Ear tattooes for SV shows is this necessary? - Page 1

yes

For SV style conformation shows any dog 12 months and older must be tattooed. Most dogs who are bred for show purposes have tattoos given in the ear as a pup. However, some dogs do not. I have a dog who did not have a tattoo and when I wanted to show him, I arranged to have him tattooed on his inner flank. This means that the judge in the show will ask to have the dog lie down so he/she can view the tattoo, but this has never been an issue for me. So in other words, the tattoo can be other than on the ear. I have been told by some experienced people that tattooing an ear on an older dog can be risky and give a serious hematoma which might or might not lead to problems over the long term. How often this happens I do not know. But this is why I chose to tattoo on the inner flank while the dog was mildly sedated using a tattoo pen. I must admit that the tattoo faded after several years, but then again, many ear tattoos are so poor they cannot be read, even when the dog is young. It is an archaic practice and I hope it will soon be changed to allow for a microchip which I do as well.