Microchipping vs. Tattoo

[Vanessa]

Does anyone have their Basenji microchipped? I have also heard that another option is having your B tattoo'd. Is this true and if so, where can this be done. I know that your local vet can perform the microchip but who tattoo's?

[Quercus]

All of my Bs are chipped, but none are tattood (?) mainly because I have been reluctant to just bite the bullet and have them tattood. There are breeders that do the show circuits that tattoo; and I think some dog groups have tattoo clinics. I haven't heard of vets that do it, but it is definitely possible.

I guess my concern about tattoos is that the dog has to be held down, and relatively still for the whole process. If the person is not very skilled, or the dog is particularly difficult the tattoo can be large and/or unattractive at best, and unreadable at worst. For those that haven't seen this, the tatoo is usually done in the inner thigh area, and usually the AKC number, or owner's phone number, or some other identifying number.

I really like the microchip system. It is easy to implant (for the vet) and I use AKC Companion Animal Recovery program. If you move, or change numbers it is really easy to update the info. And most vets and shelters use scanners to check for chips on lost dogs now days.

[jessi76]

I had my dog chipped, also with the AKC companion recovery program. IMO, it's inexpensive added security. On a number of occassions, my dog has slipped out the door w/out his collar on, or has actually slipped out of his collar. sorry, i don't know much about the tattoos.

[lvoss]

All of my dogs are chipped and I have all of my puppies chipped before going home. It is easy and most vets and shelters now scan for chips. My oldest boy is also tatooed. He was tatooed when he 18 months old. He was fairly good about it, minimal squirming. When it was done, it was very easy to read but at 9 years old, it is now larger and kind of blurry. It is a good visible sign that he is owned by someone but I don't know that it would make it any easier for someone to get him back to me.

[tlbuddy]

Cali is microchipped. They did this at the Humane Society when I adopted her. When I take her to the vet they scan the chip occasionally to see if it is working properly.
tlbuddy

[Tuneysmom]

I have my B chipped. The thing that bothers me is that I read somewhere that there are 3 different companies that make chips and the scanners and they are NOT interchangable. Has anyone else heard of this? I would hate to lose my dog while traveling and not have him returned because the scanner couldn't read my brand of chip.
:confused:

[lvoss]

All scanners recognize that a chip is present and I think can even tell what brand even if they can not read the number. They do make universal scanners that can read all chip brands and I think that is what many shelters have.

[Tuneysmom]

That makes me feel a little better about spending the money on having him chipped. I think it is great aside from those doubts that I had and prefer it to tattooing.

[BDawg]

I just got Lexi microchipped today- and I am still a little unsure of how it works… The company is TruePaws. She had two chips inserted so that different scanners would work on them. One works on 134.2 kHz and the other is 125 kHz. So now that she's double chipped, she should definitely be found if she ever escapes.

I don't understand who shelters call when they read the number from the chip. Does anyone else know? I tried looking up TruePaws and did not find any info on the web really. Who all do we need to give her microchipping numbers to?? HELP!

[WBL]

One down side to tattooing is that they can be altered.

BDawg, with the microchiping as far as who they call it'll come up with an id number of the chip and I believe the company it's registered with and then the vet/shelter can contact that provider and they will either (by your permission) release your info to them, or contact you with where your pet was located. With yours it can be read by different scanners as there are some that only read certain types of chips. The 134.2 chip is one commonly used outside the US, and the 125 is the mainly used US chip frequency

Reggie is micro chipped with the Home Again, and Pigmy (cat) has a european Avid Chip. Then they are both registered with the AKC Companion Animal Recovery (CAR). http://www.akccar.org/index.cfm

Also from the chips I am familiar with you are issued a collar tag that has your pets chip number and a phone number to call, same principal as with scanning the chip.

[lvoss]

I have not heard of TruePaws or double chipping before. My pups are all chipped with the Home Again chips and are registered with AKC Companion Animal Recovery. Usually the shelter will call the chip manufacturer as most of them have a chip registry.

[BDawg]

Okay, finally got it… I had to call someone to figure it out. The guy at our hosp told us wrong. Anyways, to set it straight: when they scan the chip, it tells the vet who to call and gives the ID number. I thought it just gave them an ID number. I couldn't figure out how the vet would know who to call. Got it now. Thanks for everyone's help. :)

[JazzysMom]

Jazzy is chipped with the Avid chip. If she's found I'll be contacted and if I can't be reached Bryan {breeder} will be notified.
She also has a tag on her collar with chip number imprinted.

[abby_basenji]

My other dog is chipped and registered with the akc companion recovery, bot of my cats are tatooed but that was done when I got them from the humane society, I plan to have my B chipped soon.

[JoeyQ]

I had Joey chipped when he was neutered so no discomfort from that. I don't think it is very uncomfortable to have done without being asleep tho. Just curious, what have you all been charged? My "chipping" was $49.

[BDawg]

Lexi was chipped with 2 chips- one of each frequency. The cost was $29.99 and since we're a part of Banfield's wellness program, we got 15% off.

[JoeyQ]

Hey! I only got one chip! I should have looked into it a bit more, huh?!