Dog micro chipping is one permanent way to identify your dog in case it ever gets lost. Many owners feel that it is sufficient to have a collar and identification tags around the neck of their dogs. Unfortunately, dogs can lose their collars and tags, so they are no help when they are lost. So many healthy and presumably well cared for dogs are euthanized in shelters because the shelter is unable to locate the owners and the owners do not contact the right shelter.

Another means of permanent identification is tattooing. Tattoos have the drawback that they may be hard to find under your dog's fur, a scared dog may not allow a shelter worker to search for a tattoo, tattoos can blur over time and if your dog is stolen, tattoos can relatively easily be altered.

Dog micro chipping provides a form of identification can not be lost, altered or intentionally removed. Dog micro chipping involves the placement of a micro transponder about the size of a grain of uncooked rice under the dog's skin near the shoulder blades. Placement is as easy as a vaccination. Microchips have no power supplies and have a life expectancy of about 25 years.

Two companies, AVID and Home Again, share the bulk of the microchips available on the market today. Each microchip has a unique code that can be easily read by most shelters and veterinarians with a hand held scanner that emits low-frequency radio waves. All the shelter or veterinarian needs to do is to contact the appropriate national database to learn the name and number of the owner. Most microchips and scanners in the United States operate at a frequency of 125 kHz. One microchip by Banfield operates at a frequency of 134.2 kHz which is frequently used in other parts of the world. The one drawback is that not all scanners can read every microchip on the market.

Generally, a veterinarian will charge about the cost of an office visit for dog micro chipping so it might be less expensive to have your dog micro chipped while at the veterinarian for routine treatment. After a dog is micro chipped, the unique number is placed in a national database and registered to the clinic that implanted the microchip. There is a one time enrollment fee for the national database registries for their 24-hour recovery service for owners. This enrollment fee is usually about $20.00. Enrollment by the owners in the 24-hour recovery service means that the shelter that finds your lost dog can contact you directly. If an owner is not registered with 24-hour recovery service, the shelter can only be given the name of the veterinarian or clinic that implanted the microchip. The shelter will then have to contact the veterinarian to obtain the owner’s contact information.

If an owner is registered with a 24-hour recovery service and the contact information in the national recovery database needs to be changed at any time, all the owner needs to do is make a phone call or go online to update the information. Information can even be updated for vacations! Dog micro chipping companies may also provide a special identification tag with the chip code that alerts the shelter that the dog has been micro chipped.

Annual confirmation of your dog's microchip information is strongly recommended. This can be conducted easily during your dog's annual examination. Dog micro chipping provides for a safe, quick and painless form of permanent identification.