he ever get lost is of interest .
Lel

Personally don't like tattooing. On a holiday in France we found a lost dog, it had a tattoo in it's ear but was unreadable. We were recommended to take it to a vets in a town about 10 miles away. Fortunately, the vet knew the dog. My daughter did her work experience in a vets in France last year and had to help with puppies being tattooed - she hated it as they all squealed so much :( . There must be some advantages tho' as people still do it :)

Daisy

Hi Lel.
I DO prefer tattooing to chipping. All my cats are tattooed and one of my dogs. The reason my other dogs aren't is because the coat has grown in the ear of the first dog and has somewhat covered it, so, my vet has said he would tattoo them for me inside their hind leg, in the groin area (like the pit bulls were) if I want him to. I will have this done if they ever need an anesthetic, as the dog would need to be sedated. I have not known tattooes to fade, my cats tattooes are as clear as they were when they were first done.
Dawn.

Personally I would also think the tattoo would fade with time and therefore be unreadable ?
Are they tattoed on their ears ? Forgive my ignorance but I know nothing whatsoever about this .
I dont know anyone who has had their dogs done either so therefore cannot ask .
If they are tattooed , can you still "show" ? :rolleyes:

Lel

Yes they can be shown!! :D

I have all my pups tattooed by the network of tattooists of the National dog Tattoo register http://www.dog-register.co.uk/. The ones done as 7 week old pups with the small calipers are very easy to read on all the litters I have had done that are five and over.

I found the ones done with the large calipers that the dots making the numbers spread making them less clear, and that you would have to shave the ear to read the whole number, not so with the little numbers where the dots merge together more, and when the number grows it is still easy to read.

I like having a visible ID. both types of ID can be missed, with the tattoo if only part of the number can be read the registry can still find the owner by a process of elimination. Chips can easily be missed when scanning, even when you know they are there. A friend recently was reunited with a dog he lost 3 years ago when the dog warden picked him up. He may have been rehomed or kept by someone, the chip diod him no good. whn looking aftera dog, sooner or later you would notice an ear tattoo. Vets should check ears and eyse, etc when checking a dogs health.

It is best to keep the hair from growing in the tattooed area until the tattoo has set well.

All mine are chipped too.

Thanks for the info.
Have just been on to the above site and found a name and number for a local tattooist .
Does it hurt though ( truthfully) ?
Lel

I have had all mine tattooed. The bitch was done at the same time as her first litter, and she sat as good as gold and wagged her tail the whole time! The puppies squealed, but they will squeal if you hold them firmly when they don't want to be held anyway. If you can get the tattooist to come (they come to your house for a litter) when the puppies have been fed and are sleepy, then they are quieter, which to my mind proves its a psychological thing rather than pain.

The tattoos done with the modern small-dot caliper are perfectly legible after 4 years - no probs. Yes, they can be shown with tattoos, and its the only ID method I know that can't be lost - collars and tags can be, chips can move or break. Tattoos stay there.

With pups I have found what they object to most is being restrained, as they need to be kept still. As soon as the deed is done, they are standing on their hind legs watching to see what you are soing to the next one!!! LOL :)

Have had freinds come with older dogs to be done, and the ones that objected most were two JRTs. Even my frinds year old sensitive Border Collie gave a squeek, and was happy to make freinds with the tattoo lady, as was my oldest bitch when she was done at 3 years old, along with her Pups.

I would imagine it is similar to having ears peirced.

One of mine screamed blue murder when she was microchipped, and she doesn't bat an eye lid with Vaccs, but has been warier since the chipping.

They say the chip is the size of a grain of rice, well it must be a grain on steroids! The needle is pretty thick too.

They both have their advantages, and I think having both is a good idea.

Hi lel, I answered on your other thread about chipping, I prefer tattooing. My GR was done as a pup before I got her, and I had the others done last September. I contacted the NDTR for a tattoo'ist near me and the lady came to my home, I actually ended up with 12 dogs being tattoo'd as I knew a few people who were interested and we all co-ordinated to have them all done at the same time as the lady nearest to me came from Dartford in Kent. The tattoos are done in the ear. They are tattoo'd by first pressing the calipers onto the ear, the calipers have the blocks with numbers inserted, the numbers are formed by little pins, so the caliper is pressed onto the ear, making the little pin hole numbers inside the ear flap, and then the ink (like a veg dye which also contains a antiseptic and is really soothing) is applied over the inside ear flap and the dye then dries and soaks into the pin hole, you have to avoid the dogs getting wet etc, no bathing for a week and the dye stuff just flakes off leaving the tattoo. It does hurt, but no more than the microchipping does, they cry for a couple of seconds if that, unless of course you have a GSD who will con you into thinking they have had their ear severed!!!! and it is all forgotten about. The pups have the little letters with grow will the dog. How well it comes out, depends on if you stopped them licking each other ears, getting wet etc, mine are perfectly visable, Cookie had little letters, it also depends on the size of the ear flap. The tattooist told me that even in years to come if one letter is not readable in old age, they can still trace the owners by the other letters/numbers as the combination of some of the letters/numbers is enough. I chose tattoing this time, because of it being visable to everyone, Chips travelling (although this appears to have decreased with better technology), and dog thefts. I have also given my vet all the dogs tattoo numbers, to have on register, as a safeguard, so they know the dogs are definitely mine. it really is personal preference. I think, I am not sure, that for the pets passport scheme the dogs have to be chipped and not tattoo'd although I may be wrong. I'm one of these people who travelled abroad extensively when I was younger, and now feel that until I see all of my own country I don't want to go abroad again, so it doesn't effect me. :D Julie:)

Lel, it does hurt but just for a second - no more than the needle injecting the microchip, have you seen the size of that needle :D. Depends on how your dog is , on whether they cry or not, Mauser released his anal glands up the dining room wall, but didn't yelp, Decoy just looked confused - no change there then! and Cookie shrieked his big baby head off. My Friends cockers didn't murmur, her collie yelped. her collie cross cried out. My other friends Am Bulldog just looked around after to see if a fly had landed on her ear :D, and her staffy didnt flinch. A Springer yelped, and a Chinese powder puff cross yorkie yelped a little bit. Julie:)

That has really surprised me about the vets not having to inform you !!!
If your dog was stolen could the "thief" - or the new owner ( if it was sold on) simply get the vet to change the info on the chip database to their own details ( ie call themselves the registered owner with their name and address etc) or would they need some sort of agreement from you as the legal owner or as the last known owner .
This has really surprised me . Do you have experience of this happening to you ?
Hmmm- now I am even more unsure of which to do - chipping or tattooing ?
Maybe both is the better option after all.
Lel

Lel, I changed my post about the chipping and vet thing, I didn't think I'd put it across right, I'll see if I can find the article, It was to do with Data Protection, If someone found/stole your dog and decided to keep it, and took it to a vet for treatment, if the vet scanned the dog and found the chip, they didn't have to contact you - as the new person was their client. It would be between you and the Microchip company to sort out, but how would you know?! I'll go and have a look for it as I don't want to mislead anyone, hope I can find it. Did anyone else read the article, It was in Dogs today/Your dog?? Julie:)

Poo, I can't find it - hope someone else read it and knows how to put it across better than me :( Julie:)

Julie, it was in Dogs Today. I was horrified too. The Royal Vet College was advising vets not to get caught up in telling rightful owners, and the Data Protection Act meant the microchipping companies couldn't tell you.
LynnT

cheers for that lynn - thought I was a crazy woman for a minute there!!!! I know I had seen it somewhere Julie:)

Going back to the vets not having to inform you - would it be the same for tattooing ?
Lel

from my experience, it depends very much on the breed/pigment of the dog. I had a dobe with pink skin done with green ink & it was fine. However I had a pink skinned hound done but the hair kept growing over the number & unless you shaved the ear with a razor each week it was useless. Also, the tattoist put a 2 in the wrong way around & it looked like a 5. We also do the foxhounds with a tattoo and as they have pale skin & no hair in ears it is fine.

I've even seen a black pigmented ear of a Flatcoat tattooed and done properly with the right colour dye it showed up fine. I took a friends GSD puppy to be tattooed and although it squeaked at the time, we had a cup of tea and the tattooist brought her GSD puppy into the room and both puppies were playing without a care in the world!

The down side was that on the way home, the puppy was travel sick all over the seat of my car which at the time was a two day old Volvo! Do you wonder that I hate GSD's?

Regards, John

Rofl, John :D.

I had GSD in Germany and they were tatooed in the inside of the hind leg. Couldn't read it anymore after 3 years. I also had a couple of tatooed dogs in (GSD and Red Setter) - neither I nor the vet could read the tatoos. But the microchip can get damaged as well :(. So there catch 22. I like the m-chip better.

Taylor

My hubbys working cocker has both, just in case the 'little prince' goes missing! so getting both to be on the safe side does not harm in my opinion. The lady who had her springer tattoo'd when I had mine done, had already had him chipped too, he cried and she stroked where it had been done to 'rub it better' and felt something, the microchip was sticking out of the skin:(, showed the vet, who red faced did it again! lucky she rubbed it better or she may never have known, not all vets do the scan to check it is in place, and Mauser has never had his checked since it was done - so next time I am at the vets with him I'll ask to see if it is still in place. Julie:)

Do you think a tattoo would show up on a black Staffordshire then ?
At the moment the ears are not too hairy but the ends of the ears have black hair on already . Do you think in time the tattoo would become un noticeable ?

Hi Lel, Cookies and decoys ear flaps are really pinky so theirs shows great, Mausers skin is darker and his ears are hairier but his is still clearly visable. The staffy that was done, Samson, is dark too and his shows fine. Why don't you give the nearest tattoo'ist to you a ring and have a chat, they won't pressure you or anything and will happily answer any questions you have, I'm not saying don't ask them here or anything:) but sometimes speaking to the actual person who will be the one doing it for you may put your mind at ease, or make you decide its not for you, if that makes sense:) Let us know what you decide. Everyone has different perferences. Also Mausers ears are really hairy on the inside but you can see the tattoo, but bear in mind they were all only done in September, so in time it may be different. One of the vets has his old dobe tattoo'd but was done as a pup and you can only read about four of the numbers, but apparently it is still enough for the identification purposes. HTH Julie:)

Hi Lel

I always used to get my dogs tattooed and it is only the youngest one who has not been done.

Can be done from 7 weeks and yes, it does fade, most of them are unreadable. Although I have black (coated) dogs their skin is pink and they are still mostly unreadable.

This and the fact I wanted them rabies jabbed was the reason I switched to microchipping.

There is no harm in getting both done.

Christine

I have all my dogs and puppiesd tatooed{goldens} and have had no problem with them,
My friend who has weimeraners and dobes also has her ones done and are all still visable after 6 years.
Yes the pups cry for a few seconds when they are done.
I prefer tatooing as if you see a dog that has been stolen and know it is yours you can have a tactful sneak in the ear then scream and shout showing VISABLE proof that the dog is yours, with a chip you would need access to a scanner to check and after speaking to my ex-policewoman friend she agreed this is an easier way for identification .
One of mine wandered off in the woods and when found by someone who knows my lot are tattooed {but didnt reconise the dog}she simply waited for me to return to the car park and reunited me with her.

Funny taht i have just seen this thread, as its soemthing that came up somewhere else today (dunno where, mind like a sieve).
I think i might get both done! saffy and rocky are both chipped, but dill is yet to be done so i was considering both.
Microchips have their downsides, chips can move, be faulty, and also the prob with the vets not being able to tell you if someone else has your dog. Also what has dawned on me, whilst grooming rocky and checking for his chip, which i can feel, is that if a dog is stolen, and the thief finds the chip, it would be a very simple task with a razor blade to remove it!!!!!!!
Yes, tattoos could fade, become stretched and unreadable, and also could be altered too.
so i think i will have both!!!!!!!! as they do both have advantages!

Emma

That is my take on the matter of identification too :d forgot to say, as the law of the land demands, mine also always wear a collar and tag!! :D

Thanks to all those people who offered advice and information on this topic .
We had pup chipped today -as we were already at the vets for his last jab . Poor little thing did squeal for about a second bu that was it . Poor love :) He seems alright after it . After hearing all the info I dont think we will tattoo after all - due to his colouring etc I dont think it would be of any use after a while .
Lel