Tattoo for pure breed??

[Marie-France]

Hello all,

We just adopted a new dog from the Montreal SPCA. We believe he is a Bichon Frisé or a Poodle are even a mix, we don't really care. He was a stray dog. What I am questioning is that when we picked him up, they mentioned something about a tattoo. As I am curious, I ckeck him out and found a tattoo on his belly that says something like B4-8B (I am not sure, he keeps moving, lol). What does it mean? Could they have found the previous owner with it?

I have no pictures yet, they will be coming

Many thanks

Marie-France

[Rottielover]

A tatoo is breeder specific. Yes if they looked hard enough, and called the CKC or AKC they could have found the breeder. If it does have a tatoo, it should be registered. That means it is a purebred dog. If you want you can call yourself to let the breeder know what happened.

[Bushfire2000]

Here if you(dog catcher, etc.) pick up an animal that has a tatoo you must ,by law, try and locate the regestered owner. You have to keep proof of this search before the dog can be adopted out. I know this because I worked in the local town office as assistant administrator at the time the local dog/cat by-laws were drafted.

[Prin]

I don't know- the vet I used to work for would tatoo if you asked her to. I don't know if it necessarily means it's a pure breed. Even if it was, obviously the breeder has lost track of the dog, which makes me wonder what kind of breeder they are..

[Rottielover]

A breeder does not have tracking devices in their dogs. So once the dogs go to a good home ( at least what they think ) that's where they stay. Most breeders will contact the new owners sometimes, but they have no way of following each dog through out their life.
I choose to keep in contact with my breeder, and share Harley accomplishments. My choice. My dog. But not everyone does. I have never known a vet to tatoo other than for a breeder. I could be wrong, but never heard of it.
I would check the ckc at least to see. Maybe it is a good breeder. If so you can discuss new ownership, she will sign off the papers to you, and give you full health of parents....That is only an If by the way.
I know very well if anyone of my breeders dogs ever been in the pound she would have a heart attack. She would much rather have the dog back.

[LM1313]

My dog has a tattoo on her inner hip. Before microchips were common, tattoos were popular as a way to identify lost dogs. So it may not mean your dog is purebred.

~LM~

[Marie-France]

Let's say I contact CKC and they can retrace the breeder, then the owner, could I loose him?:sad: I'd rather not do it if it is the case...

[Rottielover]

was he a stray or a dog that was dropped off. call the CKC find out info on the brreder. If breeder seems shady, do not bother, if the breeder is of COE, she would want to know where her dog was. Just a thought. A coe breeder would allow you to keep the dog, but ask for info about you. a phone number or something. This is just a thought

[doggy lover]

I know of a dog that is a Lab cross that has a tattoo in her ear. The family had it done as not all vets carried micro-chip in northern Ont. at that time.

[CyberKitten]

Not certain of the law where you are or the practices of breeders but prior to the miucrochip, most credible breeders did tatoo their babies to track them. YY's breeder for example can list where everyone of "her" babies are - how they are doing, what shows they've been in if they were show dogs and so forth. However, even people who did not raise purebred dogs (or cats) but who really loved their dog and were afraid it would get lost would tatoo them. I can only advise you what I would do - I would check the tatoo to make sure the animal is not lost (I mean, if it was your dog, surely you would want someone to check - otherwise, why go to the expense - and if it was a breeder (if the dog is purebred), they may be just pleased to know the dog is safe. But I do think the responsible thing to do is check the tatoo. Unless the dog was abused - and even then, that does not mean it was the fault of the original owner.

Good luck!!!

[mona_b]

Is there anyway you can get a better look at the tattoo?

As soon as I saw the tattoo numbers I knew right away this is not from a breeder.Or should I say one who reistered with the CKC.

There is a sequence of letters and numbers.And what you posted is not even close.

[bethaliz]

While the CKC and the AKC do Tattoo their registration numbers on their dogs, there are other agencies that Tattoo as well. If you Google it, you will get a lot of information about it. Below is a link where you can find a list of all the Tattoo registryd and thier contact information. I hope it helps.

http://www.lostdogsearch.com/links.htm

I wouldn't worry too muh about losing the dog if it is a CKC Tattoo, it will lead you to a breeder. While the breeder may request contact information to ensure the dogs care, they will be greatful that you cared enough to take the dog.

As previously stated the Tattoo you stated does not sound CKC. Roxie, my shih tzu has one and hers is something like XFT 1N and my parents dog (from the same breeder) is XFT 12N.

From what I understand the first three letters is the beeder's ID and the number is what number pup was registered to that breeder that year and the last letter is for the year.

Ie/ XFT 1N =
XFT - my breeder
1 - First puppy of the year!
N - 2003

Hope it helps.

[Marie-France]

Thanks to all!

He is still too shy for me put him on his back to check the belly tattoo better. I will wait a little. When he feels more at confident, I will try again.

Thanks again

[Jenmlf]

My little guy (maltese/shih tzu coss) is getting fixed right now as well as getting tatooed. Its just a form of ID so no, just because a dog has a tatoo doesn't mean he/she is a pure breed. A tatoo is used instead of or along with the microchip.