What's The Basic Feel Of Microchipping On This Fourm?

[greypuppyluv]

Standard practice is to insert the chip in the shoulder blade area.

[Guest jeannejj]

I microchipped my two boys. They don't wear collars in the house, so wanted them chipped. Mandy is not chipped, as she always has a collar, and at 12 isn't as likely to go too far.

[Guest Tigonie]

When they implant a teeeny tiny GPS in the chip, sort of like a puppy-lojack, then I'll reconsider.

Creepy! I'm not in a hurry for anyone to develop any such thing, 'cause you know some people would want to put one in each of their human kids. Then pretty soon, everyone would just grow up with a chip, no biggie, and there would be no such thing as privacy anymore. The government--and whoever could hack their computers, or goodness knows who else--could simply track where you are at any time. Yikes!

 

Ok, so that might be a tad farfetched and paranoid, but considering the potential, the whole thought does make me shudder....

 

 

 

ETA: I'm not against ID microchipping of pets. It's just the GPS idea that creeps me out.

Edited June 12, 2008 by Tigonie

[Guest MountainHounds]

Both of my boys are microchipped. When I adopted Kamin, my group didn't chip, but started to about a year later, so I had them chip him, I think I paid $20 or $25, I really don't remember. By the time I adopted Prax, they had started chipping every dog. We use Avid and when the paperwork is sent in, it has both the adopter's info and the group's info on it. I got thinking after reading this thread that I never updated Kamin's address when I moved (three years ago now) so I've got to remember to call and do that, although it does have the group info and if someone calls the adoption group, they know who he belongs to and how to get ahold of me, if by some strange chance he has lost his collar or tags

[Guest Nelsonismyhero]

My greys and pound puppies were chipped before they were adopted out to me, so I didn't have to have it done myself (still would have). When I got my puppy, he had been chipped with a European microchip (per FCI regulations) but American scanners can't read them. So, I went and had him fitted with an AVID chip. The price of microchips, at least with AVID, are getting so much lower that I think there's almost no reason not to get one. It's especially cheap if you go to a low-cost vaccine clinic to do it rather than going to your vet; that's what I did. It cost me 40 dollars and that included the registration. When I had a foster dog a few months ago, he was chipped while he was having his dental and it turns out that the clinic only used Home Again. Home Again seems like a nice company and provides a lot of services that AVID doesn't, but I didn't like the higher price. So, I will stick with AVID if I can.

 

As an aside, all of my dogs wear collars ALL THE TIME (no excuses except for baths) and each has at least four different forms of ID tag on them (one with my info, one with adoption group info, license and rabies tags) in case one tag falls off. When I had insurance even the insurance company gave me an ID tag. My greys are also tattooed, of course, and I'm taking my puppy in to be tatooed tomorrow. Tattoos are bit obscure to most people, but a lot of the shelters in my area are aware of tattoos (for any dog, not just greys) and will note them if they see them. Plus, it's a good way to prove ownership if collars fall off.

 

Audrey

[AndysMom]

A couple of years ago, we (GPA/Louisville) bought 50 microchips from HomeAgain. I processed all of the registrations myself, inputting GPA/Louisville as the primary contact and the adopter as the secondary. That way, if the dog bounced back to us or if the adopter failed to keep us updated on address changes, etc., we would be the first contact if the dog was found and scanned. We were very happy with the program.

 

BUT, last fall, when we had used up all 50 chips and were interested in more, the rep explained that program was being phased out, that we would have to pay more for the chips, that the registration fee was going up and that they were trying to push us toward buying lots of "premium" services (uploading medical records, poison control contact, etc.). These were all fine services, but we didn't want to have to jack up our adopters' initial costs by so much.

 

About this same time, a dog was picked up running loose. No tag, no collar, no nuttin'. Through the dog's tattoos, we were able to track the adoption group in Florida that had placed him and eventually tracked down the owner in Kentucky. We persuaded the owner to release the dog to us. Our vet scanned him and it came back with a number. I called HomeAgain and they informed me it was NOT one of their numbers, but gave me the number for 24/7 Petwatch (the makers of the chip). I called them and they transferred the chip to our group after we faxed the release form to them. No problem at all.

 

I was so impressed with their service and pricing that I ended up ordering 50 chips from them for implanting in future dogs.

 

BTW, you can register ANY chip with them. No fee at all. See http://www.24petwatch.com for more details.

 

Lois

[moofie]

Both my dogs are chipped it cost £24 and i could probably of got it cheaper than at the vets, but i was getting hector vacinated at same time. If i want to change details like address its £7.50 a time unless i pay a one off fee of £10-15 to be a premium member. Many groups/shelters now chip their dogs before they are rehomed.

 

I feel it was money well spent as tag collars can come off and many people wouldn't know who to contact about the tatoos. It seems like the quickest way to find out the owner if no tags.

[Guest jhev1]

I love the idea of chipping our dogs, but I think the risks are too high.

[Guest zoolaine]

all of my dogs are chipped through Avid. I kept my vet as the primary contact so I didnt have to pay any additional fees. My vet also has a ton of different contact numbers for me - cell, work, different family and friend numbers. This was especially nice when I went to New Zealand for three weeks and left my dogs with my mother. I know that if Home Again you do get a $3,000 insurance policy for your dogs medical expenses while it is lost - not sure of all the details though.

[greypuppyluv]

I love the idea of chipping our dogs, but I think the risks are too high.

[Guest longdogs]

While I'm sure there are dogs or cats out there somewhere that have had problems with a microchip, I've never come across one, nor have I met anyone who has ever had a problem. In much of Europe microchipping animals is totally routine and is required if you cross borders with pets. I'm not aware that this is seen as a problem. MIcrochipping is a reliable way to identify your pet in an emergency. ID tags can get lost, tatoos can be unreadable and most pets won't have them. I think microchips are a good idea and all our pets have been chipped from the time they first became available. We've had no problems whatever.

[Forevermybabies]

I had all three of mine chipped in Kanab Ut in 2003 or 2004...Can't remember now. Anyway, once in all those years, it meant getting my dog back faster than I would have otherwise. Or maybe I WOULDN'T have gotten the dog back at all. That was all the proof I needed. I think it cost me about $45 per dog when all was said and done. That's less than I spend at Starbucks in two months. Why WOULDN'T you have it done?

 

BTW, We update our Home Again online, and it doesn't cost anything. I've found them to be really good to work with, and especially when we moved, it was great to be able to know that the ID IN the dog was current. Because at that point, I wouldn't have even known where to start looking. Oh, and the final push to update when we moved was that I had a friend watch the dogs and I wanted to be sure that the right contact info was on the dogs. I trust my friend, but if they dogs did get loose, I know she'd feel AWFUL, and I would feel better knowing that they could be identified even if I weren't around.

Edited June 15, 2008 by Forevermybabies

[GreytNut]

All of my critters, hound and feline, are microchipped. Depending on where they were chipped, some have AVID and some have HomeAgain. I prefer HomeAgain over AVID because you can update your pet's info for free and do it yourself online. You can also upload a picture of your pet. My experience has been that HomeAgain offers a basic service with no annual fee and an upgraded service for $15 a year. AVID requires you to pay $6 per pet to update any info (this can get expensive with multiple pets) and I've never, ever had them get all of the information correct on the 1st, 2nd or even 3rd try. Their data entry operators simply do not pay attention to what they're doing.

 

Microchips are cheap insurance, provided that you remember to mail in your registration and keep your pet's information current (and complain if it's entered wrong). Collars and tags can come off or be removed. Not everyone knows what to do with an NGA tattoo. They just add an extra layer of protection if your pet is lost and a means of positive ID if your pet is stolen. When I worked for a vet, the first thing we did when we had a stray was scan them.

[LaFlaca]

My girl has an AVID chip. Is there anyway to check if her info. has been inputted correctly?

[greypuppyluv]

They should have sent you a confirmation letter with all the info they entered. If not, I'm sure you could call PetTrac and have them go over it with you on the phone.

[Guest lionessgrace]

My Grey came already microchipped but I would have done it anyway.

[Guest momto5greys]

Our group automatically chips. The first group I volunteered with didn't but I have since had all those dogs chipped. I think it's a good idea especially if someone manages to lose their collar.

[Guest Hotwire]

Our Vet actually pre-registers the microchips to the clinic, so if the owner doesn't remember/bother to register the chip themselves it will remain registered to the clinic. It was no charge to change the info when we got our pups done. All 4 are chipped, we also have a pet-recovery tag (has to be renewed anually)

 

Anything that we can do to get our guys back to us....hopefully we will never have to think about that

[Guest Skys_Mom]

All 3 of my Greys and my 3 shepherds are chipped.

[Guest EmbersDad]

yup, the vet did the avid gimmick when i brought ember in for her first wellness visit.

[Guest Sighthound]

Where we adopted her from said it did not matter because of the tattoo and collar she has to wear all the time. But I am seriously considering it. All our dogs are microchipped.

[DunesMom]

Three of my dogs are registered with Avid chips and one has a Home Again chip. I know for a fact that the Home Again scanner reads the Avid chips.

 

So if Home Again scanners can read Avid chips, and Avid is cheaper, why not use Avid even if you live in a "Home Again" area? :-)

 

If you move a lot or think you are, seems like costs to change address might be a consideration -- but if Avid scanners can't read Home Again chips, I'd still vote for Avid, b/c then you wouldn't have to worry about moving into an Avid area where no one can read your Home Again chips.

 

 

[Guest mickey85]

I've done a lot of reading up on chipping, and decided against it. It's money I don't need to spend. At this point, there are at least two companies that make chips, and their code readers don't pick up the other company's microchip. if I were to lose a dog in a place whose shelters/police/vets/etc use the "other" microchips, I'd be up a creek. If they even check them at all. With greyhounds, since most people probably don't know about the ear tattoos (or how to even check them if they did...or how to contact the current owner if NGA registration hasn't been reassigned), they're just as bad off if they got lost as any other dog with (hopefully) the proper ID tags. Also, the idea of hemmorrhaging and shifting doesn't leave me too excited about doing it to one of my dogs anyway.

 

ETA, just read some of the posts on this last page about home again and avid chips. I still stand by my comments, since you might still get a place that won't scan, or that has scanners that won't pick up your chip.

Edited July 10, 2008 by mickey85

[Guest team_weasel]

Ours are not chipped.

[lizjaye]

Garth escaped from me last June (07) when a German Shepard (unleashed)came full force at him and grabbed him by his throat. Garth, in shaking his head violently came out of his collar. In a second he was lose and running through Chicago's Lincoln Park. Several people on bikes went to watch where he was running but no one could keep up with him.

 

The adoption group person told me I do not need to have him chipped because of his tattoos BIG MISTAKE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I had to make 2 trips to Chicago's animal control (over 300 dogs there that day). No Garth. The lady shoving me from room to room (believe me zero assistance) just smirked when I said I have a greyhound and he has tattoos. She said, I quote "tattoos mean nothing to us. We scan the dogs to see if there is a chip, if there is we find the owner, if not then the dog has three days to live, unless the owner claims him/her". A DIRECT QUOTE!

 

Garth was found by a good samaritan and returned to me that day. He was microchipped a week later at his vet when we went to look at some stitches he needed after the order.

 

I understand the cancer component but there is little actual data to support it. You cannot begin to know how horrible it is to lose your dog in a city with 4 million people and no idea where to look for him.

Edited July 10, 2008 by lizjaye