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Microchip?
by Leslie R
ORIGINAL MESSAGE:
Microchip? I am considering having Phoebe implanted with a microchip when I get her spayed next month & the thing that bothers me is the possibility of it "floating" to another location. Has anyone had any experience with these things? Would a tattoo be better? Or to do both?

DISCUSSION:

Leslie: A year and a half ago we got the microchip when we had our Skippy neutered. We have it checked when we visit the vet and so far it hasn't moved.
Pamela


A couple of my breeder friends do both with the reasoning as follows: if the dog is lost, people can see the tatoo and may not check for a microchip --if the dog is stolen, someone could alter the tatoo making identification difficult, but the microchip is effective proof the dog is yours. Paranoid? Maybe.. but there are sicko's out there who would do this I'm sure. As far as I know, there is no danger involved in the microchip process, and floating is not common... but I've never personally used them (will do with the new puppy though!).
Aimee
I microchip all of my dogs and have never had any problems with chips relocating.
Cherie
Hello! I have a friend who is a Vet and she said she has had chips float. Also, there are different BRANDS, and of course, they all take different machines to read them. Why they didn't come up with one that could read them all is beyond me! Well, I guess then we would complain that it was a monopoly. I have also heard of people that have gotten dogs with tatoos and changed them to different looking numbers. Seems like you just can't win! All you can do is your very best with what is available at the moment. One thought...Zoogen does a blood DNA thing that is pretty safe and can't be tampered with. They do it on birds! Maybe dogs too? Hummm, I think I will check that out myself! Anyway, Good Luck and God Bless.
Jeannie
Flower got that chip implant and we really haven't had any trouble but when our pug got it his neck swelled up but that went away after a while. I've never heard of tatoos for dogs before though. Where do they put the tatoos?
Crystal

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