Just curious about what brands of micro chips people are using. I have a dog with Avid and one with Res- Q. I didn't know if one was better then the other so I thought I would ask for opinions. Thanks

Cathy

I have had my dogs microchipped with Avid, but it was also the EURO-CHIP. regular chips can't be read by european readers.

AVID user here, no tattoo.

I don't know the manufacturer of the chips that home again uses but thats what the vet set me up with.

Cathy, may I suggest you call your local animal control agency (or whatever entity might find your dog were it lost) and ask them what system they're using.

Many of the microchip systems are incompatible with each other meaning some microchipped dogs can be scanned and their information either unreadable or undetectable. At present there is no uniform standard and most animal control agencies cannot afford to have the different scanners from all the manufacturers so they select one and go with it.

My dog has an Avid chip,  which I believe is lifetime registration.   The reader at my vet and shelter CAN detect a chip, but they would have to go borrow an Avid reader from somewhere to read the number.  But at least they read that a chip is indeed present.   If I heard right,  Home Again is the one they use at our shelters, but you need to renew registration periodically??  Can someone confirm if that is accurate??

Yes they require renewal.

I buy and use Avid Friendchips, they are most reasonable and easy to use, come pre-loaded and ready to insert.

This is what my pups get.  I have it done at the vet when the litter is 7 1/2 weeks old. 

http://resq.petparents.com/aboutMicrochips.cfm

About Pet Microchips

Not all pet microchips are created equal. There are important differences to consider when selecting a microchip.

ResQ^TM is the first ISO-compliant microchip system for companion animals available at animal shelters and veterinarians' offices in the United States. Using ISO-compliant technology safeguards pets and helps increase the chance that the pet will be reunited should it ever become lost, compared to pets that only wear collar tags.

There are several different pet microchip systems in use today in the United States. They differ according to the frequency of the microchip and whether the microchip is encrypted. Encrypted microchips are not ISO-compliant, and can be read only by a scanner designed to read that specific, encrypted microchip. If a veterinarian or animal shelter does not own that specific scanner, it limits the chance of that microchip being read and the possibility of that pet being reunited with its owner.

Each resQ microchip contains an individual, preprogrammed code that is permanent, unique worldwide, and cannot be altered. ISO is the standard for microchipping in Europe.

Im in the UK and I have a scanner that CAN read the US chips.

The cheaper ones dont but there are now scanners that can scan for all chips.