I've been looking at Lost and Found Ads for Basenjis, and many times, people will post that the lost dog is microchipped. It is IMPERATIVE that not only is the dog microchipped, but registered to your name! (You might think, "Duh, Patty!" but hear me out…)
I just learned through experience about the Home Again microchips. When Home Again ships out their microchips, they will record the shipping destination on each microchip. If your breeder or vet received a shipment directly from Home Again, then your dog's microchip will point back to your breeder or vet, and if she escapes, you'll have a better chance of finding your dog if you never updated her registration.
However, what if the breeder could get a better price from an on-line vet supplier, and (understandably) purchases their microchips from ABC On-Line Pet Supply? If you get your dog from a breeder who says, "He's chipped", you may assume that the microchip is active and registered in the breeder's name... but do you know for sure?
This recently happened to a young well behaved dog, who was chipped, but when she went to the vet, the microchip simply recorded that the chip was sold to ABC Vet Supply. A Dead End.
Sadly, the owner probably thought, "Great! My dog is microchipped!", but never re-registered her, perhaps assuming that the breeder or vet could be traced? Although someone valued the dog enough to microchip it, she lost her "forever home" because the microchip has no useful information on it. :mad:
With that being said, if your dog is already chipped (the # is probably denoted on your vet records), and you aren't sure if (or where) it's registered to, you can look it up for free at http://www.petmicrochiplookup.org/. If it's not already registered, you can register it for $13- $25 (depends on the website; keep in mind they all share data.) If it is registered, then you have to go to that company's website to update the records.
Just a side note: I'm not pointing nasty fingers at any breeder, because I think they have the best of intentions when they microchip their puppies, and spend their money to promote all dog reunions.
The new dog owner needs to take ownership of his/her dog and make sure the registration is updated. Sometimes in the excitement of the puppy tails and sloppy kisses, the new parents may forget about getting the microchip updated, and it only becomes a priority when the basenji named Houdini does her magic trick and escapes… then, if they start questioning the registration process, it really doesn't matter if your Houdini has forever disappeared.