How You Can Feel if a Dog is Micro Chipped

You can feel a dog’s microchip just under their coat between the shoulder blades. The chip is the size of a grain of rice, sitting within a plastic shell.

Sometimes the chip can move, and other times it can be difficult to find, especially if it’s been in a while. A scanner is much more reliable.

You can sometimes check to see if a dog has been micro chipped by feel. If it is a stray dog, or dog you don’t know, be very cautious.

The dog may be frightened and bite, or they may be aggressive, in which case your hands will be exposed and in danger of being injured. Make sure children stand well back.

Once you are confident it is okay to touch the dog, you can begin to feel for the chip.

 

1. Check the dog collar

Many locations require a dog to have an identification tag, and a notification if the dog has been chipped.

This is the first step, and you won’t have to go past this if you trust the tag is correct.

If the dog has no collar, or you want to confirm by feel, carry on carefully.

 

2. Feel for the microchip

The first thing to realize is the chip is very small. It’s about the size of a grain of rice and is contained within a coat of plastic.

Run your hands over the skin of the dog between the shoulder blades. See if you can feel for the rice grain-sized chip. This will be difficult, especially if the dog’s coat has very thick hair.

Work in a methodical manner by covering the whole area, making sure you don’t miss a spot. Remember, it is small and easily passed over.

 

3. Get the dog scanned

Feeling for a chip is not an exact science, so if you don’t feel it, you may have just missed it. It is entirely possible to feel the chip through the skin, but it is easily missed by inexperienced hands.

Take the dog to a vet or shelter and ask them to scan it. Most are perfectly happy to do it, especially if it sees a pet reunited with their owner.

 

Microchips Are Just Below the Surface

So that you can locate a chip by feel, it pays to know how they are implanted.

Micro chips are implanted just below the skin between the shoulder blades. A large needle is used, and the chip is planted in the subcutaneous area (just below the skin surface)

The subcutaneous tissue bonds to the chip and holds it in place. This is sometimes why the chip can be hard to find. The tissue that binds to the chip should stop it from migrating to other parts of the body, but it can move sometimes. It won’t go too far.

A chip is designed to last for around 25 years, but just be aware that if you feel a chip, it may not actually be working.

 

There is no Phone App to Read a Dog’s Microchip

We all reach for our smartphones these days because there is normally an App for everything.  Unfortunately there is no App that you can get to read a dog’s microchip.

You will have to feel for it, and take the dog to a vet or shelter to read it.

A microchip doesn’t have a power source of its own. They basically just store information. They have to be read by a reader designed for reading that information. A smartphone doesn’t work that way.

A scanner has to be held close to power up the chip with an electromagnetic frequency.

You could always buy a scanner like this one if you think that you may need to read a few. You could always buy one to have on hand as a nice thing to do for lost pets in your area.

Scan for the microchip; take a photo of the registration number, then ring the chip registration services to quote the number.

 

Sometimes You Can’t Feel a Microchip

If you’re lucky and feel a microchip in a dog, you can consider them chipped and decide if you need to get them scanned for further information.

Sometimes you just can’t feel a microchip. If it is placed deeply, or in a fatty area, you might just be unable to find it.

Some owners have reported that the microchip in their dog migrated quite a distance, they could feel it in the dog’s chest when they petted him, but moving that far is very rare.

Other people know exactly where their dog’s microchip is, but they can’t feel it. At every visit the vet will scan for the chip and let them know where it is, but they still can’t feel it with their hands.

 

5 Interesting Facts About Microchips

The microchip you are trying to find is a very basic, yet clever piece of technology.

 

1. A microchip does not store your personal information:

A pet microchip holds one piece of information. It is a 9, 10, or 15 digit number. Those numbers need to be registered with a number of different organizations (depending on where you live), so your details are linked to the series of numbers.

 

2. Microchips cannot be used as a GPS:

You can’t track your dog with the chip, or locate them if they are missing.

A microchip is called a passive transponder. This means it has no power source, so has no ability to send a signal.

All the chip will do is use the power from the scanner when it is scanning for the digits.

 

3. A microchip isn’t the most likely way for a pet to get home:

I’m a little old fashioned and think you should always have a collar and tag with your information on it. The tried and tested collar and tag are a quicker and more efficient way for someone who finds a dog (or any pet with a collar) to return them.

Microchips are the perfect back up if a collar or tag falls off. The best way to ensure your dog is returned to you is to have them microchipped (with up to date registry information) and a collar and tag with all the relevant information inscribed on them.

 

4. Register your microchip in all registries:

There are various registries in the United States that hold information on dogs and their owner’s details.

Regardless of the maker of your chip, you should register your dog on all registries so that if someone finds them lost, they don’t need to contact all of the registries available.

Some registries do charge, so be mindful of that, but if you can afford to, it’s best to register your dog in as many locations as possible.

Some of the registers are:

There are others, so the best thing to do is find out which ones are active in your area if it’s unlikely that your dog will be lost anywhere other than where you live.

Ask your local council, dog pound, vet,or shelter who they think you should register with to ensure your dog is easily returned to you in the shortest amount of time if they get lost.

 

5. Not all scanners read all microchips:

There are three main frequencies used in the United States for pet microchips.

  • 125 kHz
  • 128 kHz
  • 134.2 kHz

While most US suppliers are now moving toward a standard 134.2 kHz, there are a lot of older chips still out there. If you scan your dog yourself, and don’t get a result, it may just be that the scanner is not picking up a particular frequency, but there is actually a microchip in your dog.

Seek advice from your local vet if you think that is the case.

 

The Microchip Bottom Line

If you do want to physically locate a dog’s microchip, it is possible to do it by feel, but not the most effective way. The chip may have moved, or inexperienced people may not even know they have felt it.

If you can, purchase a collar and tag so that your details and your dog’s details can be easily and quickly gathered.

You can buy a scanner, but it has to be truly universal.  Knowing the frequency of your dog’s microchip would be very handy, but this is not always possible, especially if you got the dog after it was chipped.

A good idea is to ask what the frequency is if you get the dog chipped. You could even put the frequency on the dog’s tag to make it easy for people who find them.

There are many professional organizations that will scan a dog for free, so ask around and someone will be there to help.

 

Writer: Craig Taylor

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Sources

https://www.wikihow.com/Tell-if-a-Dog-Is-Microchipped#:~:text=Feel%20for%20the%20microchip.&text=The%20microchip%20is%20encased%20in,ideal%20place%20to%20start%20feeling.

https://www.humanesociety.org/resources/high-tech-identifying-lost-pets-microchips

https://fluffyplanet.com/is-there-an-app-to-check-if-a-pets-chipped/                                                          

https://www.foundanimals.org/5-things-didnt-know-microchips/

https://prckc.org/wp-content/uploads/microchipping-101.pdf