MICROCHIPPING WORKS!  Now I know this but I thought I'd share my story.  It is also helpful when really nice people stop to lend a hand too!  I was walking a dog yesterday when I saw another dog in the front yard across the street get all excited when she sees us and she comes running over.  About this time I'm having heart failure but she looks friendly.... as she is!  The dog I'm walking LOVED her too.  It was a little crazy for a few minutes. I'm trying to maintain control of the dog I'm walking (although at this point we are not walking, the dogs are trying to play!)  An SUV drives by and I see the woman looking at us.  She stops and asks if she can help and I say YES!  She grabs the other dog and looks at her tags.  Her name is Bree and there is a phone number on her tag.  There is no answer at that number. :(  There is an address though and the woman knows the street.  I ask her if she has a leash in her car and she doesn't so she starts going house to house, knocking on doors, asking for a leash.

By this time,  a man who was on his morning walk has come up and I ask if he can help.  He holds the dog I'm walking and I have Bree whose collar keeps slipping off over her head.  Ugh!   The woman who has stopped to help has found a leash (so now a 4th person is helping!!) and I have called the number on the dog's microchip tag.  They have a 2nd number listed for the owner and she answers!  So the first woman leaves - she has her 3 kids in the car and she was on her way out to lunch with her kids - it was her daughter's birthday.  The man and I start walking towards the dog's house.  The owner of the dog calls her son who is home and he drives over to pick up the dog.  End of story and it was a happy one!

As a dog walker, this type of thing happens to me occasionally.  Please microchip your pet AND make certain your pet has his collar on with tags that have the microchip and your phone number.  If this dog wouldn't have had a collar on, I don't know what I would've done.  Another happy ending!

PS  When your pet is microchipped, you must contact the company and register the chip to your phone numbers.  This is a free service once you have the microchip inserted.  If you move or if your phone number changes, you need to update your phone numbers with the microchip company.  You can list multiple phone numbers to the chip - home, cell, work, and your spouse's numbers too.