Vetcetera Ella: One more reason to get your pet microchipped

January 11th, 2008  

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This entire story upsets me. I wonder why her dog didn’t protect her? I walk with 3 dogs, a collie shep mix, at rotti akita mix and a berner. I walk in remote areas, I’m counting on my dogs to protect me. I just can’t imagine what happened. I read that witnesses had seen Meredith walking with the man while their dogs played. I would hope that if my demeanor suddenly changed to fear, my dogs would sense this. Am I asking too much of them? They are all microchipped,at least I have that going for me.

Betsy January 11th, 2008 09:50:00 AM

What a chilling account. Kudos to whomever was on the ball enough to use the microchip info as a forensics clue. Of course, for a chip to be used this way, the info in the database needs to be kept UTD. (How many of us have talked to typical pet dog owners -- who maybe even bought their dogs from pet stores -- who proudly proclaim that their dog is chipped? OK, and exactly how is that dog supposed to come back to you if you did nothing to make sure your info was in the chip database?)

Betsy, I notice that you don't list a retriever among the breeds in your pack. Any retriever who deserves the name is not a suitable protection dog. They just don't have it in them and they shouldn't. You've heard the joke about the dog who let the thief in and showed him the valuables? That's a retriever. Look terrifying and bark like crazy to try and scare the guy off, yes.

Deanna January 11th, 2008 10:48:00 AM

What a horrible outcome. I pray they have the responsible party and that he pays for the rest of his miserable life.

Betsy, I also was going to say that without knowing either dog my guess would be that a "typical" Lab would be about as useful as your Berner for protection, probably not going to happen. In most cases untrained dogs are good deterrents but not actually effective as physical barriers. Your Rottie/Akita mix is where I'd put my money but then again I've known Akitas with gentle temperments like I once read was reported about Nicole Simpson's dog: not capable of protecting himself or anyone else.

Jules January 11th, 2008 10:57:00 AM

Deanna: You have really hit on a BIG problem with microchips. They do little good unless you have updated information in the database. Having worked in veterinary hospitals for many years, I can't tell you the number of times a lost pet would come to us, we would scan and find the chip only to find out that the chip was never registered after sale.

Anytime the local veterinarian or shelter gets involved with a chip search, that's extra time involved in the search and that much longer until the pet makes it home.

Tomcat1765 January 11th, 2008 11:43:00 AM

Whoops...just re-read my post. I am not against microchips...they do great things as Dr. K has pointed out. BUT...owners need to follow through and those who implant chips (veterinarians, rescues, shelters, etc) should take steps to help those owners remember to enter information in the database.

Tomcat1765 January 11th, 2008 11:46:00 AM

Ugh. I wish that the world was kinder.

I am starting as a volunteer at a humane society this month (I hope that it doesn't make me cry!) and when I told a coworker about it, she started complaining about microchipping. Why? B/c it makes it hard for people to give away their pets (i.e. when a rescue microchips them and part of the contract is that you can't give the pet away) or let them run free without getting into trouble. That makes me happy, but that might be why some are hesitant to have it done.

Sarah January 11th, 2008 04:11:00 PM

Lol, no way would my big mouth have stayed shut during that conversation. Please beg that person who is against microchipping because its harder to dump a pet not to bother adopting anything ever and God help her children if she has any, sheesh.

Jules January 11th, 2008 04:31:00 PM

Good for you, Sarah! Please volunteer; it is inevitable that you will cry at times, but ultimately you will get back much more than you give; I certainly know that I do. And Jules is right; I never would have managed to keep that conversation civil! I have never considered re-homing any of my many animals, microchipped or not. (Wish I could say the same for my kids as they were growing up, but they all managed to stay nonetheless--LOL)! Microchips CAN be updated and re-registered to indicate a change of address, owner, etc., (many reputable breeders microchip their pups and provide registration info to the new families with instructions on how to update the original data). But even microchips are not foolproof--not all can be read by every scanner, so even a microchipped dog (or cat) should wear some alternate form of ID in case the animal becomes separated from its owner. Both my dogs are chipped, but wear tags also; one of them is also tattooed (done before microchips were accepted by our county as permanent ID for a lifetime dog license).

Shellie January 11th, 2008 06:12:00 PM

I'm glad some people are able to consider rehoming their pets, otherwise I wouldn't have any of my three dogs, and hopefully the dogs are happier here also!

Erich Riesenberg January 11th, 2008 08:06:00 PM

Chips are aso helpful if you ever have to prove in court a dog is yours. Say Fido gets loose and the finder decides to keep him. Photos just won't cut it with many dogs.

Also- there are many akita people who believe OJ is guilty based on the akitas reaction. If the dog was his, and he was the clear pack leader, (or the dog feared him) then the dog would NOT have attacked him because of how the dog saw him. In other words it wasn't a stranger because the dog would have been protective of her from an outsider. I don't know if I believe this because I know I don't have enough details of the case to draw a thoughtful conclusion.

I have owned akitas for going on 16 years now. Akitas can be protective and territorial but not all of them read the breed books. VBG :-) Some unfortunatly overly so. I do think my Jack would protect me but I base that on reactions I have seen from him in specific situations. I think my former female would have run the other way. But you never really know with some dogs. They can surprise you in either direction.

Marie January 11th, 2008 11:53:00 PM

Some years back, a couple of young women were murdered while backpacking the Appalachian Trail with their Labrador. The dog was found bouncing around nearby, apparently oblivious. They were slaughtered in their sleeping bags -- the dog didn't even alert them to the assailant.

If you want serious protection, don't get a retriever. That's not what they are made for.

The vast majority of dogs that people believe are "protective" are not. Some are *possessive* of their owners, but these are worse than useless against a committed bad guy. It's kind of like that guy who thinks he owns a woman, picks fights in bars with innocuous men who were "looking at" her -- he's the first one to run like a panicked schoolgirl when someone who can and will kill *him* threatens her.

Without specific training, probably fewer than 5% of dogs can and will credibly protect their owners from a genuine two-legged threat.

My German shepherd (excellent working lines, and raised and trained to be friendly to all) is a fine visual deterrent, but would be befuddled in a genuine fight. The fluffy, friendly, cute-looking farm collies are the ones you would be wearing if you messed with me. They've actually shown the ability and propensity to do this -- highly unusual, and a surprise to me, though not unwelcome.

I sleep quite soundly when backpacking.

H Houlahan January 12th, 2008 06:38:00 AM

I'd agree on the retriever thing. While most will alert when startled, true protection is not to be expected. As a kid, one of ours got a hammer to the head when intruders broke in--ho was knocked out cold when we got home but he made it. He might have been trying--but more than likely he was just alarmed and confused, not attacking anyone.

Still, it's y contention that dogs are great deterrents but most I wouldn't rely on to keep me safe. My Frenchies are great alarms but my sister's Rottie-Lab and Rottie-Malamute are excellent, the latter being the one I'd count on when the going gets rough.

Dr. Patty Khuly January 12th, 2008 07:30:00 AM

Was that last installment on the microchip wars ever finished? I received some promotional material about Bayer's new ISO chip (ResQ, I believe they're calling it) the other day and didn't get a chance to ask the rep about their reader, which they say is universal and reads everything but encrypted AVID chips, but didn't mention distribution.

abc January 13th, 2008 12:56:00 PM

abc: The readers are making the rounds. HomeAgain, have to say, has been diligent in sending all its customers universal readers gratis. I was most impressed--and gratified. If only everyone would use them...

Dr. Patty Khuly January 13th, 2008 08:23:00 PM

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