Little rant about dog tags.

Blue'e tag reads
 
Blue
My brother's name
address
home phone #
 
This is what the machine from Petsmart requires for your id tag.
 
I think having your dog's name on the tag that way if they call you they can address your pets name when they call. Blue will come to you or at least look at you when you call his name.
 
I need to soon update Blue's tag so that way it has my name on it and maybe see about adding my cell # to it as well if we go out on vacation with Blue that way they may be able to reach my cell.

Mick has 2 ID tags on his collar plus his TheraPet tag on his harness- one is similar to the "medical alert" bracelets people wear.  One side says "I have Laryngeal Paralysis" the other side has our name, address and phone number.  The other tag has all the info on it that came on the tag I got when he was microchipped, only it's more duarble than the AVID tag.  The TheraPet tag just says "I'm a TheraPet" on one side and "Registered with TheraPet Inc" on the other.  I also have tags with the last names and phone numbers of my sister, mother, in-laws, and a couple of friends.  Places where Mick has stayed over night.  These are tags that you write on and bake- like the Shrinkie Dinks I had when I was a kid.  Also on his collar is a Pet Pocket that has his town license and the tag from where we adopted him in it.  Not only can I not stand the jingling tags, they discolor Mick's fur.  If Mick gets his rabies vac at the vet, that tag goes in the Pet Pocket as well (the free clinics don't give out tags).
 
The theory I heard behind not putting a dog's name on its tag was that it would be easier to prove the dog belongs to you if it were to get lost and whoever found it wanted to keep it because hopefully your dog would respond to it's name (does that make sense?).  Anyway, since I keep extra tags on hand for "visiting" dogs, it's easier just to order a bunch exactly the same.

ORIGINAL: ingemk

Jen, which site are you looking at. Looks like you can get a lot of info on the tags, that's what I have been trying to find. Presently the tags on my dogs only have phone # on them. I bought 6 tags ( or more) for all 3 dogs, sooo, no names. I will update them now.

I'm going to order from [linkhttp://www.boomerangtags.com/]http://www.boomerangtags.com[/link]. They let you engrave on both sides.

Ok I am the majority out on this one. I incline to agree with your client to a certain degree. Having said that I will not put the dog's name on the tag but my first Initial and Last name, and three additional phone numbers to include the vet's clinic.
One of the many reasons we have tags on our fur kids is incase they do get displaced accidently and the *honost* person does find them it is a huge help when they are returned to you. But if the person had other thoughts of either stealing your pet to make a profit or in hopes a reward comes out for finding the dog or just flat out decided they want to keep the dog because of (x, y and z) and you happen to recognize your dog in their custody, they lay claim it is there dog and their dog's name is "Kugo" just like your missing family member's name. Coincidence? I think not.
It is important to keep a current picture of your family member, and all paper work, registration, vet visits etc in a handy file.  And a detailed description of them that only you and your vet can varify with an identifier such as a broken tooth, scar on the ear, a birth mark. Things of that nature.
And the reason I say this is because Nikki was dognapped from me. [linkhttp://www.basscapital.com/pdn/pages/09252002/tzu.html]http://www.basscapital.com/pdn/pages/09252002/tzu.html[/link]
A hard lesson to learn for me. The only way I could identify her was through an unusual spot and her records when I went to get her back from the people who stole her in the first place. Their claim was "Their Shih Tzu's" name was also Nikki. Because I made the mistake of putting the dogs name on the flyers and all over my car when I was looking for her.

I have heard the "no dog names on tags thing" and even though I think the theory is rather flimsy, I still don't put ther names on tags. Depends on the amount of available space on the tag, but typically I want to *at least* let the reader know the name of the person who owns the dog (so they know who to ask for) the phone # and the general vicinity of where we live (in case the dogs wander far off or get loose while traveling, etc.).  Kahaus' tag says:

Please call
Lissa B*****
(City), (State)
xxx-xxx-xxxx
or
Linda B******
(City), (State)
xxx-xxx-xxxx

And then he has his rabies tag, microchip tag, and eventually I hope we receive in the mail the county license tag that we are legally required to have and ordered two months ago bu still havent received.

ORIGINAL: griffinej5
I'm going to order from [linkhttp://www.boomerangtags.com/]http://www.boomerangtags.com[/link]. They let you engrave on both sides.

 
Boomerang tags are great. I have the plastic tags for my dogs and cats. They're pretty durable. The color doesn't fade, and they haven't broken unlike other plastic tags I've had before.

ORIGINAL: micksmom

  Anyway, since I keep extra tags on hand for "visiting" dogs, it's easier just to order a bunch exactly the same.

See this is what I have been thinking, sort of.  If I found a dog with just a number and address on it, but no name, I would tend to think, Hmm posession.  Not pet.  Not exactly fosters but disposable dogs I guess.  Almost like why bother to put the name on when the dog may not stay.  Maybe its just me but I think that its a human psych thing.  I suppose that if there is a ton of other info on the tag it may make more sense.  But just a number and street address seems sketchy to me.

Interesting...

I have never put my dog's name on their tags, nor would I.  I don't see the point, but then perhaps I'm a bit more paranoid than most.  In MI we have 3 class B dealers and we also have the biggest pit bull ring fighting problem in the country so dog theft is real and only a few years ago there was a string of it here and over the border of Canada into Ontario which is only about 15-20min from me. 

My dogs all wear 2 sets of tags on 2 different rings.  They have 2 phone #'s, my address, a statement that they are microchipped, licensed and in the case of 2 of the 3 that they are altered (in case anyone got ideas of making big bucks off of 'purebred' dogs), their microchip tag and their pet insurance tag.  I also have a chain and padlock on my backyard fence.  Our dogs draw a lot of attention in the city and I just don't take chances with as many idiots as there are in the world today.

Then again, like I said I live in a state where it's warranted. 

And just for the sake of including it, here is a brief look at the class B dealers in MI:  [linkhttp://www.jethrosplace.org/classbdealers.htm]http://www.jethrosplace.org/classbdealers.htm[/link]

When we move out of state, I plan on enjoying the fact that I will no longer have to be quite so paranoid !

Well, here I go off topic again......

Where are you in MI?  I'm in the NW part of the state and there are actually a couple newer members in this area as well.  Lori, who has two of my foster pups is in Flint, another gal (who isn't on right now because of computer issues) is in the Port Huron area, Trish is around Grand Rapids I think and there are several MORE of us......

ORIGINAL: glenmar

Well, here I go off topic again......

Where are you in MI?  I'm in the NW part of the state and there are actually a couple newer members in this area as well. 

You guys are far far away from me [].  I'm south of Detroit by 15min or so.  Right smack in the suburbs (blech).  We're planning on moving East (to ME) in 2yrs and I can't wait !

It's definately a different culture up north though.  I'd venture to guess your air is fresher, your space is bigger and your crime is much lower !!

OMG!!! Where in ME??? I've lived THERE too!!

I grew up in Midland, married radio (twice) and have lived alllll over the country.  We've only been back in MI for a little over a year.

We've TALKED about a MI/Ohio idog gathering.  If gas prices level out maybe we can do that this summer.

I'm not too far from MI Glenda.   Can I come too?

Of COURSE!  And that goes for ANYONE who wants to join us, once we figure out the little stuff like the whens and wheres.....

ORIGINAL: glenmar

OMG!!! Where in ME??? I've lived THERE too!!

 
Very cool !  We're planning on settling outside of Portland, probably a bit northwest.  That is the plan at least.  I fell in love with ME when I was 13, and I've wanted to live there ever since.  8yrs ago I met my now closest girlfriend, through an online community for dogs, who happens to live there !  So in the last 8yrs I've gone back many times only to find I've grown more in love with it every time.  I was never meant to be a MI gal []  I always feel at home in ME.  We're waiting for my husband to finish an apprenticeship here in MI and I'm hoping by this time in 2008 we'll be packing the U-haul truck !
 
An i-dog gathering sounds like fun !  I would definately participate !

I might be a little more paranoid about dog theft if Max was an intact purebred, but I don't think too many people are interested in stealing a neutered *obviously mutt*. And if someone did take him, hoping for a good watchdog, they'd bring him back pretty fast when they found out that he doesn't bark when the door bell rings.  He just goes and sits right in front of the door so the first thing the person on the other side has to do when the door opens is scratch his ears. []