Tags People, Tags..

How cute is this ?  Sad thing is, this little guy is so cute he's at risk of being kept by a finder.. Many people think ( incorrectly ) "well if the owner cared the dog would have tags"  I am among the guilty parties who chip instead of tagging, even though county code is pretty darn clear. Tags must be worn at all time, so why am I a slacker ?  In the case of Newfies, the long hair really gets wound around a collar and sometimes it gets knotted pretty bad.. For this little guy, I think he usually is collared and tagged if he's not doing a photo shoot for his Mama's book.  In our county, Washoe Nevada, proof of rabies is required for tags, so in the event of a bite one knows immediately if the dog has been vaccinated. That can prevent a series of painful injections, that's a good enough reason right there. Instant knowledge of rabies status, saves worry, pain and treatment unless needed.  It can also keep a dog from being killed for testing, and the only way to test is to decapitate the dog.  That should make you think about "tagging" fido. It just did me.
What I have come up with is homemade, looks cute, and may even be for sale somewhere I haven't seen. You know the little " ruffles with bells " sold around Christmas season, well take that a step further.  I use old denim jeans.  Making a tube and running 2 separate pieces of 1 inch elastic through it.  You want it to be fairly snug going over the head.  I use a sturdy brass curtain ring, then you can fasten the tags as you would on a normal collar.  It's soft and doesn't rub on long haired dogs, and is similar to a cat collar in that it is " breakaway" but not so easily...Of course this could not be used to walk or tether the dog, but would be comfy to leave on all the time without rubbing sores. I throw them in the washer as needed..
One thing I have learned in my " lost dog searches" is that people are doing it wrong, I don't want to get stuck on the problem, so I am sharing a solution, most people will call an owner if the dog has a tag, not everybody is going to put a strange dog in the car and drive it to the vet.  Lots of people resist calling AC which is really pretty dumb, because that is where owners of lost dogs look. But tagging your dog in addition to chipping raises your chance of getting the dog home quickly....