[ColoradoSooner]

GRRRR! Why don't people tag their dogs? **update**

Today after taking our dogs for a walk, we saw a lovely black dog wandering the streets, scared and obviously lost. After some convincing (and a few treats), we managed to get her to come to us. She was such a sweetheart, beautiful manners, very friendly after we got her calmed down. She had an adorable pink plaid collar on but NO TAGS!

So after asking around on the street, we decided to take her by our vet's office and see if she had a microchip. No such luck.

Well, unfortunately, we just aren't in the position to keep her while trying to find her owners. So we had to take her to the humane society. Hopefully her owners will look for her there, and we're going to put up some signs around here.

This is obviously a well-loved dog. So why on earth would you go to the trouble of putting a collar on her without some sort of ID? It would've been so easy for us to pick up the phone and say, "Hey, we have your dog." It just makes me nuts!

It broke my heart to have to leave her there. She was so confused about what was going on. I hope the owners find her and learn a lesson from this. Of course, we're going to be checking back everyday in the meantime to see if she makes it home.

Whew! I feel a *little* better now. (But not much.)

 

[Shaina]

I had the same issue with a pitty girl that showed up in my yard on New Year's Eve...collar in good shape, but tagless, and no microchip. As an added bonus, our local shelter automatically puts down any dog with a likely pit bull background if they are not claimed during the holding period, so bringing her there wasn't an option either (what if the owners were out of town for the holiday or something?).

Definitely frustrating when all you are trying to do is get the poor dog home.

 

[alphadoginthehouse]

Mine have tags AND chips. Collars on all the time...just in case. Some people are just idiots. I hope the dog comes through ok and the owners check you HS.

 

[Independent George]

Dilly-Dally was a stray rescued from a kill-shelter. When I first met her, she was even-tempered, confident, affectionate, housebroken, well-socialized, and already trained with basic commands. She was obviously somebody's beloved pet; I just couldn't wrap my head around the fact that somebody could have treated her so well, and not taken the precaution of tagging or chipping her. It worked out to my benefit, but I wonder about how many dogs wind up dying in shelters because they weren't tagged or chipped.

The rescue already chipped her, and I placed an order for tags about ten minutes after I decided to adopt her. Within a day, I already couldn't bear the thought of losing her.

 

[MissMutt]

I really don't understand the point of having the dog on a collar when there's no way of identifying an owner should the dog get lost. Hope she finds her owner.

 

[Kristina97]

In this age of mobile phones, pet ID tags showing a pet's owner's cell phone and/or landline numbers make it easy for someone finding a stray pet to contact the owner. Microchip implants, tattooing, and registering the dog's license number, microchip information, and tattoo number with lost-pet registries are good backups to identify stolen pets or strays found without ID tags. It’s a big world out there. Microchips have been particularly useful in the return of lost pets. They can also assist where the ownership of an animal is in dispute. Animal shelters and animal control centers benefit using microchip identification products by more quickly and efficiently returning pets to their owners. When a pet can be quickly matched to its owner, the shelter avoids the expense of housing, feeding, providing medical care, and outplacing or euthanizing the pet. Microchipping is becoming increasingly standard at shelters: many require all outplaced animals to receive a microchip, and provide the service as part of the adoption package. Animal control officers are trained and equipped to scan animals. In addition to shelters and veterinarians, microchips are used by kennels, breeders, brokers, trainers, registries, rescue groups, humane societies, clinics, farms, stables, animal clubs and associations, researchers and pet stores.

 

[melgrj7]

My pets have tags on their collars (even the cats) and all are microchipped, although Allie needs to be re-chipped because hers moved (being done something in the next month). It is sad when you find a dog that has no ID on it. Last year I found a little terrier mix, it knew several commands and had recently been to a groomer. It was obviously a loved pet but it had no ID and was running along a busy road. We had to take him to the shelter and hope he was found by his owners. I felt bad for him The lady who came from the shelter to pick him up said she would make a quick stop on the way to a couple of groomers in the town and see if they recognized him. I hope they did and he made it home.

 

[Locke]

Sometimes there are reasons why dogs don't have tags. For instance, my dog likes to chew on his tags, and one time the ring got stuck over one of his teeth. If I hadn't been there, he could've suffocated. He is microchipped though.

My friend's dog doesn't wear/have tags because his mom has the tendency to attach the backyard lead to the dog's tag ring. When the dog pulls enough, the ring stretches and the tags fall off. They have since gotten him a collar with their information sewn on it.

I'm not trying to excuse ALL people who do not tag their dogs, but some of us have reasons as to why our dogs don't wear tags and we've used alternatives to tags to keep our dogs identifiable. There is no reason a dog shouldn't have some form of identification on them though.

 

[melgrj7]

My dogs have flat tags that slide onto their collars, it eliminates the risk of them catching their tags and the risk of hooking the dog up with the wrong ring (I've done that before!). http://www.boomerangtags.com/page.php?c=collartags&k=h

 

[Locke]

Those are great tags melgrj7. Thank you.

 

[tirluc]

my dogs don't wear collars, let alone tags....when we go someplace new (like when i went to GA last yr) they wear both but otherwise they don't...they are all microchipped, however, so they do have permanent ID....IMO, tags are useless....they can be removed either by getting caught on something or by a person, so they don't always do any good....

 

[deege39]

Donatello doesn't wear a collar or his dog tags unless we're going out somewhere... I don't ever want to risk him getting loose and someone not being able to return him...

You did the right thing! : )

 

[melgrj7]

Those are great tags melgrj7. Thank you.

No problem I like them, I feel they are a lot safer than hanging ones.




My dogs don't wear collars unless we go somewhere. Inside I take them off.

 

[Elana55]

If you are going to cut and paste articles, please give the link to the source and credit the author.

In this age of mobile phones, pet ID tags showing a pet's owner's cell phone and/or landline numbers make it easy for someone finding a stray pet to contact the owner. Microchip implants, tattooing, and registering the dog's license number, microchip information, and tattoo number with lost-pet registries are good backups to identify stolen pets or strays found without ID tags. It’s a big world out there. Microchips have been particularly useful in the return of lost pets. They can also assist where the ownership of an animal is in dispute. Animal shelters and animal control centers benefit using microchip identification products by more quickly and efficiently returning pets to their owners. When a pet can be quickly matched to its owner, the shelter avoids the expense of housing, feeding, providing medical care, and outplacing or euthanizing the pet. Microchipping is becoming increasingly standard at shelters: many require all outplaced animals to receive a microchip, and provide the service as part of the adoption package. Animal control officers are trained and equipped to scan animals. In addition to shelters and veterinarians, microchips are used by kennels, breeders, brokers, trainers, registries, rescue groups, humane societies, clinics, farms, stables, animal clubs and associations, researchers and pet stores.

 

[Pickleisaminidaschi]

Yeah I am a little overprotective about my dog. The back of his rabies tag has my last name carved in it. He has a tag that says "Pickle G. Robin
Owner: First Name Last Name (I wont tell you guys my real name)
Then my adress. Then he has his micro chip just incase the collar fell off and maybe if he got in mud and the tag was unreadable. He has a tag saying his micro chip number and everything...

One time there was a dog a mini schnauzer so I picked her up and took her home and I was calling to see who she belonged to NO LUCK she wasn't micro chipped either and it turned out she was on a busy road right by her house. I would have saved me trouble if I could have said "Hey your dog was on the road, please be more carful about that... Her name was Hidey and unfortantly she is now pregnant with mutt puppies (not against mutts but you know who might buy them? What if they end up in shelters?" and she is still wandering around on the busy road. The owner wont fence her or anything she almost got hit a few times...

 

[ColoradoSooner]

I think it's totally fine if people have good reasons for not keeping a collar or tags on their dogs at all times (especially for safety reasons). But from what I'm hearing, the people on here who don't keep them tagged at all times have had them chipped or tattooed. There are so many options these days and I just don't think there's an excuse for not having SOME sort of ID on a beloved pet. Even if you think that your pet will never get out, things happen.

I woke up this morning worrying about her. What if her owners dumped her? I would be shocked that someone would obviously care about a dog that much and then dump her. But it seems like things like that are happening more and more often because of the economy. It's so heartbreaking.

I checked the HS website this morning and she's still on there in the lost and found section. She looks so scared and confused in her picture. I'm sorry - I just can't help but be mad at her owners. This was so easily preventable.

 

[awesomedogtoysandmore]

I am sorry that you had to go through that In a small amout of defense to the owners, Nikki has dropped her tags off her collar about 5 times so far this year, and I need to go get a new hook, but she hasn't escaped out of the yard in years and she is chipped. There are alot of people out in here MO that don't believe in either.

 

[ColoradoSooner]

Well, I just checked with the Humane Society and she was reclaimed by her owners. Whew! I am SOOOOOO relieved and happy!!!

 

[alphadoginthehouse]

my dogs don't wear collars, let alone tags....when we go someplace new (like when i went to GA last yr) they wear both but otherwise they don't...they are all microchipped, however, so they do have permanent ID....IMO, tags are useless....they can be removed either by getting caught on something or by a person, so they don't always do any good....

Your dogs are well trained...but what about the dog who isn't, gets out, and has no tags. Not everyone knows about micro chips. Tags are a quick way to identify an owner...without waiting to take it to a vet to be checked.

 

[Willowy]

I think tags are a good idea. A Lab was following me around on my mail route the other day, and I just called her owner and he came to get her. If she didn't have a tag, I guess I would have called the police, and then maybe the owner would have to pay a fine. Even if she was microchipped. I suppose I understand the safety issues with a dog wearing a collar all the time, but it seems to be a small risk compared to the risk of being lost because of a lack of visible ID.

My dogs are microchipped and wear their collars and tags all the time.