Had an interesting experience last weekend when a labrador breeder arrived to have her dogs DNA collected for a PRA test. The dog was only 5 or 6 months old and had been micro chipped some time ago. As part of the normal procedure I needed to verify the micro-chip number and ran the scanner over her shoulders - nothing. Down her back, up her neck, full length again and again and nothing. Got suspicious of the scanner so ran it over Tilly and it bipped straight away. So back to a very patient lab girl - back and forward up and down, the poor owner was getting very flustered after driving nearly an hour to get here I took her over to Tilly so she could see the thing work. When we went back to the pup who was the most layed back and sprawled out on the concrete in the shade I decided I would do every inch of her as I knew they could move around but equally knew they can pop out on insertion and not be noticed. I started at the top of her head and was heading for toe tips and tail tip when it finally gave a successfull chirp! In the chest behind a front elbow!! Tucked well out of the way. All we could say is we hope that the RSCPCA and pounds carefully scan every square inch of dogs bought in, in the hope they don't miss some family's beloved pets hidden chip. It was certainly a lesson to both of us.

I have the same problem with Kelli's chip. It is up under her left front leg. I have heard of cases where micro chiped dogs here in melbourne have not had their chip picked up cos it has moved or the dog was jumping around too much so they couldn't scan it properley. I have a number of tags of my dogs collars so that if the chip can not be found hopefully they will have their collars on with their tags. Lets just hope this never happens to any of us!!!

God you'd think that in this day and age that they would place the chip somewhere where it couldn't move, there are heaps of little pockets where you can securely place a chip so it won't wonder off, or provide better readers so it doesn't matter where it floats it will still be picked up.

Great idea RachelleBuck with the tags. Will do that myself just to be on the safe side. Good job you persisted Silhouette.

Something else I'm thinking of doing is getting them another tag from their actual id tags that says 'if I'm out, I'm lost'. It freaks me out that someone might find one of my guys and think they're just out for a walk by themselves. Especially likely with the cats, I think.

Hi Guys
My dogs arent microchiped because of that reason. I have heard so many reports that they have moved cant find it etc but I have heard a few times that it has caused lamesness. One that I did read was a guy bought in a show dog from overseas spent thousands of dollars to bring and he couldnt be shown as he had alot of damage done by the chip that had moved and caused problems in the front shoulders. Apparantly you could not touch the front leg he would bite. So that was the end of his show career before he got started. That one I read from National Dog. I am very wary about it and dont want my dogs to have any problems. Also being a foreign object being in there am also worried if the dog would be allergic to it as well. As I just happened to be allergic to just about everything as well so I am aware and dont like to have things put in there that is unnecessary.
cheers
Danni

Yes, it's a decision to consider, like desexing, rather than just do because everyone else does. But I am sure that far more dogs die or suffer because they aren't identifiable than because they have problems with their chips.

I know that my cats microchip has moved. It is sitting on the right side of his neck just above the right leg. Can feel it. Spoke to my vet about it when he was doing the puppies, he said they have little barbs on them to hold them in place but they can still migrate unfortunately. Also had the problem that Sil was talking about re popping out on insertion. The vet actually went thru the complete fold of skin, so the microchip came out the other side. No ill affects for the puppy tho thank goodness. Chip was reinserted with no problems. But this does show that there are problems with microchipping. The only thing is it is now compulsory by a lot of councils in Victoria for all dogs and cats to be microchipped prior to being to be registered for the first time. This also means for example that if I moved from say City of Bendigo to Northern Grampians Shire I now have to have all my dogs and cats microchipped before they will register them in Nthn Grampians Shire even tho they may have been registered in City of Bendigo for years.

So no matter what in the very near future all registered dogs and cats will be microchipped whether we agree to it or not.


jtkoolie

HI
I do believe in desexing and I think people should have their dogs desexed so we dont have all these unwanted puppies. The only people who should not have tohave there dogs desexed are the breeders not these backyard people who think it would be nice to have a litter and just choose joe blow and it would be a nice experience etc.
Microchips is a bit different. If they can stop it from moving around etc hey I would consider it. In Adelaide it is not compulsory. There are lots of advantages as well. I am a worry wort
cheers
Danni

Kelli's chip still scans thank god. I was worried it wouldn't so I used sil's scanner at the last meeting to make sure. I should try Libby's next time if that is Ok with you sil. She jumps around so much I am worried they wont be able to get close enough for it to pick up. I have the worlds cheapest dog tags. I went to the stationary shop and brough the key tag things people put on their keys that you can write on the bit of paper in the middle. On one side I put their name and on the other our home number, my mobile and OH mobile. The tags were 48cents each and I just typed the paper up at work LOL

If they break or get wrecked i can just buy another one, i have had about 5 or 6 of the metal disk ones that have rubbed off or fallen off for some reason.

Yes in the City of Wyndham you have to mircochip all dogs and cats over 3 months and they have to be registered too, otherwise the fine is about $400.00 or something.

Hi Rachelle
No problems using the scanner, if anyone wants to check their dogs at a meeting I am happy for it to be used, wouldn't mind a bit more practice myself. One good thing is it is only a small scanner and if it picks up your chip the ones the pounds and vets have should have no problems at all.

Certainly if anyone wants to be serious breeders of koolies or any other breed, they should micro chip and DNA test their dogs so that at least, all puppies bred can have their parentage verified and prospective purchasers can see you are open and honest with your breeding.

I do the same with my girls, with the key tags, but I also laminate the little piece of paper so it lasts longer as my two jump in and out of a trough all day. The laws here with council is quite good, all you need is a tag there isn't any registration as they think this is unfair to the rural people who usually have more than two working dogs.

Makes me wonder where Ceejay's is now, knowing my luck at the tip of her tail. I will probably get Izzy microchipped soon.

I am naughty. I dont have collars on my dogs at home either. I have know quite a few dogs that have collars been caught either playing with each other chewing on necks and getting there teeth caught. Caught on trees etc. A friends dog Dusty had died after getting caught and he broke his neck. She was absolutely devasted we all were. So alot of us with multi dogs dont have collars on them.
cheers
Danni

I have been very lucky my seven dogs, they are collared with their name tags, the collars are fairly loose so if they get caught they will come off... I am a bit paranoid that if any go missing, especially this time of year with the storms around, I want to be sure that if they are found the people can at least phone me to come collect. I do believe in microchips and all mine will be done when I take them in to get vaccinated this month, but if a neighbour or someone down the road finds the dog, they have no way of reading the microchip, so tags on their collars are great.

Yardi my old dog is really frighted by storms and before I had the tags on my dogs, I would spend hours searching for her after a storm. Doesn't matter whether she is locked in the house or tied up, of in behind a six foot fence (I have tried it all) she will still find a way and run (in the house she just jumps through the window) so I just got a cage built for the back of my ute and she goes everywhere with me. But if she does escape I just have to wait around a bit and someone rings to say they have her.

I have a friend who has an engraver, so I just buy the discs and we do it ourselves which makes it cheaper.

Yeah I know what you mean with having name tags, I am always frightened that they will get out and someone will find them and not get their chip scanned so that is why I have all the tags. Kelli is so friendly she would go with anyone. There is a collar called a breakaway collar it just comes apart if the dog is stuck on their collar. I use to have these on my dogs. My bother in law has 2 show boxers that he never puts collars on as it leaves makes in their fur. His two did a runner when the gate was opened (they are show dogs, not obedient) and the council picked them up in the next street $1500.00 later he got his dogs back, one was not chipped so he got a fine for that as well as the dogs being out without their tags on!! I think chipping is a lot like vaccinating, some people believe it should not be done every year but it is something I am not going to risk being without.

I with you on that the more ID the better... I work for our local Council and the number of dogs that are picked up roaming with no id or chips is amazing and nobody comes to collect them so they are kept for 7 days and then put to sleep. The owners just don't care enough to even look for their dogs, I guess they just go out and get a new one, who cares what happened to the last one. I get quite bent out of shape about the whole deal. People should not have dogs if they are not going to care for them.

We do have the instances where you can see that it is a genuine lost dog (fallen from the back of a ute etc) but they have no id either tags of chips to identify them so unless the owner comes forward there is not a lot that can be done to return them home. In those instances our Ranger will keep them a bit longer, but not forever, so the more id the better in my books.

A friends BC went next door to her neighbours to investigate a fencing contractor & he decided she was a nice dog so took her home. She was collared, tagged & m/chipped & when she finally tracked her dog down they had to get a vet out under police supervision to microchip the dog for proof of ownership. Well guess what the chip moved & the vet said nup no chip & my friend had to protest & tell him to scan every inch of her body as she was chipped....thanksfully she had photo's & documentation with her & the vet found the chip under her belly.

She got the dog back, the guy didn't get charged as the dog wasn't on her property at the time he took her.

A month later dog went missing again, yep he took her again, actually out of her run from her home & he dyed her completely black...so she had to be scanned again & this time he got charged for theft.

If it hadn't have been for a chip she wouldn't have got her girl back.

I've got all my dogs done & had 2 that have travelled around the body. We used to get I'm microchipped tags, but don't now bugger it.

When at home we remove our dogs collars, they're all micro-chipped and yes we have had troubles, I had to re micro-chip my eight year old even though her old micro-chipp number was on file, they couldn't find it, so, bad luck.

We put collars on those we take out with us.

And those couple who are upset by the storm are so sensitive that I know a good hour before it hits and I just put them in the dog trailer for the night.

Sweet.

Micro-chipping may not be perfect, but as their use increases I hope that we will see a dramatic decrease in deaths in pound and shelters.

TJ, perhaps as you have discussions with different pounds, as a matter of conversation you could quizz them on how carefully they scan each dog, sort of do a bit of a survey? Would be interesting to see how casually/quickly/firmly they reply.

that is a good idea silhouette. We have a really bad pound down here that all dogs found in my area go to. I have heard so many horror stories from people that have had their dogs whind up there it is just scary. With everythign I guess there are teething problems and hopefully they will be worked out sooner rather than later. I would get my dog tattoo'ed with property of R buckley and my phone number if it was a sure ticket they would come back to me!!!! LOL No sure what the dogs think of that though.

but then you would move and the phone number would be wrong....and ears just aren't that big

I don't know, some Koolie’s ears could take your whole address, website, mobile, next of kin and still have room for their name.

Like everything regarding shelters, pounds and rescues some are thorough and some are slack.
The best we can hope for is that when we do it, we do it right, and if someone else is doing it, we insure they do it properly.

Maybe we can right up a proper way to perform a scan and compare that with how others are doing theirs, maybe they just need to be reminded how to do it.

A lots of owners have no idea what's involved, and their faith in the scanner and the person doing it can sometimes be misplaced.

All we can do is educate our visitors and members to be aware of the problem and watch.

Looking back now I know I never thought to press my Vet to check again, I will if it ever happens again, but only because of what I have read here.

So it helps.

Microchipping is not mandatory around here, but I work in the Council here and as long as your dog has a tag with the address they return them to that address with a little card saying your dog was found wandering.

I don't think I will have too much of a problem with Ceejay though. Got a call from my neighbour two doors down saying your "weird looking dog is out". Went home and here is Ceejay coming up the side fence saying "Oh thank goodness your home I could not get back in". I let her inside and said to her "Where did you get out" she went straight up the the back fence and placed her nose on a loose fence board. I don't think she enjoyed her freedom at all!

It is a pity that all Councils are different with their by-laws, I think it would make things a lot easier if they were all the same with the number of dogs you can have, mandatory microchipping, tags etc etc

i just found out that Wondi pound only keeps dogs for three days then puts them down now that's a bad pound. my landlady lost her lab as she lives closer to proston then hivesville she was looking there for her dog as that was the last place he was seen but he was picked up in hivesville and when she found out that wondi had a pound and rang them to see if he was here they were just about to put him down now that was a close call for the poor lab and he is such a sweet heart always happy to see anyone even an axe murder if he stops long enough to give him a pat lol the lab is microchiped but the pound does not have a scanner

Royalla that is too scary. Too close for comfort. How is it that a pound doesn't have a scanner. Something is wrong there.

Microchipping is not that common in Queensland.

Thanks JackieH I didn't realise that. We now have all our horses microchipped as well. With the EI epidemic the Department of Primary Industries decided to vaccinate all the horses that hadn't contracted the horse flu. This also included the microchipping of these horses. It wasn't a very pleasant experience as they had to inject the chip about two and a half cm into the muscle in their neck. Ouch. You could actually hear it going in. The horses were really good but jumped a couple of inches into the air.

Microchipping is not that common in Queensland

that is so true when i registered the girls at proston their was no were on the forms for a microchip number so i rang the council and asked about it and was told they do not have scanners so don't care about the number and the vet here does not cater for them. so to get the dogs microchipped i have to go to maryborough or gympie and have it done life is great in Queensland the backward state lol