Next time Stanley goes to the vets I'm going to ask them to scan his chip make sure it's still where it's supposed to be
That's a good idea. I don't know how many times Brogan would get scanned and I'd be told, "He doesn't have a chip". Yes, I'd tell whomever that it was in his posterior before they scanned but people just didn't believe me until they tried scanning once where it was supposed to be. Probably won't make a difference to most people, but if you ever travel out of the UK with your dog, it's good to know where the chip is and ask your vet to show you how the scanner works before you head off. We got stuck at Gatwick once for three hours and were threatened with quarantine because the Easy Jet guy didn't know that you have to press a button on the scanner for it to work. Talk about panic! Brogan loved it as he thought he was being 'petted' every time they'd try to find the chip, but I was sweating bullets.
Interestingly all my pet passports state where the chips are implanted. My vets have always checked the chips as well in a check up prior to travelling and sorting out flea/tick/worming treatments
I think I'm going to get the vets to check Harley's too! Her tag has our surname on one side, my mobile no, house no, postcode and I'm chipped. Luckily she won't go off with someone she doesn't know.
On one of my dogs the chip has migrated down his chest. This, I was told, is fairly common when puppies are chipped early and I assume vets will get used to looking for chips all over the dogs and not just over their shoulders. It was a Vet nurse at another practice who couldn’t find the chip without some trying and it concerned me that it might be missed if he was lost. I tried my Vet who with a super wizzy new machine found and read the chip with no problem so they persuaded me that I should not be too bothered about it. I investigated getting another chip but gave up as it seemed quite complicated as the current chip was still working.
That is such a pretty tag with his name on it. You could keep that one on and have another next to it with your details. Hubby had a new tag made with our rented appartment's address for their adventure.
Wow, it would never occur to me to put so much information on a name tag (spayed, chipped etc), but I can see why you would. Xena doesn't have a tag. All dogs have to be registered here, so she has a rego tag on her collar which has her personal rego# and the council's phone number. The council database has ALL our info (our name, address, phone numbers) AND Xena's info (her microchip #, name, birthdate!). So if she were to go for a roam we'd be reunited quickly.
Yes, they should always do this on the pre-travel check, just to make sure the chip is still working and to verify that the numbers match up. If you're ever in need of a quick and cheap tag on the fly, go to a hardware store or even a big supermarket and get plastic key markers. I don't know if that's the right word for them, but they come in multiple colors with little clear windows and bit of paper. You write whatever you want on the paper, slip the clear plastic bit back in and they come with a little metal ring to attach to the key (or in this case the dog's collar). I wind a bit of clear packing tape around them to 'waterproof'. They are bright and happy, super cheap (.20 cents in Spain) and no waiting for engraving. Here's Toby (Alf) with his green ID tag attached to his harness:
+1 on those plastic key tags. I got some earlier this year from ebay. 1,15€ for 20 pieces, free delivery.
Ella has a microchip, and a tattoo in her ear for her Spay. We also have two tags on her collar. One is the council tag with her registration number (the council have all of her/our details on file) and a metal tag with Ella's name on one side and mine and the OH's mobile number on the other. I always figured that if Ella got lost then it would probably be helpful if the person that found her was able to know her name as it might help to reassure her while we arrange to get her back.
We have never put the name of our dogs on their collar discs. We were told not to but I can’t really remember the reason now - something to do with undesirable strangers enticing a dog by using it’s name. However, the trainer at one of the classes I went to, said she had the name of her dogs on their tags in case she was in a traffic accident and vets needed to reassure/treat a dog. I can see the sense of that and am going to get new discs made with their names on.
Is the council tag a legal requirements in AUS/NZ? Nelson has a chip, which the vet checks at every visit. But this thread reminded me that I had a name disc cut even before he came to us. Just got it out the jiffy bag and read, "NOSTEN" Then I realised I was reading it upside down
It’s very common to have your dog’s name on tags here - we only have her name and both mine And OH’s phone numbers on all quinn’s Tags. she also has a City license which connects to our information, a rabies tag (required) and is chipped. We didn’t put our address on her tags because I didn’t want that much info to be visible and (possibly crazy thinking) didn’t want anyone to know where we live in case of targeting to steal her. We do have friends with address on ID tags, but I don’t see it often anymore.
My cats and Boris are microchipped. When they have their annual vaccination I get the vet to check the chip. One year we discovered that one of the cat's chip had stopped working.
oops - just looked up the Isle of Man law....it says "It is a legal requirement for dogs to be licenced and, when outside their premises, to wear a collar and identification disc bearing the owner's name and address." Coco's tag has our address & my mobile number and land line number. No name. Not his, not mine. He is chipped, and I will remember to get the vet to check it when we go for boosters. When I was a child, our Dalmation, Kris, didn't have his name on his tag, but our family name. He was a friendly soul, and often we heard people chatting to him, calling him DOYLE.
We have to register all pets with the council and pay an annual registration fee. Both dogs and cats must always wear their registration tag. Lots of councils have strict rules about the number of pets you can own (ours is no more than 4 dogs/cats in total with a maximum of 3 of the same animal), cat curfews (I think ours is 8pm-7am but my in-laws council have a permanent curfew where cats are not allowed to leave the garden at all) and we are currently unable to register our animals unless they have been desexed (unless you have a letter from the vet explaining a health reason or you register them as a breeding animal and pay a huge annual registration fee).
Some people construct a cat pen that runs from the house, others use a harness and lead and I'm sure some just break the rules. My in-laws cats are old and can't climb the fences any more.
Thanks Emily, interesting to read about other countries' rules. I'm sure the desexing requirement has good intentions, but a shame they couldn't get the same result with owner education.
