If you’re anything like me, then you understand the love between a human and their dog. I personally tend to like dogs better than humans anyways (don’t worry- only halfway kidding), so the thought of something happening to Drake is heart wrenching. Unfortunately I have experienced the devastating feeling of him being lost and I refuse to ever go through it again. Although he was only gone for about 5 hours, I’ve never felt so scared and helpless.

The sad truth is that most people who have a pet go missing, are not as lucky as I was. In fact, 1 out 3 pets do end up lost or missing and of those pets, only 1 out of 10 of them are actually reunited with their owner. Scary, right?

The best shot you have, although not 100%, is to microchip your dog.

A microchip is about the size of a grain of rice and is placed into your dog’s (or cat’s) shoulder blades. The “chip” has a specific, one of a kind number that is associated with your pet. When and IF your animal goes missing and is found, a scanner can then detect the microchip and identify them! The word “found” is important to note. The microchip does not hold a GPS, therefore in order for it to work, your animal must be found by someone.

Crazy I know, and not completely “lost proof”- BUT this little electronic rice-sized chip is what saved Drake and reunited me with him! By implanting your animal with a microchip, your odds of finding Fido are raised by 2.5 times! Some states have even begun to make this a law. Shout out to Nevada!

Collars are important, but they can easily fall off (like Drake’s did) or break. Microchipping your dog is your best bet if they become lost; it is the first thing that any vet or shelter will do upon finding an animal, dog or cat. For roughly, 20 bucks and no more than a few minutes of your time, you can increase the probability of finding your dog tremendously. Bottom line, if you ever have to endure the torture of losing a pet, it’ll be best money you’ve ever spent and you’ll be thankful you did.