Tattooing

[Sue R]

There has been a bit of discussion on Sheepdog-L concerning tattooing as an option for dog ID/recovery. I was wondering if anyone on the board tattoos, what sort of "registry" they tattoo with, and what sort of tattoo they use, and where.

 

I see that some folks use generic numbers or phone numbers, etc. How does a person or shelter finding a lost animal know where a tattoo is registered. What if you had moved or changed your phone number for some reason?

 

Would it make sense to just tattoo something like "microchipped" (or "CAR chip" or "AVID chip") so that anyone recovering your dog would know to scan? That might improve the recovery of the chip info if the chip had migrated, as the recovery person could take care to scan more than just the shoulder area.

 

I wonder how many dogs are never reunited with their owners because there is no reasonable way to find the owner of a dog that has been recovered outside its "home area" without permanent, usable, and detected ID?

[WWBC]

When you register your dog's tattoo with NDR they have tags available with their 800 number and you can have the tattoo number engraved on it. It states the dog is tattooed. They also have some nice, heavy, nylon buckle collars, the ones I got are black, with an orange stripe and state the dog is tattooed and NDR's 800 #

They also have

decals for your vehicle. I use the dog's registration number(used to use SS #). I tattoo my dogs on the inside of the thigh/groin area.

 

The only dog I have microchip is a victim of the shifting microchip problem that has been mentioned several times. I still prefer the tattoos.

 

WWBC

[Sue R]

Thanks for the info. I tried to access the NDR website but my abysmally slow download just took too long.

 

There is going to be tattooing available at Lacys' September clinic/trial. I am thinking about having my dogs tattooed there and was wondering what others felt about it, and how it worked in terms of recovery.

 

My dogs are chipped and have tags (normal tag, dog tag, rabies tag, chip tag, etc.) but I also wanted something that didn't require collar or tag in case the dog lost the collar. I am thinking about getting safety collars with the tag attached by rivets so they can have a collar on with ID at all times, but one that can't catch up on something.

 

I like leather collars but they are not practical for the dogs when working cattle. I can run the nylon ones through the washer but not the leather ones, although I could use saddle soap, I expect. I wonder how effective that is on cattle poop or the occasional dead woodchuck they rub in?

[laurie etc]

Oh yes - Have the Mantlo's tattoo your dogs over anybody else I can think of (that's who will be at the Lacy's in September). They have done all of mine over a span of almost 20 years. They are wonderful, and I have never seen them need sedation on even the worst candidate (I also held for a gazillion ill-mannered rescue dogs). There are no long lasting effects - my dogs all jump up and are ready to go immediately.

I have had them all done with my registered NDR # (SS # VA) and it's worked great (I know there's controversy over using your SS# on stuff, but someone would have to be pretty desperate to flip my dog, write down the number and then steal my identity from it). And I only had to register w/NDR once - it's a lifetime registration.

[Shoofly]

Sue - the Mantlo's are great at the tattoos, i got mine done there at Karen's last time around using the dog's ABC #s. And like i said before - the plastic coated nylon collars with riveted tags are the best thing for dogs that get yucky. They never get smelly and you can just rinse them off to clean them.

[Sue R]

Thanks, Laurie and Robin, for the feedback on the tattoo folks. I'll take some time to think about the options for what to tattoo. What sort of "limits" are there - how many letters or spaces or whatever, approximately?

 

I ordered a couple of Boomerang tags to put on Celt and Megan's current collars. I was able to get them with dog's name and our last name, cell phone, home phone, CAR ID #, and the 800 CAR phone number. This way, I can take off all the dangly tags and leave the collars on.

 

I am also looking at the "Robin-preferred" plastic-coated nylon. Sounds cheap enough to get and use for the everyday work collar, and keep the others for "dress-up".

 

You guys are awfully patient with me!

[Shoofly]

When i had Jet done, she was just a little baby pup and we put ABC###### on her inside thigh - her ABC number. I also have a couple with my SSN on them so that's 9 spaces.

 

On my riveted tags, i have my name and adress, home phone, cell phone and the first thing it says is ***REWARD*** . I know some people put "call collect" on there as well.

[Sue R]

I am sure not the brightest bulb in the fixture! I never thought of "REWARD" or "call collect". Duh.

 

Anyway, I emailed Mr. Nix to see what he could put on the tags. I would like my cell, home phone, and the dog's CAR # and the CAR 800 number. Now, can I also add REWARD and CALL COLLECT? I guess I will just have to wait and see what he says. I expect it depends on how many lines and how many letter/spaces on each line.

 

The ABC number is a great idea because that stays with the dog. The problem is that Megan doesn't have one since she is adopted - I have all the information but the breeder wasn't very cooperative about getting me the paperwork I need to register her. Since she's neutered and won't be trialled, I had just decided to not pursue registration on her.

 

Choices, choices! This is not good for a wishy-washy person like myself.

[Shoofly]

So put Celt's number on Megan too.

 

What is a CAR number?

[juliepoudrier]

CAR is Companion Animal Recovery--the Home Again chip.

 

I am going to put the September date at Lacy's on my calendar. The Mantlos did all my dogs several years ago and did a great job (I used my SSN since not all my dogs had registration numbers). I have been trying to get Twist (and now Kat) tatooed ever since, but vets are just too troublesome (want to anesthetize, charge a lot, etc.). I even went to a dog show hoping to get Twist done, but went on the wrong day and the Mantlos weren't there.

 

Anyway, I even had Snarley Farleigh done by the Mantlos, so that's proof enough that they do a great job, even with problem dogs.

 

Sue, just go ahead and buy the plastic covered collars. You can get them from Bill Boatman cheap, and many feed stores seem to carry them too.

 

None of my dog tags has a dog's name on it. Standard for tags seems to be four lines (though I'm sure other types are available), so my top line always says "REWARD," followed by my name and two phone numbers (home and cell). I don't bother to put their names on collars b/c I'd rather use the space for "reward" and contact information. Call collect is also a good idea, but since I'd be happy to give a reward, that should more than compensate for a phone call.

 

J.

[Debbie Crowder-BaaramuLuke]

I, once upon a time, lost a hound dog I had (1984) in South Richmond. He was tatooed, had on a collar with tags, but the sweet old lady who he took up with didn't think the number was valid because she lived on Southside, and the dog was a Northside dog. Never did understand that one. She eventually found the tatoo with my SS#, and called the SPCA, who called the Mantlo's who do most of the dogs in this area. I had this dog done at my vet's (where I work now) and since that SSN# belonged on a female shepherd mix, the old lady discounted it again. The Mantlo's called me anyway and asked if I was missing a dog (YES!!) and I got him back after 10 days (and nights) of driving around this neighborhood looking for him. He was on this lady's couch almost the whole time. Posted signs, newspaper ads, the whole thing. Whew.

Anyway, I do microchip my dogs, and now tatoo them with AVID MICROCHIP, as well as collars with my cell phone number, the state we live in, and my work (vet) number (24 hour answering service). Haven't lost anybody since then, except when Luke lost me at MOntpelier at lunch break (thought Jeff Hoffman had him) and Barry MOyer found him in a vendor tent, just chilling and waiting to be found. Losing a dog is way 100% worse than KNOWING they're gone for good.

Christine Schwartz is microchipping the dogs at Karen's clinic/trial. Not sure who's chips she uses.

[airbear]

Whenever we're on the road, I make sure that I have a "LOST" flyer for each dog, that includes a picture, the name and description, the tattoo #, my cell phone #, and, in very large caps, REWARD.

 

While microchips and tattoos are great for proving that the dog is yours, flyers are invaluable for increasing the chance that 'the stray that's been hanging around the park' is recognized as your 'smooth coated border collie'.

 

When you're on the road, hundreds of miles from home and your computer, it's important that you have SOMETHING that you can give to shelters and pet stores for posting.

 

Let's face it, accidents happen, dogs aren't always wearing their collars when travelling (safety reasons and the like) and, as discussed on these boards, a lot of our dogs are not recognized easily as "Border Collie".

[Sue R]

Does anybody else out there have a problem downloading Bill Boatman's online catalog? I didn't bring him up because I have not been able to access it. I expect that's due to my s...l...o...w connection.

 

I did email Nix Collars but haven't heard back yet.

 

And, Julie, did you have to "out" me about the CAR chips? That's what my vet uses and that's what I got before I knew there were alternatives. I've gotten into enough hot water on these boards for my local connections with the "dark side"! That's why I didn't spell it out above in my post.

[juliepoudrier]

Well, one generally has to get what your vet uses, so two of my dogs have Home Again chips and one other has an Avid chip. I think this is one case where you can be excused for using whatever your vet offers!

 

I haven't tried Boatman's web site lately since I get his catalog in the mail now.

 

[edited to add: I just went to the Boatman site and didn't have trouble with it, and I'm using dial up. The site says the catalog is available as a PDF file and that each page loads separately to save time. If that helps.]

 

J.