When i bought Romeo (boxer:D ) the breeder mentioned he had been due clawed (think thats right) what is this? And at what age do you started claw clipping or do you get them done when its needed?

I'm planning on having him chipped (over paranoid he'll get pinched :o ) vets said it'll cost me £22 :thumbsup: but what happened if he doe's get lost stolen will it help in his return ? will it hurt him ? Has any one had there pets done? whats your views ?

ooh you have opened a can of worms with some of those questions! :rolleyes:
The dew claw bit I can help you with. They are a bit like dogs thumbs, and some breeders remove them for various reasons. This thread should answer your questions to do with dew claws http://www.sheffieldforum.co.uk/showthread.php?t=196532&highlight=dew+claw

As far as clipping claws, you shouldn't need to do it too much as long as your dog gets plenty of exercise on harder ground. Just keep a check on them. Most people do it themselves.

Now the can of worms bit. If your dog is lost them the chip SHOULD help to get your dog safely back to you, but that depends on whether he is actually scanned for a chip, or if the chip is even found by the scanner. I'm sure other people can help you more with this one. It is still advisable to get your dog microchipped though.

I have all my animals chipped a soon as possible because then you know if they are scanned they can get back to you.
I found a cat in Woodseats and took her to the vet to be scanned, she was chipped and was reunited with her owner within an hour and she had been missing for 3 months before i found her.
my advice is to have any animal chipped, its not painful for them and if you are having them injected too its just the same as that really

i've heard of people cutting the chip out if stolen so the dog can't be traced, this is very scary! Is it true or a rumour ?

ooh you have opened a can of worms with some of those questions! :rolleyes:
The dew claw bit I can help you with. They are a bit like dogs thumbs, and some breeders remove them for various reasons. This thread should answer your questions to do with dew claws http://www.sheffieldforum.co.uk/showthread.php?t=196532&highlight=dew+claw
.

viewed the thread saw the pictures of when a dog hasn't had its due claw removed any picture on how it looks after its been removed ? is the whole thing missing or trimed? unsure mines had them removed :rolleyes:

Would def have them chipped. We have all dogs & cats chipped, but we took a while to get round to getting one of our cats done and when she went missing we were so upset with ourselves, that we had just not got round to it. Everyone we contacted on our search for our beloved pet asked "Are they chipped"? and we felt so stupid saying "er, no". We informed all local vets, charities etc as well as some national ones, but we knew if she turned up somewhere further afield they would never know who to return her too. Of course it doesnt guarantee their return if they get lost or stolen, but it helps, and it is one thing you would really regret if you lost them. Luckily ours did turn up. When our pets have momentarily gone missing since its is so reassuring as you can speak to the chip people at any time (they seem to be open 24hrs) so you know there is an alert out for your pet & you have done all you can. Am sure we paid less than £22 though so may be worth shopping around. Have seen offers for £10 but not sure if that was on top of usual consultation price.

sometimes it's possible to find free microchipping events - usually run by the RSPCA or similar, but if your dog went missing whilst you were waiting you probably won't be happy

try a search for 'RSPCA' on here and you should find a link to the right page on their website

i've heard of people cutting the chip out if stolen so the dog can't be traced, this is very scary! Is it true or a rumour ?

I think that just has to be a rumour- if you'd ever tried to find a chip that's been in there a while, you'd know that you'd have to virtually skin the animal to find the thing sometimes. Getting it out again just isn't an option.

Honestly, we've had cats in the Shelter where the chip has ended up under their armpits, right along their back, down their leg, round the front of their neck. It obviously isn't painful for them, but finding it with a chip scanner is hard enough, so heaven knows how you'd get it back out again (and I can't imagine even the most heartless of people maiming an animal to remove one).

My dogs are both chipped, one has dew class, one doesn't.

The one with dew claws never uses them but does get them caught. The one without dew claws actually manages to hold things better than the one who has them so I can't really see an argument for keeping them in my personal opinion...
Not a great photo but... the one nearest the camera is Eddy who has dew claws. The other is Takara without dew claws:
http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b10/Lottiepics/Takara/21-09-06_1001.jpg

I get my dogs chips checked regularly and they wear two tags (normally, they've both lost them at the moment and only wear one each at the mo) one tag has my details, the other has 'I'm microchipped' on one side and the tag is checked regularly, if it migrates from it's original position, I will have the location of the chip put on the other side of the tag.

Chips should be checked regularly though to make sure they're still working and haven't migrated.

Also -the chip will not return the dog to you if stolen as this has happened in the past. I don't believe vets are able to see details on the chip (only the ref. no. to give the company) so they don't know anyway and if they did, they couldn't take the dog off the 'new owner'.

I think they are trying to work something out with this though...

You can join schemes such as the Missing Pets Bureau - who, although their initiative is good (they have Takara's DNA on file in case she is stolen and will send out posters to vets and pet shops etc all over if she goes missing), I've received poor customer service from them.

I believe you can get the DNA stored by the Kennel Club too in order to prove the dogs if yours.

Had our yorkie chipped and he squealed the place down, what a wuss lol

The chip has moved though.

oh forgot to add.

Get Romeo used to have his nails done :D If they're not long enough to clip, get a small DIY file, or a pets nail file (I couldn't find a small DIY file so bought a pet nail file from PAH) and get him used to you filing his nails.

Otherwise he could end up hating it and will be a complete pain in the bum when you want to do his nails and he has other ideas! :rolleyes:

At Our Dog Show On the 28th April at Waltheof centre , Mirco Chipping willbe Availble at a Reduced cost of Just £10 !

If anyone would liek any more details please get in touch ,

Cheers

this is probably overkillm but having heard stories about microchips that dont always register (or more likely, people not checking properly to see if a found animal is microchipped), as well as being chipped, ailsa has a tag on her collar that says she is microchipped and gives the chip number and contact details (this is in addition to her name/ id tag), plus she is registered with missing pets bureau and has a tag for that too - so as long as she still has her collar on, there are at least 4 ways she can be traced back to us and if the collar is missing she is still chipped.

i've heard of people cutting the chip out if stolen so the dog can't be traced, this is very scary! Is it true or a rumour ?

Well that part is true in a way, When i lived up shirecliffe 3years ago now and was a lot of theft going arround for Rottweilers a young lad got beaten up by two adult men that taken his away, and one bloke who got a year old male Rottie on our road and his went missing and it was found dead with cuts to its neck and shoulder area. I got my Rottweiler and at the time and she was only 7m old and we got chatting when he seen me arround and told me his dog went missing then two days later it was found dead, they knew it was his dog because who ever did it did not find the chip, the police then said it does happen when they think it is chipped and if they dont do it right the dog dies because of it. My dog is chipped and i was so worried that they seen my pup arround i was scared to take her out at the time.

Also -the chip will not return the dog to you if stolen as this has happened in the past. I don't believe vets are able to see details on the chip (only the ref. no. to give the company) so they don't know anyway and if they did, they couldn't take the dog off the 'new owner'.

I believe you can get the DNA stored by the Kennel Club too in order to prove the dogs if yours.

Hi every one, Romeo Has now been chipped.

Thats awful, that was the main reason i wanted him chipped because i love him so much, i'm overly worried others will want to pinch him (i know madness :loopy: ) so after feeling comforted by him having the chip its no could for the purpose i intended it, although i'm happy he's had it in case he get lost.

Where could i find out about cost and how i go about the KC DNA ?

Well that part is true in a way, When i lived up shirecliffe 3years ago now and was a lot of theft going arround for Rottweilers a young lad got beaten up by two adult men that taken his away, and one bloke who got a year old male Rottie on our road and his went missing and it was found dead with cuts to its neck and shoulder area. I got my Rottweiler and at the time and she was only 7m old and we got chatting when he seen me arround and told me his dog went missing then two days later it was found dead, they knew it was his dog because who ever did it did not find the chip, the police then said it does happen when they think it is chipped and if they dont do it right the dog dies because of it. My dog is chipped and i was so worried that they seen my pup arround i was scared to take her out at the time.

Dieselbabe that is so heart breaking and its so worrying that people can do this, i hope they caught the people who did this, its so cruel.:mad:

So Sorry for over posting :rolleyes: but before i forget when looking at Romeos vet sheet i saw tattoo, Are dogs tattooed ?

Most greyhounds & police dogs were tattooed , the only problem with that was , 99% of the time the tattoo's were on the ear , if a dog got stolen the ppl would cut the ear off with the tattoo . sickening i know but true.

]Thats why microchipps are a better idea all round. the DO work and when their implanted the implantee will always check before and after that their active...

As for worrying about your dog being stolen . my advice is dont be,. dogs are very protective especialy Bull Breeds like Boxers.

As for DNA testing most vets can now do this and its relativly in expensive to do ....