Dog Tags

Sometimes your dog might get lost or run off. The quickest way to return your dog to you for someone is an identification tag. Like cats the dogs are also picked up by the animal control and taken to the shelter. If your dog has worn a tag and collar, you will be contacted immediately. If no identification found the dog will be put up for adoption after a short waiting period.

If you go to the market for shopping dog tags, you will find many dog tags of different styles, shapes, and colors to select from. There are brass, stainless steel, plastic, aluminum and even gold tags available in the market.

Brass Dog Tag:

Brass is a soft metal which contains mostly copper (70%) and zinc (30%). It is pale-yellow in color. Brass metal tarnishes easily. Some companies will apply a glossy coating over the information on the identification tag. But if your dog is active the lacquer wears down. Also as brass is a soft metal the imprinting will eventually wear down.

Plastic Dog Tag:

The plastic dog tags are weather proof and durable. These tags don't rust and jingle against the collar like the metal tags. The plastic can be engraved and reflector strips can be set in the plastic.

Stainless-Steel Dog Tag:

Stainless steel is heat treated i.e. hard metal and extremely durable. These stainless steel pet identification tags will not rust and the color would not rub off on your dog's fur. Stainless steel tags can be laser-etches, engraved or embossed.

Aluminum Dog Tag:

Aluminum identification tags can be your last choice. You see the machines in the pet stores or grocery stores where you can make your own tags, they use aluminum. Aluminum is so pliable and that's why it is so inexpensive. The aluminum identification tags do not last. These are light weighted having low melting temperature and can be easily destroyed.

You can personalized these identification dog tags by engraving or etaching information such as your name, address and phone number on it. But because of age of identity theft you can not etach so much information. There is tag registry where you can buy a dog identification tag and have it encoded with a number.

There are also available slide-on collar tags. These identification tags fit flush against leather collar or cloths and snap down into place, to lessen the chances of getting lost.

But the problem with collars and tags are they can be easily removed. For further protection your dog has been micro-chipped at your vet's. This micro-chip is injected on the dog's neck under the skin. All stray dogs are scanned when brought into an animal shelter.