# Microchips, sigh



## bocron (Mar 15, 2009)

So I was never big on microchipping my dogs. There were too many types and it seemed questionable whether the person finding a dog would find a clinic with a reader that worked, etc, etc. Over time, they have improved the technology and have come out with more versatile readers which was a good thing so I became more confident in the prospect.
So now we have to microchip our dogs for identity purposes to get a scorebook and to compete with DVG. No problem, I went ahead and did my dogs, as did a number of people in our club. Our club went ahead and bought a really nice universal microchip reader in order to have one at the trial. So this past weekend we decided to practice using it so we would know what we were doing and so the dogs would be comfortable with a stranger waving a magic wand around their body. On 2 of the dogs, whose chips were installed in the last 6 months, we couldn't find the chips. We tried and tried and tried. Finally on one of the dogs we found the chip on his left flank! It had been inserted in the shoulder blade area. The other dog, we never found the chip. So now I wonder about the false security we feel with having our dogs chipped. I wonder how many vets or animal control people that are looking for a chip on a found dog will try for as long as we did? Most of them, the chip registered within a few seconds, but quite a few took multiple re-tries to find the chip. 
Just thinking out loud I guess.


----------



## GSDBESTK9 (Mar 26, 2002)

I know, it sucks! I microchipped Cisco young as well and the last time we tried to find his microchip it was in his right armpit!!!


----------



## PatchonGSD (Jun 27, 2012)

I have actually wondered this myself- how many dogs have been destroyed in shelters/animal controls because they couldn't find the chip-even though the dog actually had one. Or how many pets have been rehomed to new families and now have 2 chips inside them.....I went ahead and had my dogs chipped just beacuse I figure its better to take the chance that they wont find the chip because it has moved, rather than it not be found because it isnt really there at all. If that makes any sense at all...


----------



## Castlemaid (Jun 29, 2006)

I wonder if some types of microchips are less likely to migrate than others? 

Haven't had any problems so far in finding and getting a reading off Gryffon's microchip -


----------



## DJEtzel (Feb 11, 2010)

It's a fact that most chips move under the skin, and many come out. The shelters I've worked at know exactly how this happens since we are the ones to chip and re-chip dogs, so we know exactly where to check, how to check, how long to check, etc.

I re-check Frag's micro chip frequently... of course they're all inserted into the same spot... his is on his left shoulder and moved there about 6 mo after his intitial chipping. It hasn't moved since then in over a year and a half though.


----------



## gagsd (Apr 24, 2003)

Home Again used to have the least problems migrating.
Another issue, the dog should always be scanned after chipping, which is hard to do if you are chipping your own dogs and do not have a scanner. But I have seen on more than one occassion, someone chip a dog, and they went in one side and out the other, and the chip was left in the fur, or on the exam table.


----------



## TimberGSD2 (Nov 8, 2011)

I've worked in a few shelters and with several rescues. A microchip was the reason that I was able to get my Phinneas back after a rather odd incident where he was lost. I think the majority of them work as they are intended. As with anything I'm sure there are some that are better than others, and also could depend on the anatomy of the dog.


----------



## Liesje (Mar 4, 2007)

I haven't had any problems reading and migrating mine but I've seen them move and/or not be easy to read. In my experience the ISO chips were the ones having problems. 

Luckily I think most shelters and vets will try for a LONG time before giving up. When I brought a stray dog in to be checked they went over his whole body multiple times and tried different scanners before they decided he wasn't chipped.

I prefer the chip AND the tattoo. I like to have as many forms of ID as possible.


----------



## FlyAway (Jul 17, 2012)

When I had my dogs chipped, they do it in front of you and then scan the dog. I suppose if it got into the fur, it could be there on that day and gone the next. 

I also have my own scanner and once in a while I scan my dogs to see where the chips are. So far, they haven't moved. But they are the Euro chips.


----------



## Moxy (Aug 3, 2012)

I had our little dog chipped, but Moxy isn't. I don't know if it actually works.

Interesting bit of info - Mythbusters proved you could use a standard electronic stud finder (from the hardware store) to locate a chip. It won't read it of course, but it will detect the presence of one. Kind of cool, right?


----------



## WVGSD (Nov 28, 2006)

I have microchipped every puppy that I have bred in the last ten years (non-GSD) with the Home Again chips. In the very first litter, my vet put a chip in during the well-puppy exam and then used the reader and the chip never went in. The chip was still in the needle. This has never happened since this one puppy in the first litter that I microchipped and I have had every puppy microchipped by my vet since I don't have a reader. I do purchase the Home Again chips myself and bring them to my vet's office to save some pennies .


----------



## DJEtzel (Feb 11, 2010)

Moxy said:


> I had our little dog chipped, but Moxy isn't. I don't know if it actually works.
> 
> Interesting bit of info - Mythbusters proved you could use a standard electronic stud finder (from the hardware store) to locate a chip. It won't read it of course, but it will detect the presence of one. Kind of cool, right?


That's neat, I didn't know that! It'll save me a trip next time I find a stray.


----------



## Syaoransbear (Sep 25, 2008)

Once my dog escaped and animal control picked him up, scanned him for his microchip, couldn't find it and sent him to the spca. Spca scanned him once he got there, and this time DID find the chip.

Another time when I was renewing his license the lady wanted to record his microchip number and asked me to scan it for her. It took me absolutely forever to find the chip, I was almost convinced that it had fallen out and right when I was about to give up the scanner found it. There is no way an animal control person would have been as diligent as me, because for all they know the dog probably doesn't even have a microchip.


----------



## Jag (Jul 27, 2012)

My first GSD had a chip. My ex took him to the pound and had him PTS after lying about an attack. They never scanned him. He was chipped to my name only. This was after my dog went after him for trying to hurt me. He was afraid of my dog (for good reason). I went to the pound and totally lost control. They said they didn't have a chip reader. Of course, this was the late 1990's but still... I am going to chip and tattoo my new boy.


----------



## msvette2u (Mar 20, 2006)

We have a number of our own dogs here w/chips and none of them have migrated. 
I'd say it's less common for them to migrate than to stay in place.


----------



## robk (Jun 16, 2011)

Ruger is chipped with Home Again. The last time we went to the vet I had his chip scanned just to make sure it was in the correct spot and it was. I think I will make it a routine to have it scanned whenever I take him to the vet from now on.


----------



## Liesje (Mar 4, 2007)

We had a chip work in our favor recently. Someone found a stray pit bull. This person is a friend of our rescue president so she kept the dog and decided to foster it for the rescue. The animal shelter was notified and the dog was placed on "stray hold". Of course after the rescue vetted the dog and spent a lot of money getting her in good shape, on the last day of the stray hold the owner came and claimed the dog. Part of the vet care the dog received was a microchip that was registered to the rescue. Fast forward several months and the county shelter calls the rescue president to say a dog had been turned in to the shelter and her name was on the chip. The person that dumped the dog was not even the same person that originally reclaimed the dog. The shelter let her come and take the dog without paying the reclamation fee and let her take the dog because of the chip. Now the dog is back in foster care for real and will finally get the home she deserves!

I had something similar happen myself. I was in Florida on vacation and the animal shelter called me about a cat I had re-homed. Apparently my old cat had run away from the person I gave him to and a family had been taking care of him. They had decided they wanted to keep him and make him an indoor cat (well he technically was an indoor cat but he always did want to escape and get outside) so they brought him to the animal shelter vet where he was scanned and the chip was registered to me. They called me and said I had to give my permission for the family to take him and keep him, which I did.


----------



## Elektra2167 (Jun 18, 2012)

We have always chipped pups, have used both major kinds, and have had both migrate. We just have to check all over. Typically if we can we chip the pups before bedtime so they are quiet and less apt to work it back out if that is possible. Anyway, it makes me feel better to let them rest afterwards and not be running around the yard. We do have a scanner, so we scan them after implant, and then of course again when the new owner picks them up since their chip # is on the contract.

With more universal scanners coming out, we may stop dual chipping, but right now the imports are chipped again after they come in because the frequencies are different.


----------



## Magwart (Jul 8, 2012)

I'm with Robk -- just to ask your vet to re-scan to see if it's migrated at your annual physical. No technology is perfect, but you can stack the odds in your favor by taking 30 seconds at your annual vet visit just to make sure it's still findable.


----------



## onyx'girl (May 18, 2007)

gagsd said:


> Home Again used to have the least problems migrating.
> Another issue, the dog should always be scanned after chipping, which is hard to do if you are chipping your own dogs and do not have a scanner. But I have seen on more than one occassion, someone chip a dog, and they went in one side and out the other, and the chip was *left in the fur*, or on the exam table.


When I had Kacie chipped w/ home again the techs scanned to see if it read, and an avid chip showed up on their scanner. Then they found the home again chip in her long coat, it never was injected. Luckily for me, I was able to get her age, name and some health history off that avid chip.
Karlo's chip won't scan. I think it migrated but haven't been able to use a scanner on him to find it. We tried last year before a trial and it didn't register. He's tattoo'd so I was ok to do the BH w/ that as ID.


----------



## msvette2u (Mar 20, 2006)

> It's a fact that most chips move under the skin, and many come out. The shelters I've worked at know exactly how this happens since we are the ones to chip and re-chip dogs, so we know exactly where to check, how to check, how long to check, etc.


I don't understand what this means - do you mean some pop out the other side? Or back out after chipping?
I've seen that happen and had that happen but as a rule, I don't have that happen.
And I haven't seen them migrate at all, I don't think it would happen immediately. 
Also all chips don't migrate to the same place...that isn't what you are saying, is it?
I've found one down almost in front, by the neck, and that's about it. 
We scan down that way and also down the chest, clear to the back, etc. when we scan dogs.


----------



## DJEtzel (Feb 11, 2010)

msvette2u said:


> I don't understand what this means - do you mean some pop out the other side? Or back out after chipping?
> I've seen that happen and had that happen but as a rule, I don't have that happen.
> And I haven't seen them migrate at all, I don't think it would happen immediately.
> Also all chips don't migrate to the same place...that isn't what you are saying, is it?
> ...


Either.. Both. Can't really tell usually if it came out the entry site or went all the way through in an adult dog with fur. Puppies you can usually tell if it went all the way through. 

No, I've never seen a chip migrate immediately... Somewhere between insertion and 6 months after is when they seem to do it if they're going to. And no.. I definitely didn't say they migrate to the same place..


----------



## msvette2u (Mar 20, 2006)

> Either.. Both. Can't really tell usually if it came out the entry site or went all the way through in an adult dog with fur. Puppies you can usually tell if it went all the way through.


With experience I find this happens rarely now. 
The key is to shove hard enough to get it through one side, but then immediately stop putting pressure so it doesn't pop on through 

Happens with vaccines, too, at times!


----------



## gagsd (Apr 24, 2003)

The one time I took my pre-purchased chips and paid a vet to put them in..... BOTH were injected through the skin. Silly vet then tried to bill me full cost for the vet clinic's chips to retry. 
I just do them myself now. Scan afterwards. Scan pre-trials, and at vet visits.


----------



## DJEtzel (Feb 11, 2010)

msvette2u said:


> With experience I find this happens rarely now.
> The key is to shove hard enough to get it through one side, but then immediately stop putting pressure so it doesn't pop on through
> 
> Happens with vaccines, too, at times!


I know how to micro-chip a dog, it's not any different that giving a vaccine, but that doesn't mean the chip is going to stick or be traceable down the road.


----------



## GatorDog (Aug 17, 2011)

I've seen chips come out the other side and I've seen them migrate pretty far too. Aiden's is now at the lower edge of his left shoulder blade, but I knew it was in there because we always test right after they are chipped. It's not a real big issue for me, so long as I can find it eventually.


----------



## huntergreen (Jun 28, 2012)

i chip my dogs. all i can say is, i hope never to find out if i works, but since it might help, i will continue to chip my dogs.


----------



## Nikitta (Nov 10, 2011)

Both my dogs are micro-chipped by the breeder. SHE asked me if I wanted them micro-chipped. I said, " YES. " Hopefully she knows what she is doing. I guess I never realized there would be a problem with the chip.


----------



## Rerun (Feb 27, 2006)

My dogs are all chipped. But this is EXACTLY why my dogs always wear properly fitted collars with ID's on them. I never ever rely on any one type of identification. I find the risk of a collar accident (which i've never had happen in almost 30 years) much less likely than a lost dog (which I've also never had happen).


----------



## mssandslinger (Sep 21, 2010)

the chips can come out?! I havtn looked for my labs since she got it. but i know its no long by her shoulder where is was placed


----------



## DJEtzel (Feb 11, 2010)

mssandslinger said:


> the chips can come out?! I havtn looked for my labs since she got it. but i know its no long by her shoulder where is was placed


Yes. They could not be inserted properly and never be there, or they can come out through the entry site. I would imagine some could move enough to get behind a muscle or bone and be unrecognizable, as well?


----------



## Mrs.K (Jul 14, 2009)

I don't really trust them either. Both Nala's and Indra's SV chips are migrating. 

Yukon doesn't have one, he's got the old tatoo, still, and I do prefer the tatoo, however, over time you may no longer be able to read it.


----------



## bocron (Mar 15, 2009)

Yeah, I've never been able to read a tattoo after the dog gets past about age 2.


----------



## marshies (May 18, 2011)

Every time I switched vets, they scanned Puppy to make sure I wasn't taking in somebody else's dog for vet care.

I think with the showline dogs,we have a slight advantage if we ever lose them. To the average Joe, they LOOK like someone paid lots of money for them, and they'll probably check more carefully because of that. 

This thread has reminded me to: order new collar to have better ID security; and check Pup's chip at the vet's next time.


----------



## Liesje (Mar 4, 2007)

bocron said:


> Yeah, I've never been able to read a tattoo after the dog gets past about age 2.


Nikon has the most fabulous tattoo, I had a judge laugh so hard (in a good way) because he could read the tattoo without his glasses or even having to bend over. You only can't make it out here because it is out of focus/depth of field in the photo.









Pan is only two and his is long gone though. I had my vet fill out the WDA and USCA paperwork for tattoo verification, and he's microchipped.


----------



## lhczth (Apr 5, 2000)

Nike's tattoo could be seen until the day she died (12). Vala's is still pretty clear at 8 though we didn't use a good tattoo clamp. Deja's was done with the German tattoo clamp (as was Nike's) and it can be seen a mile away at 3.5. Donovan's, on the other hand, is not as visible in his black ear. I can see it, but not as well. Once I switched to doing the tattoos with the good clamp I had less issues. 

I have not had issues with either the Avid or Homeagain chips, but a friend has two imported bitches. The puppy's chip traveled down her shoulder by the time she was a few months old. The other female has a faulty chip (owner researched this) that has not only traveled down her shoulder, but doesn't always send out a signal. Since the bitch has already been DNA, 'a' stamped, and has her AD/BH replacing the chips becomes a huge hassle. 

I personally would rather have both forms of identification as an option for my dogs (I use both).


----------



## msvette2u (Mar 20, 2006)

But what does the tattoo say? Is there a database?


----------



## Liesje (Mar 4, 2007)

Usually it indicates the kennel, the year, the litter, and puppy number. They are usually either 5 digit or 7 digit depending on what clamp the breeder has.

Nikon is AT8B1, so Alta-Tollhaus 2008 "B" litter, puppy #1

Pan is GEI10P2 so Geistwasser 2010 "P" litter, puppy #2


----------



## RocketDog (Sep 25, 2011)

So, this might derail this slightly, but which chip is the better one to use then, regarding all these issues? I have used Avid in the past.


----------



## Cassidy's Mom (Mar 30, 2003)

Dena had a fantastic tattoo - it was still clearly visible at 4 years old. The only reason you can't read it in this photograph is because her long ear hair is in the way, but you can see it easily:










Keefer does not have a tattoo, and I've never been able to see Halo's, even when I first got her at 10 weeks old. I think it might be on the edge of her ear, under the hair, rather than down the middle of the ear like Dena's was, but I'm not going to shave her ear to find out!


----------



## Rerun (Feb 27, 2006)

The problem with tattoo's is that, as often evidenced here, when someone finds a dog with a tattoo, there isn't one single comprehensive database for them to actually do anything with that tattoo. IMHO a tattoo basically relies on the OWNER to find the dog and is simply a means of proving the dog belongs to them.

If dog disappears from X location and Y location rural shelter finds the dog, the chances of them seeing, being able to correctly read, and then find the owner are slim to none.


----------

