Picking a pet identification tag for your Pointer is like buying insurance – you do so with the devout wish that you’ll never need it. The “possible price” of not having a pet ID tag is more expensive than the “actual cost” of purchasing the pet tag itself.
The kind of pet identification tag that you buy is vital, so take five minutes or so to think it through. Impulsively purchasing a collar tag just because it’s cheap or pretty often ends up being a regret, in the long term.
Think about this prior to buying any pet id tag for your Pointer:
1.What is the amount of risk to your Pointer?
Lost Pointers are very common – we’ve all come across “Lost Pointer!” signs setup around town, or dead Pointers lying along the side of the road. If your Pointer is a pro at jumping the fence, or cannot help chasing a scent, or young and vigorous, or is not well trained, the risk of a missing Pointer is high.
But losing your Pointer isn’t the only danger.
Some Pointers are stolen. A pet thief may take Fido or Fifi in hopes of getting a reward for its return, or to use in pit battles (even small or gentle dogs are susceptible – they can be used as “bait”), or for use in cult rituals.
And what is the risk to your Pointer if something happens to you, the owner?
If you’re a senior citizen with a Pointer, particularly if you live alone or are in poor health, there’s a high chance that at some point someone else will need to care for your furry friend, perhaps with little notice. And anyone can be hit with a tragedy or disaster that renders you unable to care for your companion.
In this case, will your Pointer’s temporary or new caregiver know that Rover 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 danger are you ok with?
Some Pointers are simply more important to their owners, and the risk of losing that pet calls for a specific, more expensive kind of pet identification tag. Risk is proportional to value.
Realize that there is more than one way to determine the value of your Pointer. It may be financial (e.g., a purebred Pointer) or occupational (e.g., a guide dog).
However for most Pointer owners, the emotional attachment they have with their companion sets its value. For many, Pointers are members of the family, dearly loved and impossible to replace.
3.From your responses to the two previous queries, what do you require of a pet ID tag?
Pet ID tags come in various shapes, sizes and materials and hold varying amounts of info. Some contain logos or artwork, also. Many pet identification tags are meant to be hung from a collar.
At a bare minimum, a pet ID tag should contain the address, phone number and name of the Pointer’s owner in a legible, durable format. Plastic tags are light but chewed easily. Stainless steel tags are durable and don’t rust or fade. These traditional kinds of tags can bought from any vet or pet store. They’re low cost yet the amount of information they hold is limited to the size of the tag.
Fortunately, you have many more options in pet identification tags for your Pointer these days, such as tattooing, microchipping, digital display tags, voice recorded pet id tags, and pet registry websites.
One of the newer entries in the pet ID market is the high-tech USB drive that hangs from your Pointer’s collar (or is attached to their kennel) and which holds 64MB of data (including complete medical and diet information). The small USB drive is encased in a sturdy plastic case and can be plugged into 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 small, due to bluetooth technological limits.
Don’t forget to check out these other articles about PointersWas this post helpful? If so, please take a minute to Tweet and Share below on Facebook. I would also love to know your thoughts so leave me a comment 🙂
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