Bye-bye dog tags: Replacing them i$ a pain
By Phyllis DeGioia
June 30, 2009
Yesterday as we got ready to go to the dog park, I discovered that Dodger’s neoprene tag bag, a Pet Tag Silencer that holds all his legally required tags, is missing. Therefore, so is his ID tag, rabies tag, dog park permit and city license.
That means I have to replace his ID tag, his rabies tag, his dog park permit and his city license, or potentially receive an expen$ive ticket that the local authorities hand out like candy. I’m thankful the hunky park ranger who polices our dog park knows us and knows my dogs have their tags, but I still need to get them replaced.
Because Dodger had an unpleasant habit of chewing his metal tags into illegible junk metal, which sounded like nails on a chalkboard, I put his tags on the back of the harness he wears to the dog park. When he managed to chew them from the side I put them in a neoprene tag bag for a successful cessation to chewing his own tags. Sure, he moved on to Ginger’s tags, but after she wore a collar with no tags, he seems to have stopped that and she now wears her tags on her collar again. So far as I know, he has never tried to chew Dickens’ ID tag; the hissing would be intense.
It never occurred to me that he would lose his tags by rolling on his back, but now it’s a big slap upside the head. Duh. He loves the dog park, and quivers in excitement while waiting for me to open the entrance gate. He loves everything about it: running like the wind, stalking little birdies and then chasing them, sticking his head in varmint burrows and zooming down the fenceline at setter speed. There’s a reason he’s nicknamed The Blur; I’ve been thinking I should have named him Rocket Dog. This summer he has begun exhibiting his joy (or some itchiness) by rolling on his back in the grass with all of his legs stuck up in the air. His exuberance is obvious. He’s not like any other dog at the park: all the other dogs like to socialize either with dogs or with people. He doesn’t want to socialize, he just wants to run. Thanks to co-blogger and ace trainer Liz Palika’s help, he no longer humps other dogs.
But all that rolling now means spending time replacing those lost tags. The clinic is mailing another rabies tag today. I’ll go to the pet supply store and order another Red Dingo ID tag. Here’s the really annoying part: The city charges only a whopping 25 cents to replace his license, but $10 to replace the park permit. Go figure. However, while he must wear the license, he doesn’t have to wear the park permit; I can carry it so I’ll put it on my key chain where he won’t roll it off again. His collar is embroidered with his name and our phone number, and he’s microchipped.
So let’s see: $10 for another ID tag, $10 for the park permit, and I don’t know what the charge will be from my vet to make another rabies tag. Plus, an hour gone, and at my billable rate…well, that’s an expensive roll in the grass. So much for the good things in life being free.
In the meantime, it makes me happy to see him roll on his back in the deeply green grass and look at the sky while waving his long feathered legs. It’s what summer is all about.
I wish our dog park required permits and had someone to enforce the rules. I’d definitely pay up for that!
I know Orvis makes collars with at least the name and phone number embroidered on them, that would cut down on tag volume, anyway.
Comment by Original Lori — June 30, 2009 @ 7:44 am
I think he should be called The Streak. heh, heh, heh
Comment by LB Johnson — June 30, 2009 @ 8:35 am
Do you have to have the tags on the dog? Here in PA, it’s the documents that are legal and the tags are a convenience. If you have the paperwork on you, then you are covered.
For just this reason, I suggest that people who are new to our dog park keep photocopies of their rabies certificate and liscense in their wallet/purse — those “snap” collars have a tendency to come apart when a dog is running/playing full-tilt and lots of people don’t realize that because their dog has never run/played like that before.
Comment by Dorene — June 30, 2009 @ 11:24 am
Bolt the tags flat to the collar.
I get good brass name tags from Bill Boatman & Co. in bulk, cheap. I use ‘em as luggage and gear tags, too.
If the licens and rabies tag has only one hole, drill another at the bottom.
No chew, and as long as he doesn’t lose the collar, he has his tags.
Bonus, no annoying jingling.
Comment by H. Houlahan — June 30, 2009 @ 11:42 am
Dodger has a personalized collar with his name and our phone number on it. In this city, he is legally required to wear his license tag and rabies tag, but he does not have to wear his park permit. He has to wear ID but it doesn’t matter if it’s a tag or on his collar (I think).
Bolting them to his collar is an interesting non chew option for the Streak, or Rocket Dog.
Comment by Phyllis DeGioia — June 30, 2009 @ 2:49 pm
I highly recommend the Boomerang slide-on collar tags. They never fall off when the collar is on the dog—you have to lose the collar to lose the tag. Info at:
http://www.boomerangtags.com/p.....gs&k=h
Comment by SusanS — June 30, 2009 @ 6:39 pm
Yes - like SusanS - I have the boomerang tags. - great and guaranteed.
http://www.boomerangtags.com/p.....gs&k=h
Comment by cheryl — June 30, 2009 @ 7:30 pm
Ditto boomerang slide-on tags! I engraved the licence # info from the municipal tags onto a boomerang tag & use that instead.
Comment by hornblower — July 2, 2009 @ 12:42 pm
I’ll add kudos for Boomerang tags! All of their tags are great quality but the slide-on tags are amazing. They’ve got styles to fit both regular and snap-on collars. I did have one of my dogs lose his slide-on tag a couple of years ago. No idea how that happened - but the company replaced it for free, no questions asked. So now I’m a customer for life.
I like their regular tags too, because you can have both sides engraved. I use the heavy duty plastic ones and have not only our phone numbers, but the vet’s number, and extra phone numbers of family and friends who could be contacted if for some reason we couldn’t be. Lots of information will fit.
Comment by Barb — July 24, 2009 @ 10:25 pm