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Licensing Your Dog

by David Lockard :: Featured: December, 2003

I am not aware of any state or province that does not require dogs to have a license. There are a number of reasons that this is required, some are good reasons and some are a bit of a stretch in logic. For instance one reason is that dogs needed to be controlled because of the damage they can do to wildlife. My beagle is far out ranked by the four stray cats that sunned themselves regularly on my deck last winter waiting for birds and rabbits which they attacked with regular success. Their owners are not required to obtain licenses. It is not my intention to harangue about the unfairness, but to enlighten you with my experience so that your will know what direction to go when you license your dog.

I never was fond of hanging tags on the collar of my beagles. They are hunting dogs and they search out rabbits in the most difficult cover imaginable. My grandfather taught me to always make the dogs collar lose enough to allow the dog to slip free of the collar if he struggles. This allows the dog to find his way back rather than remaining caught in some distant brush pile with no hope of rescue.

My dog has a brass plate on his collar with my name, address and phone number on it. He now has a dog license tag and both are attached to his collar with rivets. He also has a rabies vaccination tag that dangles from an S hook which I have every intention of also riveting to his collar as soon as I figure out where I want to place the second hole in the tag without destroying the information it contains.

In an effort to bring my dog up to standards for vaccinations and identification I knew that he would soon need to be getting a dog license. In my location I thought that I had six months to obtain a license for my new beagle. I am sure that it is not the same in every state or province so you will need to check on the requirements were you live. Since Toby had not yet reached that age, I was not in any hurry to make my way to the county courthouse. I took my dog to the veterinarian to get the last of his puppy shots and they reminded me that I needed to obtain a dog license for my dog.

I obtained a license application and it asked if the dog is spayed or neutered. I decided that I would not have my dog neutered because that would disqualify him from entering field trails. I have no immediate plans for doing so, but I have given it some consideration. I have also talked with some fellow hunters that regretted having their male dog neutered, claiming that it took some of the hunting aggressiveness out of the dog.

The government wishes that we would spay and nuttier our dogs so that we don’t have unwanted or uncared for animals for them to deal with in the future. I do agree that it can be a problem and encourage it for typical house pets. If you decide not to have your dog fixed you must also take full responsibility for your dog and not allow him to roam the neighborhood looking for romance or in the case of a female entertaining a suitor. With the determination and problem solving abilities found in beagles this often requires a covering over the kennel fence to keep them from climbing out.

I’m not cheap, but I am thrifty. I ask about the cost of obtaining a lifetime dog license to which the clerk responded, “for an un-neutered dog it is $51.00.” I started to compare the cost of this license to the cost of a yearly license which is $8.00 and came to the conclusion that it would take seven years to come out ahead financially. I had to have my dog permanently marked by having him tattooed or have an electronic scanning device implanted under the dog’s skin. The low tech option seemed the easiest to me so I choose a tattoo The clerk at the courthouse gave me a paper to be signed by my veterinarian which needed to be returned to the courthouse within 30 days or I would loose all my money.

I contacted my veterinarian about having the required tattoo and the secretary informed me that they would not be able to give him one until he is six months old. I explained that this was for my dog and not my teenager but she insisted that six months was the minimum age for tattooing a dog.

I found myself in the position of being in violation for having an unlicensed dog. The license I bought will expire in 30 days with no chance of getting my money back because my dog is under aged for getting a tattoo. I inquired further concerning my dogs age and was told that my veterinarian strongly believes that puppies should not be subjected to anesthesia before the age of six months and since they put the dog to sleep for the tattoo, it could not be done. After further discussion with my veterinarian he said the anesthesia is much safer these days and that if I waited until the very end of the 30 days that he would perform the procedure which would then be only a few weeks short of my dogs six month birthday. I ask him what I should be doing about the gap between the three month license requirement and the six month permanent identification limit. He said that technically I should be purchasing a yearly dog license to span the three month gap and that he has been encouraging the veterinarians association to take action to encourage a change in the regulations to correct the problem.

The day finally came for Toby to get his tattoo and I took him to the veterinarian’s office and left him for the day. Later I picked up my biker dog that now had a tattoo and a hangover to go with it. The tattoo had no hearts or roses just a set of numbers on his inner thigh which will identify him even if he were to loose his collar.

I made it back to the courthouse before the 30 day limit on my dogs license expired and the money I spent on it became worthless. My dog now has all his puppy shots and is fully licensed and identified and I don’t need to worry about making my way to the courthouse each winter to obtain another license. The veterinarian bill for the tattoo came to $117.00 so my dog must now live for 21 years if I wish to beat the system.