Choosing a Pet Identification Tag for Your Bernese Mountain Dog

Buying a pet identification tag for your Bernese Mountain Dog is like buying insurance – you do it with the faith that you’ll never need it. The “possible price” of not having a pet ID tag is more expensive than the “real cost” of buying the pet tag itself.

The type of pet ID tag that you buy is crucial, so take 5 minutes or so to consider it. Whimsically buying a collar tag because it’s low cost or trendy often ends up being unwise, in the long term.

Think about this prior to purchasing any pet id tag for your Bernese Mountain Dog:
1.What is the level of risk to your Bernese Mountain Dog?
Missing Bernese Mountain Dogs are certainly common – we have all come across “Lost Dog!” signs posted around the city, or deceased Bernese Mountain Dogs lying along the edge of the road. If your Bernese Mountain Dog is a master at escaping your fence, or cannot resist chasing a scent, or youthful and energetic, or is not properly trained, the chance of a lost Bernese Mountain Dog is high.

But losing your Bernese Mountain Dog isn’t the only concern.

Some Bernese Mountain Dogs are stolen. A pet thief may steal Rover or Spot in hopes of getting a reward for its return, or to use in dog battles (even small or gentle dogs are susceptible – they can be used for “bait”), or for use in satanic rituals.

And what is the risk to your Bernese Mountain Dog if something were to happen to you, its owner?

If you’re a senior citizen with a Bernese Mountain Dog, particularly if you live by yourself or are in poor health, there’s a high chance that at some point someone else will need to care for your Bernese Mountain Dog, perhaps with little notice. And anyone can be struck by disaster or tragedy which renders you incapable of caring for your companion.

In this case, will your Bernese Mountain Dog’s temporary or new caregiver know that Fifi hates cats, or needs medicine, or even whether or not Max is potty trained? A pet identification that has more than your name and phone number would be extremely beneficial.

2.What level of danger are you ok with?
Some Bernese Mountain Dogs are just more important to their owners, and the risk of losing that pet demands a specific, higher priced kind of pet ID tag. Risk is proportional to value.

Realize that there is more than one way to determine the value of your Bernese Mountain Dog. It may be financial (e.g., a purebred Bernese Mountain Dog) or functional (e.g., a guide dog).

However for most Bernese Mountain Dog owners, the companionship attachment they have to their companion sets its value. For many people, Bernese Mountain Dogs are like family, dearly loved and impossible to replace.

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

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

At a bare minimum, a pet identification tag should contain the address, phone number and name of the Bernese Mountain Dog’s owner in a durable, legible format. Plastic tags are light but chewed easily. Stainless steel tags are durable and don’t rust or fade. These customary kinds of tags can gotten from any vet or pet store. They’re low cost yet the amount of info they hold is limited to the size of the tag.

Fortunately, you have many more options for pet ID tags for your Bernese Mountain Dog 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 identification market is the high-tech USB drive that hangs off your Bernese Mountain Dog’s collar (or is attached to their cage) and which can hold 64MB of data (including complete diet and medical information). The tiny 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 veterinarian or pet sitter. There are also bluetooth devices for tracking, but their range is low, due to bluetooth technological limits.

Don’t forget to check out these other articles about Bernese Mountain Dogs

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