From: diannes@milton.u.washington.edu (Dianne Schoenberg)
Subject: Re: TATOOING DOGS
Organization: University of Washington, Seattle
Distribution: usa
Date: Thu, 12 Nov 1992 19:14:10 GMT


There have been a couple of requests for information about tattooing on
the net in the last week, so I thought I'd pass along what I know based on
my experience of having my two tattooed and assisting at a few tattoo clinics.

There are several good reasons to have your dog tattooed.  Unlike a collar 
and tags, the tattoo is ALWAYS on the dog and cannot be removed.  If your
dog is lost and the finder discovers the tattoo, you can be traced through 
the national registries.  Moreover, if your dog is stolen you can be proven
to be the rightful owner.  Finally, I have heard that research labs will
often refuse to buy tattooed dogs because they know that they are pets and
don't want to get in trouble for using stolen animals--I don't know if
this is true but I consider a tattoo good insurance policy anyway.

Also, breeders, you ARE aware (aren't you?) of the new AKC recommendations
about recordkeeping and identification of dogs that basically require you
to use tattoo or microchip to identify each of your dogs (and you can only
use microchip if you can afford to keep a $250 scanner on your premises). 
This is a VERY good reason to do it even without any of the others listed
above.

Briefly, this is the procedure: first the area is shaved, then a pen-like
tattoo machine is used to "write" the identifying information on the dog,
then vasoline is applied to protect the area.  It takes a few days for the
redness to go away, but no special post-tattoo care is needed.  The entire
procedure takes 3-4 minutes (the tattoo itself maybe two minutes).

BTW, current practice is to tattoo on the belly or inner rear leg
because, sadly enough, tattoooed ears and lips can be removed.

Tattooing is NOT painful to dogs, it just tickles them a little. and the dog
will resist because they don't like to be tickled in the sensitive belly
area (for dogs, belly=vulnerability).  Some will wrestle like bears, some
will kick and scream, but I've only seen one who really seemed to be
hurting from it, and she was recovering from a difficult spay operation.
Since the dogs WILL wrestle, it generally takes 2-3 people to hold a large 
dog still during the procedure.

BTW one of my dogs has two tattoos and the other has one, and if there were
some reason to do it again to them I'd have no hesitations about it
whatsoever.

Some tattooers will give you a choice of what identifying information to use.
If you use the dog's AKC number, if he is lost and the finder contacts the
AKC, the AKC will send you a letter telling you how to contact the finder. 
(I think this holds true for UKC as well).  Some people have used their
Social Security numbers or Driver's License numbers but my understanding
is that these numbers can be hard to trace.

There are two national registries that register tattoos.  Tattoo-A-Pet
(1-800-TATTOOS) has their own numbering system and will also register
other numbers.  National Dog Registry (sorry, don't have the number with
me, should be in Dog World) will register any tattoo.  It's probably smart
to register with both organizations--my dogs are only registered with
Tattoo-A-Pet right now but I plan to get around to registering them with
NDR as well.

The only argument I've ever heard AGAINST tattooing is that people have
told me "If I found a tattooed dog, I'd have no idea who to call."  Well,
folks, this problem is pretty easily remedied via education, whereas
microchip has more problems than you can shake a microchip scanner at...
I've got no argument with the folks that have had their dogs microchipped,
but will stick with tattooing myself, thank you.

The worst problem you will face once you have decided to get your dogs
tattooed is finding someone to do it for you.  A few vets will do it (or
can refer you to someone who can) but if your vet says your dog needs to
go under general anethesia for the procedure, tell him/her 'thank you!'
and keep looking elsewhere (I have heard of this being done & think it's
ridiculous, unless of course the dog is put under for some legitimate
reason and the tattoo is incidentally done at the same time.)  Relatively
few groomers do the procedure, but sitting down with the Yellow Pages and
spending some time calling around should yield someone who's able to do it
for you.  Tattoo-A-Pet (phone number above) should be able to put you in
contact with their person in your area, if there is one.  Finally, the
cheapest and possibly easiest way to get it done is to find a tattoo
clinic.  These are usually sponsored by dog clubs and often occur in
conjunction with shows, fun matches or other doggy events.  Our local
newspaper often lists them in their weekly 'dog events' column.

As you can probably tell, I consider tattooing part of routine dog care--
just like vaccinations, obedience training, and spaying/neutering for
pet dogs.  So go for it!  It's the cheapest/best insurance you can get
toward getting your dog back in the unhappy event that he/she is lost.

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Dianne & her kids:                                 diannes@u.washington.edu
            K.C.: U-CD Nightwind's Elan, HC HCT CGC (Briard)
              Chloe: Found a Four-Leaf Clover, HT CGC (OES)
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