Microchip reading intermittently - Page 1

I took Chaos to the vet today for certification of microchip for his scorebook and they had very hard time finding/scanning the chip. I am talking probably about 10 min of scanning all over and nothing. The tech went inside, scanned another dog to make sure the reader was working properly, came back with another tech, spent another 10 minutes trying. Finally it did register on the reader and then again it wouldn't. They filled the paperwork, but now I am wondering what to do. What if it doesn't work for the trial? I called Homeagain and they said that sometimes the antenna on the chip malfunctions and offered me a new chip for free. But that would pose a whole new issue, do I register both chips for the scorebook? Or do I have any other options?

Thanks.

I know this sounds stupidly simple,  But sometimes it is as simple as the batteries in the reader need to be replaced.  I have seen this before.  try going by a different vet's office and trying it. 

I wish it was that. After the vet, I drove to the shelter and the ACO had the same issue, two of the scanners he brought out didn't pick anything, then he got a third, completely different model and that registered the chip, but he said that all three should have picked the chip.

Several of my dogs have 2 microchips. They have the US standard 125kHz, and the ISO 135kHz. Which does your dog have??  Some scanners do not read both frequencies of chip, so I would question what type of scanners they are using. Also, most universal scanners that are said to pick up both frequencies will generally pick up the 134kHz chip better, so if your dog has a 125kHz you might consider having an ISO chip inserted. 

I believe Homeagain is ISO 134 kHz.

What happens at trial if they can't scan the chip? We are out, I presume? is it possible to register two chips in one scorebook?

I'm not sure about the trial. HomeAgain makes both frequency of chips, so you may want to check further into which one your dogs has.

Just tattoo your dog. If the chip is not readable, the tattoo is. It's fairly common at events to have one or two that are not readable. Nothing like holding up the event and run the possibility of being disqualified. Tatto as a back up works universally.

Dog1.


A tattoo number wouldn't cause duplication questions re
the Scorebook, either .  (Anyone gonna provide the answer
to that query, would love to know ?)

I had the same issue with the HomeAgain that I have with Xena. I had her rechipped with a different brand. She is also tatooed, which I had done when she was a pup.