Avoiding A Painful Experience – Being Reunited With Your Dog

Hardly a week or two goes by that you don’t hear of some incredible story about a pet being united with its owner… all because of the pet being “chipped”.

The month of May is “Chip Your Pet Month” and I wanted to make sure you have all the facts before making a decision as to whether to “chip” your dog or not.

How It Works

The “chip” we are referring to is a microchip which is about the size of a grain of rice. It is implanted under the skin of your pet through a process that is no more painful than your dog getting an injection.

The only information that is placed on the microchip is identification numbers that allow the pet to be tracked back to you.

That information is transmitted from the chip to a hand-held scanner that is passed over the area where the chip is located. Since there is not a “universal location” the scanner is usually passed over the body of the pet.

One of the biggest misconceptions is that it does not allow for tracking since it is not a GPS device. It only provides the identification numbers that track back to you and your contact information.

Why Chip Your Dog?

Every day, dogs get lost, run away, are stolen, and in many cases never return.

Losing your family pet is an emotionally horrible experience for everyone. No one wants to ever go through that.

One of the ways you can increase the odds of hopefully provide a way back to you is by having your dog microchipped.

In fact, in a recent study of stray animals at animal shelters showed that microchipped dogs were reunited with their owners 52.2% of the time. That’s compared to on 21.9% of dogs without microchips.

Important point to remember… most dogs that were microchipped and not returned to their owners was due most often to incorrect owner information in the registry database.

Don’t forget to register your pet and keep your information up to date; this information is necessary to reunite you with your dog.

What’s Next?

1. If your dog isn’t microchipped, you may want to seriously consider having it done. Follow up with a call to your vet for more information and what they charge to have it done. You can expect to pay around $40 – $50. That covers the cost of the chip, implanting it, as well as the initial registration.
2. If your dog already has this done, you should check with the registration database to confirm all of your contact details are correct. The microchip is only as good as the information that connects your registration number to you.

Microchipping is no guarantee you will recover a lost pet. However, if you want to have the greatest possible chance of being united with your dog again, you may want to consider having a microchip implanted.