- Electronics have infiltrated every aspect
of modern life, so it's no surprise that the pet supply market is getting
in on the game, too.
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- One device, a microchip tracker that
keeps a pet's identity tucked safely under the skin, gets hands-down approval
from vets, breeders and animal handlers.
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- A fairly painless procedure, the chip
is injected under the skin between the shoulder blades. It is about the
size of a grain of rice and is encoded with a one-of-a-kind identification
number. A lost or stolen pet taken to a participating vet or shelter can
be scanned. The information from the chip is registered with a national
database of pet owners.
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- Several of these chips are on the market.
Dr. Robert Cortesi, a veterinarian at the Boulder Terrace Animal Hospital
in Naperville has been using the Avid Microchip on his patients for the
past five years.
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- "I am a very strong proponent of
them," Cortesi said. "They stay in there for life. They are pretty
much a fail safe means of identifying a dog or cat that is picked up as
a stray or on the loose. We strongly recommend them. They are much superior
to collars or tags."
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- Almost any animal can be microchipped,
including birds and fish. The simple, inexpensive (under $40) procedure
is performed at most veterinarian offices and animal shelters in the surrounding
area. Microchipping has the approval of the American Society for the Prevention
of Cruelty to Animals.
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- The animal welfare organization Animals
Deserving of Proper Treatment microchips all its animals. Lynn Albrecht,
a volunteer with ADOPT, saw its benefits when she helped retrieve data
from a chip to reunite a Naperville woman with the pet she lost in Michigan.
Unknown to the owner, her dog had been hit by a car and taken to an emergency
clinic. The veterinarian there held a scanner to the animal and, thanks
to the chip between its shoulders, traced the animal to ADOPT.
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- "It was very traumatic for the owner,"
Albrecht said. "But we had an information trail and were able to reunite
the woman with her dog."
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- Not everything ushered in by the electronic
age is getting a warm welcome from veterinarians and animal care providers.
Many of the electronic training devices available today are getting a thumbs
down. What's good and what's not depends on who you talk to. One thing
most agree on, however, is no amount of gadgetry can replace sound, basic
obedience training.
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- Cortesi said he is averse to using devices
such as electronic training collars that shock pets into submission.
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- "I philosophically cannot get on
board there," he said. "I haven't much experience with them but
I do not recommend them as a general training apparatus. I recommend you
go to a professional trainer or a park district program."
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- One such device is the controversial
bark control collar, designed to stop "nuisance barking" by emitting
a sonic tone or sending an electronic pulse stimulus to a dog's vocal cords.
A more animal-friendly version of this collar releases a tiny spray of
citronella to distract the animal from barking, Cortesi said.
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- There are also battery-operated microphones
that react to the animal's bark with a high-pitched sound that stops when
the barking ceases.
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- Location-specific training devices are
being marketed to keep animals off furniture, counter tops and other forbidden
areas. Every time the pet touches a pad placed on the "paws-off"
area, it is greeted with an unpleasant stimulus or distracting sound.
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- The most popular of these electronic
trainers are the invisible fences. There are several brands on the market
but all work essentially the same way. An easy-to-install boundary wire
is buried underground. The dog wears a collar which acts as a receiver.
As the animal approaches the "fence" it receives a warning tone.
If it crosses the boundary line it receives an electronic (pulse) stimulus
through the collar.
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- Although many pet owners swear by them,
the device is still controversial. Cortesi, however, concedes that, in
this particular case, the benefit may outweigh the temporary discomfort
the animal might feel.
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- "If it keeps the dog in the yard
so he doesn't go into the street and get hit, that's certainly on the plus
side," he said.
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- But do they work? Craig Allen, owner
of Dog Patch Pet and Feed in Naperville, says they do.
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- "We've been installing them for
years," he said. "We've installed them in adjoining yards where
dogs run up to each other and play, like kids. But they know their boundaries.
I believe in positive reinforcement, but there's such a thing as negative
reinforcement, too."
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- A good pet owner understands this. Unfortunately
a large number of people want a quick fix and believe gadgets can do the
job they don't have the time or inclination to do themselves.
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- Dr. Wayne Hunthausen, past president
of the Veterinarian Behavior Society, says that people who use shock collars
on their pets should be well-grounded in animal learning theory and temperament.
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- "Using a shock collar is like using
a scalpel on a pet. You better know what you're doing or you're going to
kill your patient," he said.
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- Peg Norsworthy, who runs a home kennel
business in Naperville, said that what pets most need is love and attention.
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- "You just have to love them and
know them," she said. "It doesn't matter how big the yard is
or how many devices they have. I don't care. Every dog loves to be taken
out and walked. They want a live human being to pay attention to them."
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- She pays attention to them while their
owners are gone. She takes them on walks and bathroom breaks. She hugs
them and holds them and drives them to the vet. She writes poems about
them and misses them when their stay at her kennel comes to an end.
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- "I believe they're perfect creatures.
They're just trying to live their little lives the best way they know how."
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- Staff writer Kathy Millen also contributed
to this story
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