Micro chip rant

Indy was so bratty that he did not get tattooed when we tried before. (I volunteered to hold dogs for a friend of mine whose normal assistant was sick and she agreed to tattoo Indy for me if we had time after the scheduled dog, she was workign at an ID clinic day thing) BUT- he was much more upset about being flipped over on his back and the noise of the tattoo gun (He doesn't like clippers, either) than the needle- he's actually got a little black dot but we didn't do the rest. Of all the dogs that were done that day, only one acted like it was at all bothersome.

I think in generally tattooing is pretty painless. Mal will be getting tattooed (he's already chipped) and I'm actually thinking about learning to do it so that I can offer it as a service locally and tattoo my fosters. Microchips are great, but if an individual finds a dog and doesn't know about them (and doesn't take the dog to a vet, which, frankly, a lot of folks won't- especially if they want to keep the dog!) they're not that useful.

The thigh tattoos that I've seen stay clear and readable on light-skinned dogs and reasonably readable on dark-skinned dogs- it's harder, but it's visibly there- the dog may have to get shaved on the thigh to really be able to make it out on an old dog. They seem to stay more legible than ear tattoos in older greyhounds (All my friends with retired racers, at the moment, have seniors- the only YOUNG greyhound I know right now is from show-lines!) and they're WAY more readable than lip tattoos in horses. (In fairness, TBs- the main breed I know of that's tattooed regularly- live a lot longer for that tattoo to get more messed up. )

What info is tattooed and where do they usually get tattooed?  In the ear?

Have any of you folks, who claim tattoos don't hurt, gotten a tattoo yourself?

ORIGINAL: snownose

Have any of you folks, who claim tattoos don't hurt, gotten a tattoo yourself?

That's what I was wondering.  It hurts.  Not terribly so, but it hurts!

No, but I had my friend run the (inkless) tattoo gun on the back of my arm and it stung but wasn't seriously painful. Considering how much tougher dog skin is than human skin in general, I think the pain is pretty minimal.

No, but I had my friend run the (inkless) tattoo gun on the back of my arm and it stung but wasn't seriously painful. Considering how much tougher dog skin is than human skin in general, I think the pain is pretty minimal.

 
I have tattoos, doing an inkless test run is nothing like having to endure 15 minutes of it in a sensitive area.

My point being, I'm not sure how sensitive that area is on dogs.

I got Pippin microchipped last week, and the microchip we got has no annual fee.  It's an Avid, and it was a bit more expensive initially at the vet.  It was $40 and that included the registration fee. 

I have been told that the human tattoos are different from the dog tattoos. Something about the layers of skin in dogs vs humans. Humans have more layers that the tattoos go through, or something like that. I have had tattoos done on 3 different thin skinned sighthounds and none seemed like they were in pain from the procedure. And believe me, if a stranger had been hurting my first basenji, everyone in the building would have known.

http://www.nationaldogregistry.com/nopain.html

The only advice I would give about microchipping (and both our dogs are chipped) is, if possible
get either a local or do it when the dog is under for something. Our first dog wasn't I don't know if
the vet used anything, I don' t think so, but Mocha, who used to love going to the vet (probably cause
she got treats there) now hates it and hids under the chair in the waiting room. I think she remembers
that it hurt. Boo,on the other had, had it down when he was under and is fine.Pam

Pam, I always find it interesting when someone says the microchip hurt their dog. Max's was inserted right in the aisle of Petsmart while I held him. He didn't even notice it. His chip was scanned when we got Georgie in January, and hadn't moved. We didn't pay for his, as it was included in the adoption, but I think that shelter doesn't do it anymore. Georgie came to us chipped. I think the chip is registered to the shelter, which has our info on file, and they would contact us if she were brought in and scanned somewhere.