It always amazes us when people haven’t taken the step to microchip their pets. It’s such a quick, relatively painless option to keep your furry friends safe and sound, and returned to you in case of emergency.

How it’s done: A microchip is no bigger than the size of a grain of rice. It’s loaded into a sterile applicator and injected into the loose skin between your pet’s shoulder blades. It all takes a few seconds, and your pet probably won’t experience any pain other than what he or she would with a routine puppy vaccination. Many shelter pets are getting chipped before you even adopt them to make it that much simpler for you. Don’t forget to register your pet with a national pet recovery database, like HomeAgain, AKC Unite or Avid ID Systems. The shelter or vet will give you the proper paperwork and contact info for the specific microchip used on your pet.

Why it matters: If your pet ever breaks out or gets lost, and is taken to a vet, shelter or rescue, they will be scanned to see if there is a microchip. The unique ID number on the chip is tied to a central database, and you will be contacted if your pet is found with the number on file! Which means, make sure if you ever move or change phone numbers that you report that info ASAP. And even if your pet has a collar and tags, we strongly recommend getting your pet microchipped. After all, collars come off!