tatoo versus chip - Page 2

@gsdk9va
Sorry but that is not correct! It is your responsibility as the dog's owner/handler to provide the judge and the club with a scanner to identify your dog. If the club has one, great, but do not view that as their responsibility, just a courtesy or convenience to the people who trail or show. And it is true: In Germany, you would have been dismissed. Dog owners who trial and show their dogs are expected to be familiar with the rules and regulations.
Before microchips, it was also your responsibility to ensure the legibility of your dog's tattoo no.
Please do not take that as an attack, just as a response from somebody who had to take care of paperwork for trials and shows for years and is a bit exasperated with that kind of attitude.
Yours in the sport,
Chris 

i have seen many times on this board where a dog has been found with a tattoo only and there seems to be much difficulty finding the owner.

chips are great but only if the chip is registered and can be linked back to the owner. just getting a chip is no good if your dog is lost or stolen.

as far as for trials and shows Silbersee is correct, you have to make sure that the proper chip reader is available for the judge.

2 of my dogs have both chips and tattoos and the judges seem to prefer the chips, and so do the dogs.

 I think it's wise to do both.

I have heard horror stories of dogs being stolen and re-sold (or kept), by having their tattoos "removed". It's relatively easy to chop off an ear..... I think in this day and age, it's safer to do both. At least then if some gangbanger steals your dog and chops off his ear, you can still charge the little bugger and get your dog back. Tattooing on the inner thigh helps prevent this, but it is somewhat of an inconvenience to a lot of people.  

My dogs have ear tats and chips!

Hello Chris,
I didn't have an attitude and I wasn't pushing the responsibility on the club. That fact is I got bad advice. I specifically asked about the scanning. THEY told me, "ohhh don't worry, we have scanners and you will be fine." So I didn't give it another thought, which was my mistake. I was busy worrying about training. It would have been helpful for them to say, we have scanners, but ultimately the responsibility is yours to making sure you get a reading the day of the trial. If I had a tattoo that was done properly, I wouldn't have had this problem when I got to the trial. I even overheard the "old school" German judges lamenting that this is the problem with  chips.

Ideally it would have been great to have the tattoo as my preferred choice with a chip to back it up. I could have told the judges to check his ear when the scanning didn't work. That all said, I'm not arguing or have any kind of attitude...and again, not not pointing fingers. It turned out to be a great day earning another title:)  My only point here was to share my expereince with the chip, and to warn others that have chips only that they need to invest in a $300 scanner and have it with them.

Just a cautionary tale. Capiche:)

From an animal control  point of view, a tattoo is almost useless.  Since so few "dog people" keep collars with ID on their dogs, it is important to have a chip.

VERY FEW shelter workers are going to flip over a dog and check for a tattoo in the thigh (where most are put) and the tattoos in a GSD ear mean NOTHING to shelter workers (I worked animal control for 20 years).

Do both if you want, but remember that the average shelter worker has no idea how to trace a tattoo , and to be brutally honest, most don't know to look.  Not to mention they are hard to read.


Chips are very, very helpful!!    

Hi gsdk9va:
I did not imply that you have an attitude, sorry for the misunderstanding!
I meant that an attitude like that (that it is a club's or judge's responsibility to make sure everything is in order) is exasperating to me.  It was a general statement.
I don't know you and therefore cannot guess how long you have been in the sport, but both organizations have the statement on their homepage that the owner is responsible for providing the equipment to identify the dog (meaning the scanner).

WDA: www.gsdca-wda.org/wda_new/tattoo_mchip_prog.html
Dogs that are microchipped must be presented with a scanner capable of reading the microchip. It is the owner’s responsibility to provide the scanner.

USA: germanshepherddog.com/members/USA_Rules_and_Regulations.pdf
E-Ballot #10-05 (Rescind Tattoo Variance for German Shepherd Dogs)
Motion by Mark Przybylski that tattoos or microchips will be required for German Shepherd Dogs entered
in all USA performance events effective January 1, 2006, and the identification information is to be recorded
in the scorebook. Dogs of breeds other than the German Shepherd Dog will be required to have a tattoo or
microchip for entry in USA national and regional events, but not for entry in USA local events. Owners of
dogs with microchips are responsible for providing the identification equipment. The only change resulting
from this motion will be requiring identification for German Shepherd Dogs entered in local performance
events. Supersedes E-Ballot #25-04 (Tattoo Variance).

I am not going to paste the SV's wording here regarding that matter because it is in German. But it is similar, of course!
In my opinion, every dog trainer, handler, breeder, and exhibitor should invest and own a microchip scanner. It should be part of the routine equipment. It is a one time investment of approximately $ 250 which is not that bad.
Regards, Chris

My dog's tattoo is not to get him back should he ever be lost.  It is simply to pass the requirement for trials and shows (BOTH his tat number AND microchip number are certified by the WDA on his pedigree) and just as one extra way for me to prove ownership.  Unlike many dogs, his is easy to read, plain as day.  The last judge to examine him laughed at how easy it was to read, said it was the best tat ever.  I have a copy of the paper my vet signed, the one that goes to the WDA to certify the tattoo, so if there is ever some dispute over the ownership of my dog, I can recite his tat number and provide a paper signed by me and my vet with the dog's name and info.  I also have a few pictures where you can clearly read the number.

To me a microchip is just a no-brainer.  I have never, ever met anyone whose dog had any sort of complication with a microchip, other than it migrating, but every vet tech, vet, and shelter employee I know and have seen scan a dog will scan the dog's entire body several times before giving up on finding a chip.  The chip is there to get my dog back if he ever escapes or is lost and ends up at a shelter or vet's office.  If anyone is worried about the chip migrating, just ask your vet to scan the dog any time you are there and keep track of where it is.

I do not have a scanner but my breeder (also the president of our training club) has one, so I could borrow it if I went to a show without her, but so far I've just used the tat.