First and foremost, your pet should have a microchip—it’s the only ID that can’t be lost. (Tattoos were used by breeders and rescues before microchips became widely available, but they’re used very rarely now that microchips are so popular and easy to get.) Once microchipped, your pet can be identified by any veterinary clinic or animal control officer with a microchip reader. Your job is to update the information on file with your pet’s microchip registry if you move or get a new phone number. In most areas, if your pet is lost, with a microchip she can be identified . . . eventually. It may take a while.
To assure that your lost pet is identified and returned home to you as quickly as possible, it’s recommended that she wear a collar or harness to which her license, rabies tag, and ID tag can be attached. While it’s always possible that your pet might lose that collar or harness—or even just the ID tags off it—the chances that the first person who finds her will be able to find you is much better if she’s wearing ID tags in addition to her microchip. You’ll cut down on the time from loss to recovery, plus you’ll eliminate the middle-man with the scanner and, in most cases, avoid animal control fees and an overnight (or longer) stay at your local animal shelter. No matter how wonderful a shelter is, no pet would likely choose to be there rather than with her own family in her own home!
But . . .
Many collars and some harnesses to which you might attach ID tags are simply not safe for your pet to wear all the time, especially if she is unsupervised or home alone.
Choke chains are indisputably the most dangerous collar for a dog to wear all the time. Choke chains can easily do exactly what their name indicates—choke your dog. I can’t recommend them, even for training purposes. The way I see it, there’s really no reason to own one in the first place. If you do own a choke chain, repurpose it immediately to anything but a dog collar. (For example, they make great plant hangers!) Putting ID tags on a choke chain says, “I don’t much care if my dog is seriously injured, even killed, when I’m not around to bail her out.”
I have heard many horror stories about injuries—sometimes fatal—to dogs in and around their own homes because they were wearing choke chains unsupervised. One dog got the ring on his choke chain caught in the metal grid door of his crate (airline shipping kennel) and was found, almost dead from panicked strangling, when his owners returned home. Another dog was playing in his own back yard while his humans were inside the house. He got the ring from his choke chain caught between two boards on the deck, jumped or fell over the edge of the deck, and was found minutes later by his family—dead from a broken neck.
Choke chains can imperil other dogs, too—not just the one wearing the choker. I read recently about a dog who’d caught a tooth on his brother dog’s choke-chain ring while the two were playing. Not only did the “caught” dog panic (who could blame him!) and half-strangle his brother dog while trying to get away, he also loosened his own tooth in the process. Imagine this scenario happening between two of your own dogs and you can see why it’s so much safer for them not to wear choke chains . . . ever.
Any collar that can tighten, even if the tightening is limited to only a few inches, can be a problem if its ring gets caught on or in something. I like flat nylon limited-tightening collars for walking dogs, especially young or untrained dogs who might attempt to pull out of the collar to escape. But I would never recommend a limited-tightening collar for a dog to wear all the time to hold her ID tags. Even limited-tightening collars come off the minute my dogs and I get home from a walk.
Harnesses have become increasingly popular in recent years, both for small dogs and for larger dogs who pull. Especially in mini-sizes, harnesses are available fully padded and comfort-fitted, in a variety of colors and patterns that should suit the tastes of most owners. (Because, you know, it’s unlikely that the pets really care much about being fashion-forward.)
Harnesses are made for many purposes. Many styles for medium to large dogs discourage pulling on the leash without chancing physical damage to the dog—a welcome change from punitive collars, for sure. Owners might be tempted to leave harnesses on their dogs all the time but, again, I wouldn’t recommend it, especially when the dogs might be left unsupervised. Harnesses, too, have rings and zipper pulls and even hook-and-loop tape (like Velcro®) that can get caught on furniture and household objects, with the possible outcome of damage to the dog, even if it’s just a horrible fright. I read about one small dog who ended up dragging a floor pillow around the house behind himself for a few hours because the Velcro from his harness had grabbed onto the pillow and held fast. While a lasting fear of floor pillows might not result, the dog was certainly frightened, and why should we risk that?
Pets other than dogs also wear collars and harnesses and, certainly, if they venture outside of your home—yes, even in your fully fenced, escape-proof yard—they should be wearing ID just in case. Luckily, indoor-outdoor cats have long had break-away collars which do exactly what the name says: they pull open if the collar catches on something, freeing the cat to get away. That’s the only kind of collar any cat should wear. Certainly, those collars can be easily lost—I’ve found many over the years, in my driveway, on a walk, even in my back yard (not only my own cats’, either). If the ID is still attached, the collar can be returned to the owner, who will at least not have to replace the ID tags.
Most important, of course, is that your cat be microchipped, in case the ID is lost but the cat is found. Cats—and ferrets!—can be walked on harnesses, but I doubt that many cat or ferret owners consider leaving the harnesses on their pets once they’re back home. In my experience, the cats would not like it much—and the ferrets would remove it summarily, as they are such stunningly good escape artists.
Many experienced dog owners feel that the safest collar in the home is no collar at all. Their microchipped dogs run around naked in the house and yard! You put your keys and wallet up on the dresser when you get home; these owners also put up their dogs’ collars. I tend to agree with that method, although there certainly are exceptions. For example, my youngest dog wears a flat buckle collar around the house. The ring on his collar, for attaching a leash, is much too big to be caught in the grate door of the kennel where he stays when I am not at home. The collar has no ID tags. None of my dogs, nor my cat, wears ID tags around the house.
They are all microchipped.
Your choice must work for you and it must be safe for your pets!
