Buying a Pet Identification Tag for The Old English Sheepdog

Picking a pet identification tag for your Old English Sheepdog is like buying an insurance policy – you do it with the faith that you won’t use it. The “possible cost” of not having a pet ID tag is more costly than the “actual price” of purchasing the pet tag itself.

The kind of pet ID tag that you buy is crucial, so take five minutes or so to think it through. Whimsically purchasing a collar tag because it’s inexpensive or cute usually ends up being foolish, long-term.

Think about the following prior to purchasing any pet identification tag for your Old English Sheepdog:
1.What is the level of risk to your Old English Sheepdog?
Lost Old English Sheepdogs are definitely common – we have all seen “Lost Dog!” signs posted around the city, or deceased dogs lying by the side of the road. If your Old English Sheepdog is a master at hopping the fence, or cannot help chasing a smell, or young and spry, or is not correctly trained, the possibility of a missing Old English Sheepdog is high.

But losing your Old English Sheepdog isn’t the only danger.

Some Old English Sheepdogs get stolen. A pet thief may snatch Fifi or Fido in hopes of getting a reward for its return, or to use in pit fights (even small or gentle dogs are at risk – they can be used as “bait”), or for use in cult rituals.

And what is the risk to your Old English Sheepdog if something were to happen to you, the owner?

If you’re a senior adult with a Old English Sheepdog, particularly if you live by yourself or are in ill health, there’s a good chance that at some point someone else may need to care for your Old English Sheepdog, maybe with short notice. And anyone can be hit with a disaster or tragedy which renders you unable to care for your companion.

In this instance, will your Old English Sheepdog’s new or temporary caretaker know that Fido hates cats, or needs medicine, or even whether or not Max is housetrained? A pet identification that has more than your phone number and name would be extremely beneficial.

2.What level of risk are you comfortable with?
Some Old English Sheepdogs are just more important to their owners, and the chance of losing that pet warrants a specific, more expensive type of pet identification tag. Risk is directly proportional to value.

Note that there are multiple ways to calculate the value of your Old English Sheepdog. It may be monetary (e.g., a purebred Old English Sheepdog) or functional (e.g., a guide dog).

But for most Old English Sheepdog owners, the relationoship attachment they have to their companion determines its value. For many owners, Old English Sheepdogs are family members, dearly loved and impossible to replace.

3.Based on your responses to the two previous queries, what do you require of a pet identification tag?

Pet ID tags come in various materials, shapes and sizes and hold varying amounts of info. Some contain logos or artwork, too. Most pet ID tags are designed to be hung from a collar.

At the minimum, a pet ID tag should contain the name, address and phone number of the Old English Sheepdog’s owner in a legible, durable format. Plastic tags are light but chewed easily. Stainless steel tags don’t rust or fade and are durable. These customary types of tags can bought from any vet or pet store. They’re economical but the amount of info they hold is limited to the size of the tag.

Fortunately, you have many more options of pet identification tags for your Old English Sheepdog these days, such as microchipping, tattooing, digital display tags, pet registry web sites and voice recorded pet identification tags.

One of the newer entries in the pet ID market is the high-tech USB drive that hangs from your pet’s collar (or is attached to their cage) and which can hold 64MB of data (including complete medical and diet information). The small USB drive is encased in a sturdy polymer case and can be used in any computer, where it is automatically updated and easy to print sections for sharing with your vet or pet sitter. There also exist bluetooth trackers, but their range is low, because of bluetooth technological limits.

Don’t forget to check out these other articles about Old English Sheepdogs

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