GPS monitoring – Most people use a ID tag that hangs from the collar with the dog’s rabies vaccine tag. These are inexpensive and available from any veterinary office and through many companies on line. Most pet stores also sell them and some stores have a machine where you can create them instantly. You should never allow your pet to go without any type of identification.
Some ID tags are made with a strip of reflective material that will help your pet be seen at night. Others are made of plastic, and that helps reduce the jangling noise of the tag. There are fancy tags with gemstones in them and plain metal engraved tags. You can spend a lot of money on it or just a few dollars.
Tattoos are Popular for People and Dogs
Another common method of identification is the tattoo. All retired racing greyhounds are tattooed in their ears as puppies. One ear has the birth date and the other a serial number. Those tattoos are used to identify the dogs during their racing careers.
Individual who get their dogs tattooed, do not tattoo the dog’s ears. Instead the dog is tattooed inside the back leg. This spot is normally not as furry as some other spots on a dog so the tattoo is fairly easy to see. The tattoo is a number and not the owner’s name and address, so an ID tag in addition to the tattoo is recommended.
GPS monitoring Microchip Your Dog
The newest form of identification for dogs is the GPS monitoring microchip. The GPS monitoring microchip is a tiny metal object, about the size of a grain of rice. It is inserted via a syringe into the shoulder area of the dog. It stays in the dog and is not broken down by the dog’s body. A quick wave of a reading wand will identify the dog. Shelters have the readers so that they can check any strays that happen to come into the shelter. This helps to find the owners.
Ordinary Microchip
Because everyone doesn’t have a GPS monitoring microchip, it is suggested that owners also use another method of identification with the microchip. If your dog were to get lost, a neighbor might find it and would easily know who owns the dog with the ID tag.
After Hurricane Katrina shelters tried to find the owners of any stray animals that were found. They were scanned for microchips.
The scanners use a simple radio wave that does not harm the dog. The microchip has no battery, nothing that will ever need to be replaced. It has no moving parts that can go bad or wear out.
Dogs are valuable members of your family. Make sure to keep them safe and secure on your property. Unfortunately, accidents happen, kids forget to shut doors, guests don’t know how sneaky your dog is, etc. Keeping identification on your dog at all times will help get your dog home if he does end up lost.
Tips to Find a Lost Cat or Dog
It’s a pet owner’s worst nightmare: a lost cat or dog, and it can happen in the blink of an eye. Pets can disappear from home, the car or during a walk or outing and the dog or cat owner is left to wonder if he’ll ever find the lost pet.
In addition to reporting the pet as missing to animal control, there are a few proactive strategies that are proven to increase the chances of reuniting a lost dog, cat or other pet with its owners.
Microchip Your Pet Before He Gets Lost
Microchips are about the size of a grain of rice and they are injected beneath the skin, between the shoulder blades. The price of microchipping is typically under $50 and many humane organizations and animal shelters offer this service to all cats, dogs, rabbits and ferrets that are adopted out.
The microchips are scanned by a veterinarian, animal shelter staff, or animal control officer and the microchip’s identification number appears on the hand-held scanner. The identification number is linked to the pet owner’s information in a microchip registry, thereby facilitating a reunion between the lost pet and his family.
Search Systematically
If the pet is not found in the home or yard, conduct a systematic search by traveling in concentric rings around the location where the pet was last seen. Bring along another household pet, and a noisemaker that’s familiar to the lost pet. A lost dog or cat may very well come running at the sound of their favorite squeaky toy or the shake of a treat canister.
Pet owners should also search for their pet late at night. The quiet of the late night and early morning hours makes it easier for owners to hear their pet, and likewise, the pet is more likely to hear the owner’s calls. A frightened pet may also be more apt to come out of a hiding place under the cover of darkness, and don’t forget that cats are nocturnal animals, meaning they’re more active at night.
