Dog Microchipping
Microchips can only be read by a scanner here, and these scanners are used at a very close range to determine if your dog is registered with a microchip.
Can Microchips Be Used To Track My Dog?
Microchips can only be read by a scanner here, and these scanners are used at a very close range to determine if your dog is registered with a microchip. So at this time, there are no GPS tracking devices used in microchips.
How Is A Microchip Used To Identify My Dog?
That’s a good question. We use this universal scanner. We use the scanner along and in between their shoulder blades at a close distance to their skin. If a microchip is present, it will pick up the radio frequency from that chip, giving us the individual number that’s put on each chip as a unique number just for your pet. That lets us know the company that the chip is from. From there, we look that up in our microchip database system, and it gives us the contact information as well as, typically, which veterinary clinic microchipped the pet. So depending on what information you register your chip with at the time of implantation, we can use that to help reunite you with your pet.
Who Is Able To Scan Microchips To Get That Information?
Typically it is veterinary clinics, and I have seen some dog kennels getting these universal scanners as well. So veterinary clinics, kennels, animal shelters, you name it. Places like that will have the ability to scan and reunite you with your pet.
What Does The Microchip Recovery Process Look Like In The Event My Dog Is Lost?
Typically, people’s first contact is nearby clinics when a lost pet is found. They’ll call those clinics to see if any update on a lost dog has been reported, as well as local animal shelters. That’s generally where they will be brought to be scanned to see if any contact information is found. After that, let’s say they bring your pet to the clinic. We scan and find they indeed have a chip. We will look up that information through the microchip database and get your contact number from there. Usually, it’s the first primary number and then some cases, email addresses. We will contact you and let you know where your pet is, and we can give minimal answers as to who has found it, depending on the situation. So usually, an arrangement is set for you to come to pick up the pet at the vet clinic or the animal shelter it’s brought to. So typically, you have minimal contact with any strangers, depending on the situation, but that’s usually how it’s set up.
Why Do Veterinarians Recommend Getting Dogs Microchipped?
Obviously, the number one reason is that it has the highest success rate of getting you back in touch with your pet. We’ll tell you to make sure that every dog or cat has a collar on with identification. That’s the quickest, but there are situations where your pet’s going to become detached from its collar, whether it backed out of it if it was too loose, or maybe they broke it at any point. That’s where the fail-safe of having a microchip is. I have here the number one reason pets are lost and aren’t returned to their owners is incorrect contact information. Honestly, that is so true. Most people forget to update their microchip information in the system. So if you move, change your phone numbers, or any sort of information like that has changed, it is important to contact the company that microchipped your pet and get that updated right away because you don’t need it until you do. So making sure that they’re updated accurately will help assure that you get reunited with your pet faster.
What If I Forget Or Lose My Dog’s Microchip Information?
That’s another easy one. If you lose that information and you just don’t know the number, or you don’t know if your account has been updated, at your next visit, bring in your pet. We will bring out the scanner, do a scan, and we will be able to give you updated information if we don’t already have it in the system for your pet. From there, we can do what we would for any lost pet. We’ll put it into the database to see what company put in the chip. From there, you can contact that company at any time, usually for minimal to no information change fee, depending on the provider that you use. That is an easy solution. Just give us a call, and we’ll get them scanned and set you up to count.
Are There Smart Products That Can Connect My Dog’s Microchip?
This one is kind of cool, honestly. More and more gadgets are seemingly being created that can use a microchip to help you and your pet. The most frequent one we’ve seen is microchip red feeding systems. So let’s say you have a multiple-pet household, and one pet seems to be getting into the other’s food and eating more than they should. You can set up a system where food is only dispersed into certain bowls when the pet with the corresponding microchip approaches it. So that stuff’s pretty neat. As of right now, that’s the only one that I’ve seen success with. There seem to be plenty of new gadgets out there, so I’d always love to hear any reviews and when you come in, let me know what kind of fun stuff you’ve been getting and what does or doesn’t work.
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