Microchip Registries

PoetikDragon

Can people list the registries they've used for lost pet microchips? What is the registration fee for that registry? Does it have an annual fee, and if so, what was included with the extra service? How does the registry handle changing the contact information of a puppy already in the registry? What about if that microchip is registered with a different registry later on, what happens?

For my next litter I plan to buy the microchips online and do it myself. I want to register the puppies under my name, but allow the owners to change the contact info or use a different registry if they choose (so long as my info remains the secondary contact). With the last litter, one person had difficulty "claiming" the dog's microchip number because it was already associated with my account.

Losech

AVID is the only one I've used so far. One-time fee that I paid at the vets when they put them in. There is an information change fee, and there is some sort of thing you can get a subscription for (I think) but I don't do that sort of stuff.
With AVID there are two spots for registering owners. Primary and secondary. If I were to do microchips myself as a breeder (and use AVID), I'd list the puppy buyer as the primary and myself as the secondary.

I don't really know too much more about it.

Calia

What chip type did you use for the last litter?

Miyu has AVID, her breeder gave me a registration pamphlet and the certificate that the vet fills out. The chip wasn't registered until I sent in the form, and I think it was $20 as a filing fee.

My boys both have a chip type called ResQ. The chip itself isn't detected by all scanners, so we plan to get them both rechipped at the next event that has a low cost microchip clinic. Registering the chip can be done online and it's free. I think you can also register other chip types on the same site for a small fee, which could be helpful should anyone happen to use that site to look up a found dog's chip number. http://www.petparents.com/

ayk

The microchips sold by AKC CAR can be sold with pre-paid registration. In bulk, the chip w/pre-paid registration drops from $24.95 for one to $15.50 for a box of 25.

They also sell it as part of a kit with a dual frequency scanner - which changes the cost but I'm too lazy to do the calculation.

https://www.akccar.org/cares-pub/microchip/home.car

Supposedly after you make purchases, you earn points so the next purchase is cheaper. I've seen coupon codes floating around on one of the Facebook groups before.

You can enroll any brand of chip with AKC CAR. If you look at the "mail-in" enrollment form instead of the online, it's similar to the AVID fields.

ayk

When I fostered, the chips have been AVID chips. The rescue gets placed as the primary (so owner doesn't remove the rescue contact) and the new owner gets placed as a secondary.

The new owner keeps the rescue informed of address/phone changes and the rescue updates the chip info.

lindsayt

Home Again. They make it seem like it will expire if you don't pay an additional yearly fee, but in reality a one time registration fee is all that is required (it was about $20 iirc). I still prefer it over Avid, as Avid chips have a tendency to migrate, and I've had to rechip 2 of mine to Home Again since their Avids migrated to elbows and legs. It's much harder doing chips than it sounds, but made easier with an extra set of hands and string cheese

PoetikDragon

My original question was in regards to the registry, not the chip manufacturer. I plan to use HomeAgain chips, since they're readily available on Amazon and other places. That said, now I see there are 10-digit and 15-digit chips and they have different Hz ratings, so does anyone know what the "standard" one is you would get no questions asked from a vet?

maru

This thread is helpful for me since my pup is coming home in a week and needs her own chip. From what I've read it seems 125hz is the most common frequency so I suppose I'll be looking for something that operates on it. Seems like a lot of info to comb through though >_<

PoetikDragon

@ayk I guess I will do it the way you said from now on. Since I plan to register the pups myself, I can keep the info up to date, too. This way I don't have to worry about my contact info being removed (even if on accident). My sales agreement already states that they must keep me up to date with address changes, so I will just stress the point in the section about microchipping, too.

Question, what happens if someone tries to use a microchip number in another registry? Or even in the same registry?

For example, my dogs came from Japan already chipped. I don't know if they were put in a registry there or not. I had no trouble adding them to my HomeAgain account though.

So if I chip a puppy and register it with HomeAgain, what happens if they try to use that number to make a different HomeAgain account? What happens if they try to use that number in AKC CAR or Avid or another registry?

Calia

Why not try it yourself and see if a second HomeAgain account is allowed to register a number already in the system?

From what I gather, each of the major chips pretty much guide the vet/rescue to their designated website to locate the info associated with that number. Registering chips under other websites won't mean that people will actually use that website to search for info associated with the number, it just expands the likelihood of finding the dog's home should someone happen to search for it.

tjbart17

Koda has Pet Link. It's was free and has always been able to be scanned by the vet and animal services. It has never migrated. The company owns petfinder.com. It's a good chip in my opinion.

Mika has Home Again. It had a registration fee and was a bit of a pain to get it changed over from The Anderson's to myself. In hind site this is good since it prevents pet theft. They have really good enewsletters and an alert system that I don't seem to get from Pet Link. I may have opted out at some point though. I should check on that.

When looking for a chip I think it's very important to check out what types of communication and marketing services they provide if your dog is lost.