What do you put on your dog's ID tags?

[pssh]

I'm getting new tags for my dogs and I really want to put some good stuff on them in case they get lost.

Here's what I'm thinking-

For my dog with allergies

Side 1:
Reward if Returned
Needs Daily Meds
Will cover vet bills
Sacramento, CA

Side 2:
Allergies: Corn/Wheat
Microchipped
(###) ###-####
(###) ###-####


For my other dogs

Side 1:
Reward if Returned
Needs Daily Meds
Will cover vet bills
Sacramento, CA

Side 2:
Microchipped
(###) ###-####
(###) ###-####
(###) ###-####

I don't want their names on there as I have read that if the person who finds them knows their name, they can bond with them more easily and might be less likely to return them (and there isn't any room on the tags!) I also don't want my full address on there in case there are any weirdos who see it and want to pay me a visit. Obviously the reward is for an incentive to return them to me. Then "needs daily meds" is to make it seem more urgent that they get back as soon as possible and to make anyone who is considering keeping them think that they are more trouble (and more expensive) than they are worth. "Will cover vet bills" is to make sure if the dogs get hurt, the person who finds them will be okay with taking them to the vet knowing that they wont have to pay for the bills (and wont put them down unless there is nothing else they can do.) The city is so that they know where to dogs are from (I'm still trying to decide if iI should use the city or if I should put my zip code on there. What do you think?) The allergies are listed for my dog who has them so that the people who find them dont accidentally feed her something that would cause problems for my dog. Microchipped is so they know that if for some reason they can't reach me, they can be scanned to get my info. And finally is my phone number, my mom's number for if I am not available, and the house number (if there is room) so that they can contact me.

All my dogs are under 20lbs (they wear 1/2" to 3/4" collars,) so what size/shape tag should I get for them? I definitely want a high quality stainless steel that is deeply engraved so that it wont wear off as easily. I can't decide if I want a normal hanging type tag or one that slides onto the collar. The sliding ones are more expensive and I have to buy four, so it would be quite a bit of money for them and I would have to get two per dog because of all the text, but they are also more quiet and less likely to wear off.

What do you think? What do you put on your dog's tags and why?

 

[crocky]

That is a lot of good info but I had a hard time fitting anything more than phone number and name. I put the name simply so my dog would be more apt to come to them if they see the tag and the dog gets out of their hands. When I tried to put anything else the info was just too small and jumbled together. Then again my tags are not huge.

 

[pssh]

Yeah, most of the tags I've found dont hold much, but there are a few good places (online) that will do 4 lines on each side (or more if they are bigger tags.) I'm thinking if I get square or rectangular tags, I should be able to fit it all on there will a decent sized, legible font. Those fancy shaped ones and the small circular ones definitely wouldn't be able to hold all that info on it.

 

[KatCham]

All I have is:

I have a microchip please scan me (on one side)

Then my address with postcode and mine and my hubbys mobile numbers (on the other side)

 

[Lathelia]

My cat's tag has my adress and telephone number. It's pretty small, so I couldn't put more info.

 

[Echoezra]

You make some good points about reasons for not putting name and address, and i understand the hesitation to provide all your contact info, however I usually encourage people to
1) include their address - for the main reason that several times in the past I have caught loose dogs by the collar, (with no leash on me either time) and back then i didnt have a cell phone. Some people still don't. In which case they are in the same boat as finding a dog with no tags. One time (after i had started carrying a cell phone) I had to drag a very resistant tagless dog by the collar up and down driveways door to door to door to try to track down where he lived. Luckily around the 5th house the person mentioned that he thought the guy over "there" (a street over in the opposite direction as i was searching) had a dog that looks like that (only knew that because it happened to look like his own dog) Thank goodness. And lucky dog. I loved near a very busy blind curve and corner.
Chances are that If anyone else (who isnt as dog crazy as me) had caught that squirming leaping pulling dog by the collar (and/or didnt have a cell phone), they would have just let go of him well before they reached the first house.
As I sadly ended up doing to to a pair of labs I caught running loose one day on my way to work a couple of years earlier. And still feel bad karma guilty about it to this day. It was in a very rural area of farmland, where the houses are really far apart and have crazy long driveways. I honestly don't even remember how I managed to get a hold of both of them in the first place. They did have tags, but all the tags had on them was a local phone number. I called the number, after I had caught the first dog, but no answer. I then managed to catch the second dog too (don't remember how but I remember it wasn't super easy, and took some awkward doing) I awkwardly true calling again and again. So I couldn't find out their address. There were a couple houses around, one this way, one that way. Both were quite a hike from the field we were standing in. We were also quite a distance now from my car. I decided that the one house was maybe closer than the car so I dragged them all the way over there (not an easy task) and there was nobody home. Ugh. Now what? I start heading back in the other direction. Figuring maybe I can get them in my car on the way to the next house. It's hard going so I cut across the lawn, but then I had to cross a ditch with them to get back on the road. That was my downfall. Literally. I think i tripped, kind of twisting my ankle, while one dog kept going down the ditch and the other one jumped across it. However it happened, one dog ended up loose again, and made a break for it. I called and whistled (As i recall, there wasn't a name on the tags, so I was just calling them Goldie and Brownie, maybe it would have come back if I had known its name, they were pretty friendly in the first place, but didnt dig being dragged around by the collar.
So here I am, trying to decide what to do. The dog I still have is struggling even harder to get away and join the other. The next house is still QUITE a hike away. I can now see that there are no cars in that driveway, and no fenced in area (so no way I could contain this dog if I did get it there) I already know nobody is home at the dogs house anyway, since I had called twice. So I was left with the debate - try and get this one dog in my car and take it to work? And do what with it? Keep it there until these people get home from work? Leaving the other dog alone and confused to roam by itself all day, looking for where his brother went? I looked back across the field where i had first caught up with them and saw maybe they had come from that direction across the corner, who knows? i decided they might be allowed to roam free all the time. They might return home on their own if allowed to and might be more likely to, and therefore end up safer if kept together. I had made a pretty valiant effort and was already going to be reeeally late for work. So, I ended up letting Goldie go too.
I always felt super terrible about it though, and worry that karma has let my dog run away a few times as a way of getting even for me giving up that day.
Maybe if their address had been on the tag, I would have known exactly where to go in the first place. Maybe if the dogs name had been on the tags, he would have come back to me and I could have gotten them both to the car. Maybe if the people had put their cell or work number on the tags I could have tracked them down. So many what if's. but it does make me put my address home and cell numbers as well as his name on Bruin's tags now.

Also, besides that I always put cell number now too because one time when my own dog had run off, and the whole family was out looking for him to cover more ground because we didnt know which direction he had run off in, I didn't have our cell number on his tag. So we kept having to stop looking and waste time doubling back to the house to see if someone had called about finding him.
So just keep those things in mind when deciding which things to include. Then you can weigh the likelihood of one thing happening vs another. If your neighborhood is more likely to have creepy stalkers than people without cell phones, then obviously one way makes more sense for you.

 

[asongforyou]

Would you be putting their license tag on as well? I'd go for a rectangular one for all that info. Circular ones can only fit two large lines on the middle and the top and bottom doesn't fit much. Plus with a lot of info it is hard to read. The tags that are embedded in the collar last a lot longer (aluminum and similar metal tags rub off so easily) and less likely to fall off. I have a lot of different types of tags for my bigger dog and she manages to lose some every now and then. The heavy duty plastic ones with different color letters seem to hold up better.

You can also embroider their collars too.

I would put their names as it might make it less stressful on your dogs if a stranger was trying to help. I feel that if a person is going to keep a lost dog, they would do it regardless if they had a name on their tag or not.

 

[asongforyou]

Whoops forgot to put what I have on my dogs tags...
Front side has name and 2 phone numbers. Back side has my house and street. I figure if they don't recognize my street shes far away and they'll call. The second tag is their license tag. I also have a QR tag for people who know what it is. They can scan it and it'll send me an alert that she has been scanned and approximately where. They can see her info about her temperament (dog aggressive or not) and medical issues.

 

[Olimpia]

Each of my dogs has multiple tags, it's the only way I could put the info I wanted. They have the tags with their microchip number that were provided by the microchip company, so they can be identified that way.

Additionally, each dog has a tag with their name, my full name, and my cell phone number. I provide my name because I would hope that a responsible person would want to double check that I do indeed own the dog, so I could just show them ID.

And I have a third tag that says something along the lines of "I am loved. Reward for return." I was hoping to play into the good in people. I have considered adding something about a medical condition to deter someone who would keep them but I don't know yet.

Thankfully I haven't had to put any of this to use but I hope that it is more than enough for someone to bring them back to me. The Microchip code has my address too, so I don't feel I'd have to write it on there.

 

[pssh]

Echoezera, My dogs are all under 20 lbs and can be easily picked up (and probably be happy to let a nice person do it) so it wouldn't be difficult for someone to keep a hold of them. They aren't the kind of dogs that make someone chase them, or even bother to run away from a friendly person. No one is at my home most of the day anyways and my neighbors are not the kind of folks who would inform the person that they are even mine, so going there wouldn't help.

Olympia, I never got a tag from their microchip companies. That would have been nice! I want to try and keep all the info on one tag if possible because they also have their license tags and two tags hitting one another is annoying. Three sounds like it would be terrible! How is the noise on your collars? I would want to keep them on all the time just in case one gets out somehow while not on a walk. As for my name, there isn't enough room. I have pictures of my dogs and have detailed descriptions of identifying markings/scars/whatever else they have, so I would hope that would be enough to prove to a good person that they are indeed mine.

Asongforyou, I also have their license tags on the collars. How does the noise with the plastic tag compare to two metal tags? I was thinking the plastic ones wouldn't hold up very well, but if they seem to do a good job and make less noise, I might go with them instead. As long as they last more than a year or two anyways. I've also heard that some people will read their tags and use their name to make it easier to steal them. That scares me a bit. I've already had to try and stop some people from luring my dog into their car when she got out one time, and I don't want to make it any easier for someone to try again. Thank goodness my dog decided not to go into their car and run back to me instead.

 

[ferretinmyshoes]

The plastic tag from one of my dog's AVID microchip broke apart in no time. The plastic tag from my other dog's Home Again microchip is still in pristine condition, and it's a softer plastic so it doesn't make any noise against the metal tag. Make sure their microchip information is updated whenever you move or change numbers!! A lot of people have chipped dogs but never update the info so when we find them and call we find out the microchip is still registered to the shelter that put the chip in. Then the chip is essentially useless because it doesn't help us find the owner at all.

From someone who has found a lot of dogs while out walking or driving I'll say I like having the address on the tag in addition to the phone number. If they don't answer the phone I at least know which yard to stick the dog in so I know it's not running around in the street or getting farther from home. Sometimes I don't have the ability to take lost dogs home with me until the owner calls back, especially now that I don't have a yard and won't take the risk of bringing an unknown dog in my house where it could hurt my smaller dog or cats.

Always put a lock on your back gate because more and more people are having their dogs (especially purebreds) stolen out of their yard, even when their dogs are only outside for a few minutes to potty. I've always put a lock on my gates.

 

[ferretinmyshoes]

I feel that if a person is going to keep a lost dog, they would do it regardless if they had a name on their tag or not.

Bingo. Sometimes it's not a matter of not enough on the tag unfortunately. Also I feel that putting food allergies would make it even easier for someone to keep your dog because then they already know what it needs. Whereas if the food allergy makes them break with awful diarrhea or lose all their hair...well that sucks for the dog but at least they're less desirable that way and may be returned then!

 

[pssh]

I didnt think about that. Maybe I wont put her allergies on it. It would just suck to get her back and have her fur start coming out and sores on her from the scratching/licking. She ends up licking and scratching herself raw.

I have a lock on the gate, so there is no way anyone is getting in unless they climb over. If someone did bring one back, and no one was home, they would be pretty much SOL about where to put them.

On the few dogs I've found that had adresses on their tags, only one owner was home at the time. Personally, I prefer to call ahead when I find them, but it's mostly because of the neighborhood I live in (and generally pick up the dogs in.) Some of the people around here are of the unsavory type who quite possibly would use a dog tag address find a house to steal from. I just keep the dog in my backyard until I get a call back or can take it to a vet to get checked for a microchip.

 

[asongforyou]

Asongforyou, I also have their license tags on the collars. How does the noise with the plastic tag compare to two metal tags? I was thinking the plastic ones wouldn't hold up very well, but if they seem to do a good job and make less noise, I might go with them instead. As long as they last more than a year or two anyways. I've also heard that some people will read their tags and use their name to make it easier to steal them. That scares me a bit. I've already had to try and stop some people from luring my dog into their car when she got out one time, and I don't want to make it any easier for someone to try again. Thank goodness my dog decided not to go into their car and run back to me instead.

Plastic ones are less noisy. All the metal tags I have, HAVE to have the silencers on them or they'll drive me crazy. It also protects the tags fairly well. My dog's tags don't last a year if I only leave one set on (my dog lives indoors too!). I have multiple back ups. I tried the aluminum ones with laser etchings (not engraved) the letters lasted pretty well too.
Since you had a scare with people in your neighborhood, I get it now that you're being cautious. It is better to be safe than sorry.

My advice is to try different types of materials and see what works for you and your dog (if your dog is less active or more active, etc.) Oh and try contacting the microchip company as most do give out plastic tags.
BTW, I ordered the mantid ooth from you last night