A microchip is a permanent identifier. It is not a tracker, and it does nothing at all unless the contact details on the database are current.
Rescue centres and veterinary practices consistently report that a large proportion of chips they scan are registered to old addresses and disconnected phone numbers. Those dogs are chipped and effectively unidentifiable.
What a microchip is
A glass capsule about the size of a grain of rice, implanted under the skin between the shoulder blades. It carries no battery and no GPS. It contains a unique number, which a scanner reads.
That number is then looked up on a database, which holds your contact details.
Three parts, all of which must work:
- The chip is present and functioning
- The number is registered on a database
- The details on that database are current
Most failures are at step three.
What to do today
Find your dog’s microchip number. It is on the paperwork from the vet or rescue, and often on the vaccination card.
Look it up. Most countries have a lookup service that tells you which database holds the record.
Log in and check:
- Your current phone number — including a mobile you actually answer
- Your current address
- Your email
- A second emergency contact
- Your dog’s description
Update it whenever anything changes. A house move is the most common reason details go stale.
Get the chip scanned annually. Chips very occasionally fail or migrate. Ask at the next vaccination appointment — it takes ten seconds.
Legal requirements
In many countries microchipping is now compulsory. In the UK, for example, dogs must be microchipped and registered by eight weeks old, and keepers must keep the details up to date — with a fine for non-compliance. UK law also requires dogs in a public place to wear a collar with the owner’s name and address on it or on a tag.
Rules vary; check what applies where you live, particularly the requirement for a physical tag, which many owners assume the chip replaces. It does not.
The ID tag
The chip needs a scanner and a database. A tag works instantly for whoever finds your dog.
What to put on it:
- Your phone number — this is the most important item by a wide margin
- A second number
- Your surname, or the town
- “I am microchipped”, which prompts the finder to take the dog to a vet
What to leave off:
- Your dog’s name. A stranger who can call your dog by name has an easier time taking them
- Your full home address, which is a personal safety consideration for you
Practical points: engraving wears off — check it annually. A metal tag on a metal ring jingles, which some dogs find genuinely irritating; a silent tag or one that slides onto the collar solves it. Keep a spare made up.
Trackers
Separate from a microchip and worth considering for a dog who has a history of escaping, or for anyone who walks in large open spaces.
GPS trackers attach to the collar and give live location, usually via a subscription. Battery life ranges from a couple of days to a couple of weeks.
Bluetooth tags only work within a short range, or rely on a network of other users’ phones being nearby. Useful in cities, less so in the countryside.
Neither replaces a microchip. A tracker can be lost with the collar; a chip cannot.
If your dog goes missing
Act fast. The first hours matter most.
- Search the immediate area, calling calmly. Take something that smells of home and a favourite squeaky toy
- Leave something of theirs outside — their bed, an unwashed jumper of yours. Dogs frequently return to a familiar scent
- Ring your microchip database and report the dog missing. This flags the record
- Ring every local vet, rescue and the dog warden or animal control
- Post on local social media with a clear recent photo, the area, and your phone number
- Physical posters at the site and at nearby junctions, shops and vets
- Register on national lost pet services
- Check with the local council or highways department about any animals found on roads. It is a grim call to make and people are often glad they made it
- Keep looking. Dogs are found days and weeks later
If your dog is frightened: do not chase. Sit or lie down at a distance and ignore them. Scatter food. A panicked dog in flight mode may run from their own owner, and chasing pushes them further.
If you find a dog
- Check for a tag
- Take them to a vet or rescue to be scanned — this is free almost everywhere
- Report them to the local authority, which in many places is a legal requirement
- Post on local social media groups
- Do not assume an unchipped dog is abandoned
The one-minute version
Look up your dog’s microchip record and check the phone number on it. If you have moved house, changed number, or adopted your dog from someone else and never checked, there is a meaningful chance it is wrong.
It costs nothing and it is the single thing most likely to bring your dog home.
