Ear tattoo not as good as microchip?

[Glappy]

I imagine chipping is the best rout, But can greyhounds be returned via ear tattoo? Mine is registered to the previous racing owner on greyhounddata, so she’dhave to call the adoption center (which has ceased adoptions and I’m not sure how their future looks), who would then call me. That’s probably not a reliable string of events.

[ramonaghan]

Did the adoption group give you the paperwork to register her with the NGA? That's an easy way to be "official" although Greyhound Data has a field for Adoptive Owner now, which would suffice if you needed to prove ownership in the event she got away from you. (If you don't have edit access there, I could do that for you.) You could also have your vet make a note of her ear tattoos so you have a record there. All that said, no one's going to argue with you if she's wearing a tag collar with your name and number; mine wear theirs 24/7.

Slight digression because it's a good story: Many years ago one of the foster greyhounds in our group escaped and was never to be found again...or so everyone thought. Five years later someone reported a greyhound sighting, a trap was set, and she was caught in a few days. They were able to verify it was her by her ear tats and she was returned to the group, no problem. She had a terrible case of heartworm but otherwise was miraculously healthy. Cassie lived the next few years as a very spoiled pet before passing last year shortly before she turned 12.

[1Moregrey]

Agree with ramonaghan you can register her with NGA.  I would think you might get her back quicker with a chip as most places have access to them and it just takes a phone call.  Most people who find dogs take them in to get scanned.  Not sure if the average person who finds a loose dog would think to check with the NGA.  Just my thoughts mine have always had both and thankfully never had to test the system.

 

[macoduck]

Tags and a chip are the best way to get them home unless you also use a gps tracker.  (Side note: do not buy a Fi. The company is in chaos after launching a new version.)

Is your girl chipped now?  If not, and wherever you get it done, don't trust them to complete the registration. Follow up on that or if found loose only a clinic or store would be identified. I use PetLInk.net with a one-time registration, no renewal fee.

Often ear tattoos fade with age and become unreadable.

[Glappy]

I’ll have to check the paperwork. I remember I couldn’t do anything on greyhounddata. Not sure about NGA. I’ve had two dogs chipped with different companies and had no problems registering. I’ll get her chipped too.

[HeyRunDog]

Join Your Greyhounds History Facebook group and they will update Greyhound Data for you as well as finding out the family tree and racing data.

https://www.facebook.com/groups/531069191031946

[Trudy]

Collar with id and chip. Not everyone knows about tattoos or how to go about looking for info for them.

I was the adoption/rescue person at our local shelter and had a greyhound come in. I was the only one to look for her tattoos and then know what to do with them. They got me her race name, but not her adopted owner 

[lothianjavert]

Ozzy has a chip plus collar with ID.  And a FI mainly for my peace of mind.  He did not race so has no tattoos.  He is full NGA bred though.

[Mercsmom]

On 12/25/2022 at 9:42 PM, Trudy said:

Collar with id and chip. Not everyone knows about tattoos or how to go about looking for info for them.

Exactly.  Only us "greyhound nerds" know about greyhound-data or even that the tattoo would help with a lost hound.  Who knows whether Animal Control officers would know what to do not to mention the time lost.

[zimsmom]

Not to hijack the thread but does anybody use any type of air tags?  I don't have apple products but an Amazon search came up with a lot of different ones.   The distance they work seems small to me.   Some listed 850 Feet.  thanks.

[rsieg]

Ear tattoes can also become difficult to read over time.

[Glappy]

3 hours ago, zimsmom said:

Not to hijack the thread but does anybody use any type of air tags?  I don't have apple products but an Amazon search came up with a lot of different ones.   The distance they work seems small to me.   Some listed 850 Feet.  thanks.

I’ve looked, very briefly, at dog gps collars. They have to be charged basically daily. I imagine a AirTag type thing would work fine. I really have no clue how any of them work. Undoubtedly they need a cellular subscription of some sort. I bet there’s many others besides AirTag too. Might can set them up so they only ping a location every hour or something to save battery. The 850’ range ones are probably not gps, and that probably with optimal conditions (like walkie talkie type thing).

[HeyRunDog]

Basically Airtags work by sending out an ID signal that is picked up by the nearest Apple phone which then sends it's location to Apple's servers and then to your phone. When you get near enough your phone will then start to give you a more precise location. The system works by there being enough Apple phones in the area to pick up the initial signal.

[MarcR]

On 1/7/2023 at 12:03 PM, rsieg said:

Ear tattoes can also become difficult to read over time.

Exactly!

[JenniferS]

Best/fastest for identification purposes are collar with tags - I like Boomerang tags https://www.boomerangtags.com/collartags/ My dogs' tags have my address and two phone numbers. Additional tags can be your adoption group, town license, rabies, etc. but your phone # should always be on them. 

Microchips are great if someone gets your dog to a vet or shelter to have them scanned - and always make sure your contact info is up to date. 

Ear tattoos are a good (but last) option for IDing. 

For real time tracking, Air Tags are okay, but not ideal. GPS collars will give you the most up to date location. I use Link https://www.linkmypet.com/ and we have to charge it every couple of days. There is also Whistle, Fi and a lot of others out there. 

 

 

[zimsmom]

I was hoping the expert Jen S would chime in!!!  I'm trying to find if there is a monthly fee for the link above.  But thank you.