Is your French Bulldog microchipped?

[Olivier]

Does your French Bulldog have tattoo or microchip? Athlon was adopted in Tunisia where there is no real law about it but in France it is required that a dog has an ID. So when he came here, he was microchipped as the vet recommended it (it was also probably painless compared to tattoo considering he was already over a year old).
I know that little chip (the size of a grain of rice) can give directely many informations like the owner's name and phone number, dates of the vaccinations etc swhen scanned but several pet related magazines here insist now on the risk of lumps and even on the risks of disk hernia when the chip moves under the skin around the spine area. Several cases about it were reported. When Athlon was paralized because of his spine troubles, the vet thought it might be the chip (it wasn't the case).

Olly

[Carolyn]

Abby and Ferris are both chipped. My brother told me that the particular brand of microchip that they have is designed so that it does not move about in the body, as some of the older chips have been known to do. I haven't heard of any dogs having trouble with the back/neck due to the chips. I don't think people do much tatooing anymore here in the US.

[Carolyn]

I am curious. Are there many Frenchies stolen in the Netherlands? Sadly it seems to be a problem here in the US. I don't know of any statistics but know that we all worry about our Frenchies here. Like I have said before..I am very strict with Jim about where he takes Abby and Ferris. He is not allowed to leave them in the car unattended for a minute!! We have a neighbor who was not concerned about letting his Pit Bull run around loose and sure enough the dog disappeared. She was a beautiful, sweet PB and I am sure that someone took her for their own. How very sad that we need to worry so much. :(

[Pattie]

Madison is microchipped. He was chipped at the shelter before we got him. Katie is tatooed. This was also done before my dad got her. The problem is that I really can't read it, but just the fact that she has it & I know where it is & what it looks like makes me feel better. I should probably get her chipped as well. I must confess that on occasion, I have had to leave Madison in the car for a few minutes at a time. We have a van & he is in his crate when this happens & he is quiet, so no one really knows he is there. I do worry about this though, but then I worry that someone could come in the house & get him too. Guess I am just a worry wart. He is never outside without me there though.

[Nathalie]

Bruce has been chipped,...and (unfortunately) it has come in handy. When our little monster was a couple of months old, Wilmer (my boyfriend) was helping his brother do some chores in their new house. Ofcourse Bruce was there too. All of a sudden no one could find him, and after a panic search of the house they discoverd an open door. Wilmer looked all over the neighborhood by foot and later by car......Bruce was no where to be found......and while still driving around he got a call from the animal ambulance that they had found Bruce (he was ok)!! Someone had called the animal ambulance to say they saw him walking around like he was the king of the neighborhood and the animal ambulance guys "scanned" him and got Wilmer's phone number off the chip. Needless to say how relived he was that Bruce was ok and back in his arms. Luckily I was at work when all this happend.....i would've died!!! But would've killed Wilmer before i died.....

[Olivier]

I have not read or heard anything yet about those risks with microchips.
They mentioned those risks but they also mentioned some other risks that are not health related, like the microchip can be easily remplaced by another one containing fake information or simply removed (and the scare would be hardly visible) making the dog easier to steal. They say with tattoo it is harder to steal a dog because even if it happens some people cut the ear of the stolen dog to hide the ID tag, the dog can't be sold anymore because of that mutilation. They recommend to have both identification (and some other like nose & eye print), with some reserve about the microchips.

Olly

[yetisburg]

Hello Guys, its me again :D . I've been curious about the Tattoo on dogs as I have not heard of it before... and so I did a research and found NDR (http://www.natldogregistry.com/) Tattoo-A-Pet (http://www.tattoo-a-pet.com/) and some other sites. I know it looks brutal and looks very painful but I have read that the dogs don't get hurt because their skin is quite different than ours. Will you guys recommend this done in your pets or is this just a nonsense?

BTW, thanks for all your replies at my other thread. :D :D appicon appicon appicon

[Kelly+Manja]

manja was micro chipped by his breeder. I think it is compulsory here in aus. I do worry about manja getting stolen. Sometimes i feel like an overprotective mother :rolleyes: but its better to be safe than sorry. :)

[Carolyn]

Hi! My understanding is that a tatoo can be altered. I am 100% for microchipping! It is not expensive and it's there hopefully for the life of the dog. I read a story a few months ago about a black cat that had been lost/stolen years ago and was picked up as a stray and the originals were located!!!! A thief who has stolen a dog has no idea the animal is chipped and many vets will automatically scan new animals and verify the owners are who the are supposed to be. This was exactly what happend a few months ago with a Frenchie that was stolen in Texas. :mad: Over a year later the dog was taken to a vet...who scanned the dog and verified that the "owners" were not listed with the microchip registry. The police were called and the dog was taken away and returned to one very happy family. :p

[Borgan]

I imagine that a dog would definately feel a bit uncomfortable when being tattooed - your vet would probably just sedate him enough to keep him from wiggling around. Why don't you get one at the same time? :lol: How 'bout a "I 'heart' my Frenchie"?

I would recommend having your dog tattooed AND microchipped. If a stranger picks up a wandering dog, they won't own a scanner, but they can read numbers! Conversly, if your dog is stolen, the microchip comes in a lot more handy.

Make sure you have the tattoo put in the ear - it rubs off anywhere else on the body. It's not very aesthetically pleasing (and probably renders the dog un-showable), but I would rather have a dog with a visible tattoo than no dog at all.

[Joey-n-Yoda]

Yoda is chipped...not so much because I worry about him being stolen, but more in case he got lost. He has the chip Carolyn mentioned that doesn't move around. I guess it's textured or something.

I realize that dogs have different skin, but I have a tattoo, and it certainly does hurt. It feels like a burning knife going into your skin. I can't imagine it's that much less painful for a dog. It's also quite tender for about a week after. I would imagine an ear would be one of the more painful areas to get it.

[Carolyn]

Not having a tatoo myself...I take your word for it, Joey, that it is painful. Like I said, Abby and Ferris are both chipped and they had no reaction that it was painful. I think it is a good idea to ask your vet if he/she is diligent about scanning pets from new clients. I will be discussing this with my brother (also my vet). Joey...don't be so certain that Yoda would never be stolen. He's a handsome little guy! ;)

[XjessicaX]

My little Ivan is both Micro-chipped and Tattooed. He is from Russia and was tatooed when we got him.