HI there-
Some of my dogs are chipped, and some are not. Some have Home Again, some Avid-all depended on where the dog came from. Some of the older chips would migrate to different locations then where it was implanted(between the shoulder blades) I have a 13 yr old whom this occurred with, or at least I am assuming so as the chip is not directly in between the shoulders(she was chipped by the pet store she came from, we rescued her from the owner) I have not found this to occur in any of the chips implanted by either a vet, or myself in the past 15 yrs. Placement is important. You can feel her chip when you run your fingers lightly over the spot, so its probably not placed correctly.
Some chips operate at different frequencies and some brands require different scanners to read them-for example, my Universal chip reader will read most, but a few it will merely indicate the presence of a chip, w/out providing the ID number,. I then do a secondary scan with the Avid scanner. So far, one of the other has picked up the chips and read them. Whichever chip you decide on, and whichever registry is up to you.
The placement-done with a larger gauge needle and if you looked at it, you would be horrified by the gauge, lol. With that said, I would say 99 percent of the dogs do not react to it-same as most vaccines. More reactions, in my experience tend to be from the very tiny or the very thin(and FYI, i will not chip a skinny dog for this reason, as well as assuring proper placement-you should not be able to feel a properly inserted chip.
I am a firm believer, especially for those that travel w/their pet alot, or allow them to run free or have dogs that bolt and run away, the dog should be chipped. Collars can get lost and it may be the only way for the dog to be returned to the proper owner. W/out it, you are at the mercy of the 3-7 day stray hold and being able to locate the dog in a timely manner is extremelly important.
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