Forest the Cyber-Dog

A few weeks ago I got my sh!t together and asked the vet to implant an identify microchip in Forest. I don’t think the puppy would ever purposely run away, but I can easily imagine him getting confused and wandering off, so the chip helps prevent paranoid nightmares of a terrified, lost Forest searching for shelter from the freezing rain, or getting hit by numerous cars on the freeway, or prostituting himself to the city dogs to make a few bucks for the bus ride back home. That’s just not the life for a loved puppy. If Forest did end up at a shelter, all the employees have to do is scan his chip and they’ll have all of our contact information.

So, even though I knew a chip implant would bring some peace of mind, I had been delaying this important task for two reasons:

1) I thought this would involve a lot of complicated paper work. Although the vet implants the chip, it’s up to the owner to fill out the necessary forms and mail them in, and I was convinced I would somehow mess up this essential step. Luckily, the vet took pity on me and filled out some of the form. Then I had Nick proof-read the parts I filled out. No problemo.

2) I thought the vet would have to shave off a patch of Forest’s fur to implant the chip. Yes, I realize that that’s an incredibly shallow reason to postpone an important procedure, but, yeah, there you go. Forest had a lot of new people to meet this summer and I didn’t want him to look like an unfortunate lush who passed out early at a party and got shaved by his friends (don’t tell me this doesn’t happen, I’ve seen those photos on Facebook). But it turns out I was completely wrong (either I was misinformed or totally made up the shaving part, not sure which). The microchip is super small and was implanted using a needle, so no shaving or stitching was involved. My bad.

So it’s official, our puppy has been chipped. Finally.

Forest the Cyber-Dog