I agree with Anne. In a perfect world, no dog would ever get loose. In a
perfect world, all dogs would be incredibly well behaved Rin Tin Tin dogs. We
don’t live in a perfect world.
I never leave collars on my dogs because I have seen the damage that results
when dogs are playing and one dog gets his jaw tangled in another’s collar
(whether it’s chain, leather or nylon makes no difference). The carnage is
truly unimagineable and incredibly quick. It’s a great way to ‘ruin’ a dog.
And if you leave them with ‘breakway’ collars, the collars tend to do just that
- break away and there goes your ID.
I can’t even count the number of dogs that have tattoos and they have either
stretched out (on the flank) so much to be unreadable or that we find
impossible to trace. If you are on FB, (not flower boy, face book), you would
see how often GSD’s with tattoos are listed with the words - please, does
anyone recognize this tattoo - and how seldom the tattoos can be traced.
The microchip may migrate but I have been able to register my dog’s microchips
(installed in Germany where they are not allowed to tattoo anymore) both here
in Canada with the CKC and also in Germany with TASSO. I also have the SOS
tags that they wear on their collars when we leave the property. I have my
own microchip reader that I carry with us when we travel so that I can always
prove ownership of my dogs.
Yes, I have had two dogs that were microchipped die from cancer (Hemangio and
Lympho) but I have also had numerous dogs that were never chipped or tattoo’d
or vaccinated (back in the day, we never vaccinated) die from cancer. And
all the members of my family who have died from cancer were not microchipped
(despite what George Orwell predicted).
I will use what I consider the best means to protect my dogs. They are my
life. I try to be with them 24/7 but life gets in the way. I have had a dog
chew through a 14 gauge wire mesh fence - there is no such thing as ‘never gets
out’.
Mary-Anne
Sent from Windows Mail
From: Anne Utter
Sent: Monday, August 31, 2015 7:47 AM
To: scotties@xxxxxxxxxxxx
Cc: Show GSD List
Impossible to not leave a dog ever unsupervised. Yesterday at a small match, a
dog managed to get loose - he ran to his owner (thankfully). Have you ever had
PETA at a show site? They let dogs loose. Things happen that you would never
imagine. A nurse left a gate open, our meter reader left a gate slightly
ajar. Shepherds are wise at opening such gates. I could go on. I've
chipped for years. Vet checks it every year. Never a problem. Sometime you
have to weigh the risks.
Anne,GA
Sent from Anne's iPad
