Get the puppy chipped or get a Dog Tag

3rd May 2007, The Dog Escaped. - I'd like to think that Archie dug himself a tunnel with a spoon, under the electric fence past the security guards during the dead of night, but that wasn’t the case. Archie just slipped out while my wife didn’t notice. 5 minutes later, we realised and the search was on. We spent 3 hours that evening looking for a puppy in a rural area full of large back gardens, fields and lots of places to hide. We couldn’t find the dog and thought the dog has been stolen.

Because Archie was young and with the pace of life, we hadn’t thought to chip him just yet and hadn’t even put a name tag on his collar, hence, when we lost him we thought it was hopeless.

We thought someone had taken Archie, and that is what actually happened. A kindly lady had noticed Archie’s near miss with the traffic, and had taken Archie to the local vet to be scanned for a chip with no result. She took Archie to her home for safety, and that is why we could not find him in the first place and why no one else had see him either. With no dog tag to identify the owner, she was considering keeping Archie herself, if it wasn’t for the fact that she had two dogs already.

It was only when she started walking the country lanes in an attempt to locate the owners (us), did I notice her.

My very distraught wife and me (to say distraught is an under statement) had given up at this time and we were about to create some posters and notices to stick in the local shops as a last resort.

Well, I was just staring out the living room windows, considering what to say to my little boy when I next saw him, when I noticed this lady walking with usual purpose, which is rare where I live. I caught her attention and she asked if I had lost a dog. Well the rest is history. So my advise you all you new dog owners is, GET THE DOG CHIPPED AND GET A DOG TAG. All the stress and anxiety could have been reduced if only we had done this earlier. Archie has now got a dog tag and he will be booked in to be chipped soon.