if you have trouble with your dog running away alot please try obiedience classes and get him/her microchipped. Microchip is a service provided by your vet. It isn't surgery. The chip is about the size of a rice grain and is injected the same way your dog gets his/her shots. The only thing is that the syringe is a little bigger. Many people say that the microchips move around or away from the injected spot (between the shoulder blades), but I don't really know about that ( maybe earlier models of the chips did but the new one don't). What happens when your dog runs away and the dog authorities picks him/her up is that they take a harmless handheld scanner and scans the dog's entire body. If the scanner reads the number off of the chip and the dog auth. calls the company that makes the chip and provides the dog auth. with the name of the dog and the owner, address, and telephone number. Hence your dog is returned to you without worry. The chip once implanted properly by the vet, humane society, a thin membrane within the dog over time surronds the chip allowing the chip to stay in place. Once the chip is properly placed between the shoudlder blades under the skin it is undetectable by any touch even on small and toy dogs. The life span of the chip last for twenty-five years, more than your dog's life span. The chip is very affordable to be put in your dog. Your dog will not get sick or allergic or reject the chip. The chip is sterile before they put it in your pet. Your dog will not even know it's there. The microchip can be used on all pets even underwater pets like fish and turtles. Some cities even require your pet to be microchiped to control the lost and stray dog population. Some adoption and breeders (breeder will have one put in for most expensive purebreed dogs) will microchip your dog before you adopt or buy a dog. I think this is the best id( next to a id tag on a collar) for a dog to ensure your dog will be return to you when stolen or lost. What other identifation does your dog have if someone takes off your pet's collar or the dog losts his own. With the microchip your dog will be returned to you with no harm done. SAVE the LOST dogs that are being put to SLEEP everyday, because shelter can't find their owners or anyone to adopt them. Please ask your local kennel club, humane society, or your vet for more information. You can also go to www.avid.com for more information on the chip. GET YOUR PET MICROCHIPPED ASAP, PLEASE!!