Many
breeders now offer the option of microchipping your puppy even before
you bring your new bundle of joy home.... and if your breeder doesn't,
your vet does. The NACR cannot recommend this highly enough as
protection for both you and your cockapoo (any family pet, actually). A
microchip is a tiny bit of technology that is inserted into the muscle
between your dog's shoulder blades, just like giving an injection. It
is not a surgical procedure, does not require anesthesia, takes only a
few moments and is worth its weight in gold (and then some). Fees vary,
but they average about $40.00 for it to be done by a vet; usually it's
a little less if done by your breeder. All pets, regardless of
lifestyle, should be microchipped for their and your safety and peace
of mind.
The microchip contains an identifying number and originating information that can be scanned and read by qualified people - vets and animal shelters. The main provider of microchips and scanners is AVID PetTrac. There are some others but this is the most widely used. Once a microchip has been inserted into your pet, if your pet goes missing and finds its way to a vet's office or shelter, the first thing usually done now is to scan a stray or found animal for a microchip. The scanning procedure is harmless also - an instrument something like a bar code scanner is placed over your pet's shoulders, and if a chip is present it is magnetically read to get the ID information. Contact is then made to you or your animal professional that your pet has been located.
You generally have two options of registering ownership once your pet is chipped. You can choose to let it remain at the first level, which will ID the chip back to the professional that inserted it; they in turn should have a record of what chip is in what animal and then can contact you that your pet has been located. Better still, for a one-time registration fee (usually $15.00) you can follow up and fully register your pet with PetTrac so that your name, location and contact information is on file for a more direct assurance of you being notified when your pet is located. Registration remains in effect unless ownership changes and then a small refiling fee will update the information.
Having your pet microchipped also carries another benefit - not only does it help return your pet if it becomes lost, but microchipping is also an accepted manner of positive identification in case of theft or disagreement of ownership. Cockapoos are very popular; pet napping is not unheard of. A microchipped pet can be positively identified back to its registered owner when cases of ownership discrepancy arise. In addition, if you keep a tag on your pet's collar indicating that it is microchipped (usually supplied when you have the chip inserted, or add it to your pet's ID tag) it serves as a major deterrent to pet napping. Tattoos can be altered or removed rather easily; it is not nearly as convenient to remove a microchip. Also, should your pet become lost and arrive in a shelter and someone else decides they like it enough to claim it as their own (or, even just honestly think it IS their pet), the ID information on a microchip ends any argument over ownership. Microchipping serves as a means of legal proof of ownership (it's even known to be done in circumstances of pet custody over divorce).
We share with you with permission the story of Baxter, a cockapoo in Washington State, and his microchip. Baxter goes to work each day with his physician mom and dad Drs. Nancy and Robert M. This note was sent to their NACR breeder with their request to encourage chipping to all new and existing owners:
"Baxter had a little adventure last week which reminded me to tell you to INSIST that the owners of your puppies have microchips placed in their new puppies. Somehow Baxter slipped out the office entry door into the foyer on Thursday. He has done this once before, but usually has a brief exploration of the rather boring foyer, then scratches on the door glass to come back into our office where he knows he can get continuous attention. Thursday, however, the upstairs orthodontist office was moving out and their movers propped open the outer door, so he went on out to the parking lot. Apparently while exploring the parking strip along that busy street (he has never tried to cross any street but ours, which is a quiet neighborhood cul de sac) a woman driving by saw him without a leash and pulled over, opened her passenger door, called to him, and he obediently jumped into her car! Not realizing that he came from the adjacent building, she took him to a nearby vet hospital and left him with the message that, if nobody claimed him in 2 days, she wanted them to call her because she would take him in a heartbeat.....
.....The vet scanned him and found his microchip, called the national registry, and they notified us immediately. In all, he was missing for about 30 minutes (or a year, depending on who is describing the time frame!) If we had not had him microchipped at the time of his neutering, I cannot even imagine how hard it would be to get him back. Of course, we were very lucky that the woman who found him, and obviously fell under his spell instantly, was honest enough to turn him in and not just keep him. I can no longer even imagine life without Baxter. So if anyone you know has not already chipped their pup, send them this message: DO IT NOW. It cost us about $40 and our vet said she does it free for people who think they cannot afford it."
Please microchip your pet- it will save you a lot of heartache even if you think something can never happen to your pet. The photo below shows an xray of a ten pound cockapoo with her microchip.... you can see the relation in size to a penny that was taped to the xray. It's hard to think something so tiny can do so much good should it ever be needed. Microchipping has become the universal standard for pet ID; AVID believes in it so much that they also donate scanners to nonprofit shelters in the effort to be sure as many pets can be reunited with their owners as possible.
The microchip contains an identifying number and originating information that can be scanned and read by qualified people - vets and animal shelters. The main provider of microchips and scanners is AVID PetTrac. There are some others but this is the most widely used. Once a microchip has been inserted into your pet, if your pet goes missing and finds its way to a vet's office or shelter, the first thing usually done now is to scan a stray or found animal for a microchip. The scanning procedure is harmless also - an instrument something like a bar code scanner is placed over your pet's shoulders, and if a chip is present it is magnetically read to get the ID information. Contact is then made to you or your animal professional that your pet has been located.
You generally have two options of registering ownership once your pet is chipped. You can choose to let it remain at the first level, which will ID the chip back to the professional that inserted it; they in turn should have a record of what chip is in what animal and then can contact you that your pet has been located. Better still, for a one-time registration fee (usually $15.00) you can follow up and fully register your pet with PetTrac so that your name, location and contact information is on file for a more direct assurance of you being notified when your pet is located. Registration remains in effect unless ownership changes and then a small refiling fee will update the information.
Having your pet microchipped also carries another benefit - not only does it help return your pet if it becomes lost, but microchipping is also an accepted manner of positive identification in case of theft or disagreement of ownership. Cockapoos are very popular; pet napping is not unheard of. A microchipped pet can be positively identified back to its registered owner when cases of ownership discrepancy arise. In addition, if you keep a tag on your pet's collar indicating that it is microchipped (usually supplied when you have the chip inserted, or add it to your pet's ID tag) it serves as a major deterrent to pet napping. Tattoos can be altered or removed rather easily; it is not nearly as convenient to remove a microchip. Also, should your pet become lost and arrive in a shelter and someone else decides they like it enough to claim it as their own (or, even just honestly think it IS their pet), the ID information on a microchip ends any argument over ownership. Microchipping serves as a means of legal proof of ownership (it's even known to be done in circumstances of pet custody over divorce).
We share with you with permission the story of Baxter, a cockapoo in Washington State, and his microchip. Baxter goes to work each day with his physician mom and dad Drs. Nancy and Robert M. This note was sent to their NACR breeder with their request to encourage chipping to all new and existing owners:
"Baxter had a little adventure last week which reminded me to tell you to INSIST that the owners of your puppies have microchips placed in their new puppies. Somehow Baxter slipped out the office entry door into the foyer on Thursday. He has done this once before, but usually has a brief exploration of the rather boring foyer, then scratches on the door glass to come back into our office where he knows he can get continuous attention. Thursday, however, the upstairs orthodontist office was moving out and their movers propped open the outer door, so he went on out to the parking lot. Apparently while exploring the parking strip along that busy street (he has never tried to cross any street but ours, which is a quiet neighborhood cul de sac) a woman driving by saw him without a leash and pulled over, opened her passenger door, called to him, and he obediently jumped into her car! Not realizing that he came from the adjacent building, she took him to a nearby vet hospital and left him with the message that, if nobody claimed him in 2 days, she wanted them to call her because she would take him in a heartbeat.....
.....The vet scanned him and found his microchip, called the national registry, and they notified us immediately. In all, he was missing for about 30 minutes (or a year, depending on who is describing the time frame!) If we had not had him microchipped at the time of his neutering, I cannot even imagine how hard it would be to get him back. Of course, we were very lucky that the woman who found him, and obviously fell under his spell instantly, was honest enough to turn him in and not just keep him. I can no longer even imagine life without Baxter. So if anyone you know has not already chipped their pup, send them this message: DO IT NOW. It cost us about $40 and our vet said she does it free for people who think they cannot afford it."
Please microchip your pet- it will save you a lot of heartache even if you think something can never happen to your pet. The photo below shows an xray of a ten pound cockapoo with her microchip.... you can see the relation in size to a penny that was taped to the xray. It's hard to think something so tiny can do so much good should it ever be needed. Microchipping has become the universal standard for pet ID; AVID believes in it so much that they also donate scanners to nonprofit shelters in the effort to be sure as many pets can be reunited with their owners as possible.
Click to enter NACR site if you came from a search engine
Last updated 1/05 © Inclusive from 1999, NACR.