I was just looking at the price of registering a chip with Home Again...$17.50 a year, yikes! I've been using the AKC registry for years for my puppy people, but was thinking of switching to home again....not sure all my puppy people would go for that..... any other suggestions? TIA.... :-)
R U sure that Home Again charges $17 a year or is it $17 to register the chip then if there are any future updates needed, they charge a little fee there after ?
I have used Avid since 2006 their prices are similar to Home Again.
I have since switched over to AKC CAR microcips and registry and find the company reasonable. I bought the International scanner which was pricier but it covers dogs that ship or travel into Canada and all the other countries. I buy in bulk and pay for pre registered to bring the cost down. My pups don't leave our house until I get the new family's information so I can register each puppy with their new family. A lot of families were forgetting to register their pups and most people don't mind letting me handle the microchip business.
Home again is the biggest pet microchip database in the US. You can use any chip not just home again and it's a one time fee to register. Additional services that are provided free the first year (included with registration) can be renewed if you want to pay a yearly fee after that.
I thought I had to pay every year but recently did some googling. Apparently once you register with Home Again, you are registered forever BUT they send out annual renewals for the extra perks. They make it seem like you have to pay every year.
Home again charges yearly for the extra perks only. Once you are registered you are in the database and they will still hepl find a lost dog. I don't know what all the extra stuff is but all you need is the basic service.
On my last litter, I chipped all the pups with Home Again prepaid chips. I then submitted all the forms so I knew that they got sent in. I registered my own pup with AKC CAR in addition, just because my other animals are registered there too.
In my area, I don't know if the shelters are aware of AKC Car (not that it should make a difference), but I know they are aware of Avid & Home Again, so I thought keeping stuff with Home Again was the best effort over all.
I used Home Again for years then they started pushing the "option" of the yearly fee thing and I got pissy and went to the AKC/CAR microchip and used it for a couple of years AND THEN I was finding that a few of my own dogs here did not seem to have a microchip, scanned them over and over,HMMMM finally found one right under my girls belly, and another in my boys lower chest area. I was also getting calls from pup owners whose vets could not find the chip and I know the chip was in as I check it when I do it and again as they are going home. End of AKC/CAR I went back to Home Again and I tell folks to just do the 1 time registration not the yearly membership. You can do just the one time registration with Home Again without getting the bells and whistles.
I used Home Again for years then they started pushing the "option" of the yearly fee thing and I got pissy and went to the AKC/CAR microchip and used it for a couple of years AND THEN I was finding that a few of my own dogs here did not seem to have a microchip, scanned them over and over,HMMMM finally found one right under my girls belly, and another in my boys lower chest area. I was also getting calls from pup owners whose vets could not find the chip and I know the chip was in as I check it when I do it and again as they are going home. End of AKC/CAR I went back to Home Again and I tell folks to just do the 1 time registration not the yearly membership. You can do just the one time registration with Home Again without getting the bells and whistles.
I also had this issue the one time I used the AKC/CAR chips - migration, big time!
