Microchipping can potentially save the life of your pet, so why wait? There is no better time than the present for pet owners to microchip their animals. Here is how they function and why you should consider microchip your dog.
Contents
What Is a Dog Microchip and How Does It Work?
A dog microchip is a small piece of technology, about the size of a grain of rice, implanted under the dog’s skin, typically between the shoulder blades.
A unique number is encoded on these microchips and stored in the manufacturer’s database. Each manufacturer will have a website where you can associate your name, address, phone number, and email address with the microchip number.
How do dog microchips function? Every veterinary office and animal shelter has a microchip reader, and an animal healthcare professional can noninvasively read a dog’s microchip number by waving the reader over the microchip.
They can then run that through a database search, where your information will appear if you’ve registered.
Now that you understand how microchips function, here are three excellent facts why you shouldn’t hesitate to microchip your dog.
1. Dog Microchips Save Lives
If your dog becomes separated, a microchip will ensure it can be identified and returned to you as quickly as possible.
If your dog becomes lost, stolen, or ends up in a shelter, it can return to you thanks to a permanent form of identification. You must ensure that your information in the online database is current.
“Stray” dogs that are not microchipped are at risk of being euthanized in kill shelters; therefore, microchipping your dog and maintaining its information in an online database could save your dog’s life.
2. Microchip Implantation Is Quick and Simple
Dog microchipping is a simple outpatient procedure that takes less than five seconds and can be performed during a veterinary appointment.
Similar to a vaccination, a microchip is injected with a needle after alcohol-cleansing the injection site. Some dogs do not perceive or react to the injection; others may yip and jump in response.
If you anticipate that your dog may cry a little, you can prepare yourself mentally and emotionally to remain calm, which will help to calm your dog. Veterinary professionals value calm clients; the procedure will end before you know it.
Dogs distracted by treats might not even notice the injection! You can bring tasty treats to distract your dog or ask the veterinary staff if they are available.
Once implanted, microchips are not considered painful and have an extremely low incidence of adverse effects. In most cases, microchips cannot be felt under the skin unless your dog is particularly small or has thin skin.
3. Microchipping a Dog Is Cheap
What is the value of your peace of mind? You can buy your dog some peace of mind for $25-$50.
If you want to save money, remember that June is National Pet Microchipping Month, meaning local shelters, vaccine clinics, veterinary offices, and other pet healthcare providers offer microchip specials.
Throughout the year, you can search online for local mobile pet clinic events where they will microchip your dog for free.
Dog microchips are guaranteed to work for the pet’s life and require no batteries or maintenance, except updating your information on the online registry if you move or change your phone number.
Every dog owner is entitled to peace of mind with microchipping. Don’t put it off any longer—get your pet chipped today!