How To ID Your Dog?

Tattoo and microchip are the two main means of identification for the dog. Identifying your dog is mandatory, but it is also very useful. 

Identifying your dog is not only mandatory under the law, but it is also practical in different situations such as loss, litigation, theft, and accidents. There are two legal identification methods: tattooing and microchip.

Some animals have one or the other, others have both. Each of these two forms of identification has advantages and disadvantages. They refer to the information on the dog’s identification card, which must always be updated.

Useful in more than one way

In addition to being mandatory, identifying your dog will be useful on several levels. It will allow you to prove that you are the owner of the animal in the event of theft or litigation. The identification will also give you the possibility of finding your dog if It’s lost or in the event of an accident. Thanks to the tattoo or the microchip, you will be quickly contacted by the veterinarian or the shelter staff, for example, if it has been given to them.

In addition, you will be asked for identification if you wish to offer health insurance to your animal.

Thanks to the identification, many people have been able to find the trace of their dogs, some even after several years of disappearance.
So make sure that your puppy or dog is properly provided with one or other of the forms of identification that are the microchip and the tattoo.

Tattoo identification

In general, the tattoo is done with a dermograph, under general anesthesia, and in the animal’s right ear. The main disadvantage of this mode of identification is the need to put the dog to sleep, but it still has an important advantage: visibility for life. However, certain diseases or lesions can affect it, such as recurrent ear infections which can cause thickening of the skin of the pinna.

The tattoo is durable, but also quick and easy to access. You just have to lift Its ear to see it. The dog must still let Itself be approached. The average price of a tattoo under general anesthesia at the veterinarian is around 70 dollars.

Identification by microchip

Identification by microchip involves implanting a transponder under the dog’s skin. The chip is very small – it is not much bigger than a grain of rice – and is placed by means of a syringe at the level of the left jugular groove (behind the left ear).

The installation of an electronic chip does not require anesthesia, except in dogs of small stature, too agitated or aggressive. The device is detected using a reader which is generally available to veterinarians and police services or even shelter staff. Simply pass this device over the dog’s neckline for a number to appear on the screen.

The price of implanting an electronic chip at the veterinarian is between 70 and 80 dollars.