How To Track Your Dog’s Chip When They Get Lost
Tags in collars have been the traditional tracking device of lost pets back in the days. As pet owners, we all know that these things do not last long. They get lost if it breaks from the collar, or get easily damaged, making details hard to read for anyone who finds your pets. At present, pet owners have also delved into tracker microchips to find their lost pets easily. In this article, you will learn how this tracker chips work, its advantages and disadvantages, and how to track your dog’s chip.
How Do Pet Tracker Chips Work?
Tracker microchips are implanted into your pets to help you identify them. These microchips are tiny, about the size of a grain of rice, and are injected just under the skin. It's always between the shoulder blades of your pets. These tracker chips contain a registration number and a phone number of the registry, depending on what brand of the microchip your vet uses. When your dog or cat gets lost, anyone who finds them can bring them to an animal shelter or clinic to scan a handheld scanner that can read the radio frequency of the chip of your dog. With this basic knowledge, you can learn more about how to track your dog’s chip easier.
How to Track Your Dog
Let us now go on to how to track your dog’s chip. There are two ways you can track your pets: microchip or GPS tracker device. Here are the ways you can track the microchip of your dog:
- Go to your vet and talk to them about having a microchip inserted into your dog.
- After, ask your vet for the activation ID for registration. This one is important.
- Register the activation ID to the registry. The registry will depend on the brand of the microchip used by your vet. Include your contact number.
- If your pet gets lost, enter the microchip number of your pet into the registry.
- Wait for a call when the chip of your pet is scanned. The waiting is the hard part. As mentioned, an animal shelter or vet clinic should first scan the lost pet before confirming and finding the contact number of the owner.
- Once you receive a call, go directly to the animal shelter or clinic that found your dog and get them.
Another tip: Whenever you and your dog visit the vet, do not forget to have the tracker chip scanned to make sure the chip still works.
For the GPS tracking device, here are the ways you can track your dog:
- Check if an external GPS tracking device suits your dog. You usually put these things as collars.
- Install the application and set up the GPS device. You are good to go!
You can make use of both the tracker chips and GPS devices to track your dog easily. Just make sure to keep the battery working for your GPS device if you want it to work efficiently and effectively.
How Long Will Tracker Chips Last?
If properly injected into your pets, the microchips will work and last for 25 years. However, there are times that microchips are removed because they do not work anymore, or they changed position inside the body of your pets. Removal of the chips requires surgery, so as much as possible, after the first injection, have it inspected through X-Ray with your vet.
Disadvantages of Microchips
Tracker chips are really useful. However, they have their disadvantages, like the following:
- Microchipping technology has not been standardized, which means that not all animal shelters or vet clinics have scanners to read the microchip of your dog.
- Pet owners, like us, have to be extra vigilant when updating our contact details, especially our mobile numbers and addresses. Updating does not happen automatically with microchips.
In that case, how to track your dog’s chip should only be a back-up. Nothing beats a traditional collar to find your lost pets. It is even better if you apply both, or even the GPS tracking device. That will surely protect your pets from ever being lost for a long time and save you from worrying too much.
Conclusion
Now you know how to track your dog’s chip. All you have to do is follow and master the steps mentioned here, and you are good to go. Just remember that tracker chips should only be a back-up because it is not standardized in all animal shelters or vet clinics. Traditional nametags and collars still do their work, but it is great if you combine both ways. You can even opt for a GPS tracking device. Familiarize yourself with these methods, so you do not have to worry about losing your pets. Find out more about pet trackers.