help decoding a tattoo - Page 1

Hello,

I'm a new member and joined because I found several posts where members have helped people find more info on peoples dogs from the tattoo in their ear. My fiance' and I rescued 2 shepherds from a rescue in Massachusetts , and they rescued them from a high kill shelter in Virginia.

We went to adopt just one, but once we got there and met both of them and my rescued Greyhound that I've had for 6.5 years gave the ok, we took both of them home.

We were told they were sisters from the same litter and were Belgian Malinois but our trainer said East German Shepherds. I went home that day after class and googled East German Shepherds and sure enough they look just like them.

So the other day they were getting cleaned up after hanging out at the beach and swimming in the ocean that afternoon and I went to clean Dixie's ears and I saw a tattoo, she let me use a razor to trim the hair around it and it says SR804, all of my research says she is from overseas and I have emailed a bunch of breeders and kennels overseas and I'm waiting to hear back. Does anyone have any ideas on this tattoo? Alice doesn't have a tattoo and I think is a year older (funny how learn so much about your dogs personality in a short period of time) so I no longer believe they are sisters, maybe, maybe not. They get along and love each other and love us so that's all that really matters, but we are curious.

Dixie is incredibly smart, fast, has a huge ball drive, and is top in her class by far, so I'd like to find out as much about her as I can. 

thanks for any help

I don't know if this will help or not.. but you can try and contact the NDR (National Dog Registry) http://www.nationaldogregistry.com/index.html

It is not German, they used two letters/four number combination, like SG-3097, not Czech or Slovakian either, they use five numbers.

Its not a UK number either. Or at least not a national tattoo registry one.  A problem
with ear tattoos in any country is that some breeders have personal tattoos to their
own kennels.
The fact that one bitch has a tattoo and the other doesn't would seem to confirm
that these two may not be sisters;  usually two adults in the same ownership would
be marked at the same time, whether they are blood related or same age or not,
and if done as a puppy in the nest, breeders usually have whole litters done.

Can anyone from Belgium or the Netherlands comment, it strikes me that's a
possibility.?

Thanks for all the info. I emailed several people in the Virginia area and they are working on a few things. I have also contacted several breeders overseas and I am getting lots of help which is great. I believe everyone should know their background even my canine companions. The most important thing is they were not killed in the shelter and have a loving home for the rest of their lives. When I rescued our greyhound I did a little research and have his birth certificate and 16 generations of his bloodline. I have a nice frame made with all that info above his bed and if I get lucky I'll do it for Dixie (and add Alice in their too) over their beds. Our trainer, vet, and ourselves estimate them to be between 2-4 years so I have lots of time :-) Thanks again for all your help and I'll keep seeing what I can dig up. I have a call scheduled for tomorrow morning that I'm hoping may turn something up.