TATTOOS- CLAMPS VS. GUNS?? - Page 2

I wouldn't do it on a pup that old. More and more dogs are chipped so the chances of there being a reader at a trial is pretty good.

The problem with tattoos is that there isn't a world wide or nation registry for them.
When someone finds a dog with a tattoo, they cannot find the breeder or owner.

Most microchips are universal and a lifetime registration can be bought. If the dog gets lost, or is dumped at a shelter, the owner or breeder can easily be located.

Germany has not used tattoos for a few years now, and other countries will be following their lead soon.

If this dog goes out overseas, a chip will be required. So why put the pup thru the pain of a tattoo when a chip is a better way to identify it.

why? among other things, chips do disappear on occasion and, more importantly, are easily located, removed, and replaced by thieving, chip-swapping bastards. a dog with a tatt is a heck of a lot less attractive to that scum than the dog two crates/cars/yards/etc. over without one.

Here in the UK we have a national registry.  NDTR.

Still not enough people avail themselves of Tattooing,  but 1000s
of owners / breeders have had their dogs done; it has proved itself
over & over again with re-uniting lost and stolen dogs with their homes.
As others have said, tattoos are also very useful as a quick & accessible
ID, including for Xrays & surgeries;  they do not waltz around in the body
of the dog  (M/chip manufacturers have improved on that in recent years,
but it still happens sometimes). There has also been proved to be a risk
that chips can be 'scrambled' or made inoperable by outside interference.
Not sure about the legend of them actually being dug out !  Tattoos cannot
be easily interfered with or altered, or at least not without leaving evidence
that's been attempted.  All the UK tattooists use the number clamp * and
even an ear that has been cropped off leaves the last number or two inside
the depths of the ear where it can still be seen. [And if you know a dog was
tattooed, you have the last number and the breed/type, you can generally
trace it through the NDTR.]

*Some breeders or Clubs with their own records systems may use the 'gun'/pen,
and I believe its been used to put numbers inside Pits' thighs (a la Dangerous
Dogs Act);  but, including several years when I assisted an NDTR tattooist,
I never set eyes on a tattoo gun.

I have always relied on the tattoo.  No objection as such to ADDING a microchip
 - I yet may have to, by English law ! - but when my dogs were of an age, the chip
technology was less advanced, so I used to say "If I want shrapnel in my dog's
 body, I'll move to Beirut".

Vee was almost 14 when she died and you could still read her tattoo perfectly.
Taz's is still pretty clear, he was 11 at the weekend.  Indeed, when she was 7,  I
had Vida at a local Show under auspices of the Parks Police, and there was a
Dog Warden there offering discount microchipping.  She offered to chip Vee and I
said no thanks, she is tattooed.  And showed her the numbered ear. The warden
went on about tattoos 'fading', and when she saw you could read Vee's numbers
with clarity said "Oh; she must have been done recently ?".   Nope, in the nest
@ 7 weeks old.

My mentor Ronnie - who was also the tattooist - proved to my satisfaction  (story
too long for here) that the ear cartilege in juveniles and adults remains unaffected
[at least while SHE was the tattooist, I can't speak for others who've botched the
job !].  So its unlikely, in my view, that any risk attaches to a tattoo with the 'clamp'
damaging ear carriage in an older dog.  Having been present at many, many litter-
markings, I honestly don't think its too painful to inflict on small puppies;  they may
yelp (some don't even do that), but its forgotten 2 seconds after.  Older dogs ?  No
worse than inflicting an electrical 'stim' on them ...

The question isn't whether to microchip or tattoo.  My question is if you are going to tattoo, what are the pros & cons of each method... the tattoo gun or the tattoo clamp?  All of our dogs are microchipped already and 2 out of the 3 are tattooed already and the puppy will be as well.  I'm just trying to decide the best tattooing method since around the Denver, Colorado area, it seems that only the clamp is available.  I'm a little hesitant to use the clamp because I don't know enough about it yet and because we used the tattoo gun on our other two and it turned out great. 

I don't even know how a gun would be used, just write the number in the ear?  Then why not clamp?  It's faster/less painful for the dog.

Since your dog is older, and you want the tattoo IN the ear, I'd wait till you have it out for some other procedure and then arrange to have a tattooer go to the vet and do it there before it wakes all the way up.

Use the ink pen..  it will last forever and will show up very well.

I have the clamp, and some letters, and green/black ink, but it really won't be as visible as the pen.
And I'd never do it to another older awake dog..  saw that done once..  NOT pleasant.

Both NDR AND Tattoo-a-Pet are still around. Attaching links for you..

You're going to have to do some enterprising..  call them, ask if they can refer you to a tattooer, call around to the training centers (blue springs, mantayo, maybe the Cruisers know someone) get a phone book out, call ALL the clinics in the entire several county area, especially the rural ones in Weld and Adams.. 

SOMEBODY will still have one of those things..   and should be able to do it..

Last resort, see if a tattoo shop will do it..

Like I said, since you want it in the ear, definitely do it while the dog is already out for something else.

You might post on craiglist in the pets section.. lots of dog people troll around there.. 


PM me if you want.. I am west of town near the mountains.  I used both of these places to ID my dogs back in the day..

http://www.tattoo-a-pet.com/index.htm

http://www.nationaldogregistry.com/
 

Think  tattoo 'pen' as opposed to a tattoo 'gun'.  It works the same way the units used for tattooing humans does, albeit with a different needle setup since the skin of animals is tougher to get through than human skin.  Unless they're supremely over-confident, after the skin has been cleaned & prepped,  the tattooer will use a regular marker pen such as a Sharpie and write the desired tattoo characters directly on the area to be tattooed, and then just traces over that with the tattoo pen.  No, it's not terribly painful, but few adult dogs will sit still while experiencing repeated 'hornet stings' to their ear, belly, or thigh...thus the anesthesia requirement.

Regardless of what type of identification is used, it is useless if the information is not recorded--after all, how many dogs have we seen being asked about just on this forum that have been pulled from shelters, tattooed or microchipped but each untraceable because someone in the chain of custody dropped a link and didn't register their ownership of the dog.

Have been dealing with this very issue as it pertains to livestock for over twenty years now, and even with visible electronic eartags that can be scanned from three feet away, if no data was recorded about the animal the tag was placed in, those tags are as worthless as if there had been a blank piece of paper glued on the animal's shoulder.

I both tattoo and 'chip all mine, just a "double safe" ID and so far all mine have been tattooed when I've imported them. But for pups I've had very good success with the clamp type, quick and easy! and yes "chips have been known to migrate and "disappear" before.