A microchip is a rice - grain - sized pellet that is implanted under the dog's

skin. It literally takes only a minute to implant and is painless ("Sure ma,

easy for you to say!"). This method, along with tattooing and having

identification tags attached to collars, will increase your chances of

recovering your dog should he or she become lost.

I must admit my ignorance and confess that I have no idea what microchips for dogs are. Is it anything like having your dog tattooed? Or is there more to it than that? I would love to hear what it is and what the advantages are and any other info you would care to share as it sounds very intriguing.

Micro-chipping is an ever-growing, popular pet-retrieval system that has been designed to enhance one's chances of finding a lost pet. A permanent identification is provided by a tiny (about the size of a grain of rice) microchip that is implanted between the dog or cat's shoulders, quickly and safely. The "chip" is programmed with a unique, unalterable code that can be identified with a hand-held scanner, similar to the scanners in the grocery

stores. These scanners are being used in more and more vet's offices, animal shelters and animal-control agencies, across the country. When a lost pet is brought to one of these locations, the code is retrieved and called in to the database, where your info is kept, and is accessible 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, through an 800#.