Importance of Dog ID Tags

Dog expert Wendy Nan Rees shares a personal story that could happen to any dog owner.

Make sure your friend can always get back home.

I have to say, my tip this week comes to you from first-hand knowledge. Not that all my tips are not first-hand, but this tip just happened, not 12 hours ago. The sad news is that my grandmother passed away last Saturday; the good news is she was 90 years young. Now she is back with her one true love of 64 years, my grandfather, and their many well-loved dogs.

Now, there needs to be some common sense going on when it comes to hosting an open house. To begin, there are several types of open houses. In my case, we had an open house to honor, celebrate and remember my grandmother, Ruth Koch.

My sister had only two days to plan for 500 guests. The open house was to start at 1:00 PM and run until 4:00 PM. She asked a neighbor if Gomez, the family dog, could come over at 11:00 AM and stay until 5:00 PM the day of the open house. That day, we brought Gomez back home at 5:00 PM since all the guests were gone by 4:30 PM, along with most of the staff. So, just the family and a few members of the staff were still left.

My sister and I made it clear to everyone still there that Gomez was now home. We told them, do not to let him out and please do not feed him anything at all, as he has a very sensitive stomach and he cannot tolerate human food. Last but not least, my sister went around again later, and I heard her politely asking everyone (even me) to not let Gomez out of any of the doors.

At 6:45 PM I went out to my car to run to the store for my family and to my surprise, who did I see down the road but none other than Gomez! Yes you read right: Gomez. I called him, and to my delight he came running with his tags ringing in the wind, his tail wagging and his tongue hanging out. I grabbed his collar and ran him into my sister’s home. They were so happy to see him. I said, "How did this happen?"

Unfortunately, this happens all the time. To my horror, it was about to happen again, to me this time. I didn't expect it the night before, but at 9:10 AM the next day, my cell phone rang while I was at the doctor’s office in the waiting room.

I heard a man say, “Hi, do you own a chocolate lab named Senator?”

I screamed, “Yes! Is he OK?”

The man replied, “Yes, I'm Mike and he's great.”

I said, “Thank you. He is visiting his father, as my grandmother just passed away. Oh, thank you so very much!!”

During our conversation, I discover that Mike and his wife live a few doors down from where Senator was staying. Then I knew my Senny was okay and just a few doors from his daddy’s house. Senator had just gotten out, but I sure was so thankful his collar stayed on and that I had put both my cell and home phone numbers on his collar. I was also so thankful Mike had called me.

The point I’m trying to make here is, no matter how well prepared you think you might be, accidents can still happen. Your dog can still get out and take a walk on his own. You need to have your dog properly tagged at all times.

Things you want on your dog’s tags should be: your dog's name, your contact phone numbers and any other information you feel comfortable providing. Some people leave off their addresses for their own safety reasons, and that is fine. However, you need to have phone numbers on the tag. If you can’t be reached, have a number for a family member who can be reached. You could even ask your vet if you could put his or her number on the tag in case of an emergency.

Alternative methods of tagging are micro-chipping and tattooing, though not all shelters have chip readers that are universal. You can also sign up for services that will send you a tag for your dog with an ID number and phone number to call if your dog is found. These services can, and usually do, have all the medical information your vet provides you with, and can help to reunite you with your lost loved one.

One of these services is called PetSummary.com and for a fee to you, they provide information to anyone who calls their phone number. They provide this service 24/7 so, no matter when or where your dog is lost, you have a better chance of getting them back safely.

While we always hope for the best, sometimes the unthinkable can happen and your dog will get loose anyway. It is best to prepare beforehand, and not after the unthinkable happens.

"Thank you!" to Mike and his wife. They are great people. We all need to be good pet people and look out for our fellow pet friends. We also need to make sure our dogs have up-to-date tags and collars on at all times. In this way we can keep all of our family members safe at all times.

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