Microchipping
 

So You microchip your puppies? At what age? Do you register the microchip to yourself, or do you give the paperwork to the buyer to register?

What's the goal of microchipping? Would you like to be notified if your dog ever goes to a shelter? If so, your name should be on the microchip. As long as you keep good records, you could then notify the owner, and learn what happened.

That's what I was thinking. That it wouldn't do much good to transfer the registration to the new owner.

My dog IS micro-chipped, I paid for it myself... it's in case Starr gets stolen [all too frequent around here]... if she is ever taken to a vet after theft/handed into a shelter... I get the call....

Any pups ever born of me will be chipped before leaving me; to me.... and if they are lost or stolen I then know what has happened- and so I can re-home them, or return them to their distraught owner!

Are breeders now doing this microchipping the pups? What does the owner do if they want that info in their name in case the dog is ever lost or stolen?

Also what about the cancer risks with the microchip. I had mine microchipped and now wish I wouldnt have because of the dogs getting cancer around the microchip site. It seems owners would want the choice to do this but I thought I read a post that said AKC is requiring it. Is that the case?

Of all the dogs microchipped there is only two that has been shown to have cancer around the injection site, and this is among 4 million dogs. Not only that, there's no way of knowing if the microchip did it, or the dogs would have gotten cancer at any injection site. Microchipping is this is thought to be one of the safest procedures there is. Thousands of dogs are returned to their owners each year, and in my opinion the benefits clearly out weigh the risks.

When commercial breeders learned they would have to use microchips instead of tattooing they put out a rush of propaganda insisting that microchips were unsafe. Thet showed studies of rats getting cancer from microchips, but didn't bother to mention these studies were done to study cancer. Scientists used special tumor producing rats, and KNEW that cancer would result, but they wanted to study exactly how it started and markers for it. You cannot take this study, and imply that microchips cause cancer in rats, and especially that microchips cause cancer in dogs. However, that’s exactly what they did. Commercial breeders do not want dogs linked back to them, under the old system of tattooing their were no records in which authorities could see which breeder produced which dogs. If a bunch of dogs were found out in some field shot to death, authorities had no way of knowing which miller euthanized in this way.

I don't think many small breeders are microchipping their pets, only their breeding stock.

How do you go about changing the address? natalie is micro chipped and still has her previous owner's address. I gave her mine but I don't think she has changed it. Could I do it or does she have to? I think I'll email her again.

I suppose it depend what company your with. I'd try contacting them.

Oh I see thanks for explaining it

microchipping
 

Hi Jeannie,

One option is to insert the microchip yourself and have your name as the second contact person to notify in case the dog gets lost. The new owner's name goes as first contact person on the paperwork but if they were not able to be reached you would be notified as the second contact person.

In order to ensure your name stays on as the second contact person have it included in your contract that the microchip has to be registered this way. A better option might be to have the paperwork all filled out in advance and have the new owners write a check to the microchip company when they pick up the puppy and you mail the paperwork and their check in to register the microchip.

Teresa

If you want it to stay in your name, you register the chip to yourself and when the puppy is sold, you don't transfer the registration.

AVID will sell the chips in 5 packs for $53 and a 9.95 per chip prepaid registration. My vet agreed to insert the chips in all of my dogs for the cost of one office call. Otherwise it would have cost $50 per dog.

When I get that done I will talk to him about the cost of doing my litters.

That's a good idea But I think I would prefer to register it to myself, that way I know if it ends up in a shelter. The cost will just be included in the cost of the puppy.

Just because you put it in a contract doesn't mean they will abide by it. To some people, a contract means nothing. I don't think I could do it myself. I'd be afraid of doing it wrong and having it come out. that does happen some times.

Oh, I totally agree. Sometimes people just don't abide by the contract, that's why I have them write the check and I mail the in registration paper (or do it online when the person is picking up the puppy) to make sure it gets done and to make sure my name stays on as second contact. The only reason I put their names first and my name second is because sometimes people move and/or change phone numbers and forget to notify me. If their dog ends up found in a shelter (not turned in) or is taken to a vets office the shelter or office can usually reach the owners and if they can't reach them first they can reach me as second contact person. My puppies may be several states away and it would be better for the puppy if their owner can come pick them up immediately instead of me trying to get them several states away and maybe not being able to reach the owners.

If the dog is an owner turn in at an animal shelter the shelter will not scan for a microchip (because the owner is turning the dog in) so you would not be notified anyway. Unfortunate but true.

I buy my microchips from Avid in bulk (I think it's 25 in each package but I haven't bought any in about 2 years) which makes each chip about $8 each. I also had my vet teach me how to insert them and with his permission I do them at home when the puppy is about 10 weeks old that way the little insertion point has time to totally heal up by the time they go to their new homes. The insertion process just takes a second to be done by me - a person the puppy is familiar with and then he isn't stressed out by a stranger. It's a very easy process and then I don't have to risk taking my puppies into the vet's office where they might be exposed to diseases (they already go at least once for a puppy check up I don't like to risk taking them in too many times). I also register the puppies with AKC's CAR (Canine Animal Recovery) which is $17.50 if done online or $19.50 if done by mail.
Teresa

Nancy I understand what you are saying, and I am not against microchipping.

But it is like gun conterol laws, the bad guys are not going to register their guns.

The same goes for a breeder who would kill and dump his dogs. If he is going to kill the he could also cut out the microchip.