Dog Brands: How to Find a Dog

A dog's tattoo is a unique, individual identifier that allows for quick identification of the animal's owner and the breeder in which it was born. A tattoo on a pet can help resolve a number of issues:

How to find a lost dog?
How to identify a found dog?
How to restore documents in case of loss?
How can I find a dog owner to hold them accountable for violating the federal law "On Responsible Treatment of Animals"?

Important! Litter marking has been mandatory for all breeders in Russia since 1997. This procedure is performed regardless of whether the puppy will be sold with a pedigree or has a defect that prevents it from being shown or bred. Therefore, before selling puppies, every kennel is required to officially register the litter and mark (or microchip) each puppy.

Content

1 What information does the stamp contain?
2 How dogs are branded
3 How does the brand work in practice?
4 Questions and Answers

What information does the stamp contain?

Each kennel club maintains a database of identification codes issued to animals, which uniquely identifies the kennel and helps locate the animal's owner.

The RKF stamp is an alphanumeric code, the letter part of which indicates the kennel in which the dog was born, and the digital part is the puppy's serial number, recorded in the kennel's stud book.

How dogs are branded

Kennel owners typically tattoo all puppies 45-50 days after birth (at 1.5-2 months of age). This procedure is mandatory before handing over the puppy to its future owner, as when purchasing a pet, the future owner must receive a complete set of documents and be able to verify the tattoo's authenticity in the RKF database.

A brand is placed on the inside of the ear or on the belly (closer to the groin area). Technically, a brand applied to an animal's skin is a tattoo. It is applied with a special branding device, which operates on a principle similar to a tattoo machine or permanent makeup device. The pigment penetrates the dermis, ensuring the brand remains on the dog for life.

Naturally, over time, the letters and numbers on the ear or belly may become less legible, but even after 10 years, such a unique number remains recognizable and legible if the procedure was performed correctly. This is what a number on an adult dog's belly might look like.

Important! Penetrating the skin too deeply can cause complications, and applying pigment only to the upper layers can cause the tattoo to fade over time. Therefore, the procedure should be performed by an experienced RKF tattoo club specialist.

You can see how dogs are branded in this video:

For animal rights activists, it's worth clarifying right away that the procedure isn't particularly painful and the branding process is fairly quick.

How does the brand work in practice?

We already discussed at the beginning of this article why purebred dogs are branded, but now we'll take a closer look at how the system works in practice.

Checking the originality of a stamp by number

In some cases, the owner may need to check the brand of a puppy or adult dog in the RKF database.

The procedure is relevant in the following cases:

when buying or selling a puppy;
at the stage of registering a dog for an exhibition;
at the mating planning stage (especially if the couple is from another club);
in case of loss of documents (pedigree, veterinary passport).

To check the RKF-registered brand, simply visit rkf.online, go to the "Registration Data" section, and select the best search option. This information is provided free of charge.

Search for a dog by brand

But most importantly, the RKF's tattoo database allows for quick owner locating if a pet gets lost. The system can be used by both the person who found the animal and by a veterinarian if, for any reason, they suspect the owner has brought the wrong dog to their appointment.

Finding the owner is quite simple:

Find information about the kennel and contact information. You can do this on the website rkf.online or in the open online database of kennel codes registered in the Russian Federation at dogstav.ru.
Contact the kennel and explain that you need to find the contact information of the dog's owner, indicating the tattoo number.
Contact the owner and return the animal, but be sure to ask for official documentation confirming that it is indeed their dog (the tattoo number should be listed in the pedigree and veterinary passport). You can also ask for recent photos of the dog before it disappeared.

Please note! If you find a dog with a tattoo, you simply cannot keep it. This would be considered theft, as you can easily find the owner. If you're not willing to spend the time to figure out how to help someone find a dog with a tattoo, simply contact your nearest veterinary clinic.

How to tell if a stamp is fake

Unfortunately, there are situations where owners, for one reason or another, try to pass off their pet as a purebred (for sale, paid stud, or participation in shows). RKF experts point out signs that may indicate a fake identification tattoo:

too bright and clear contours of a tattoo on an adult dog;
absence of slight blurring of the contour;
shiny surface (the inscription is located above the skin, not in its layers);
Lack of information in the RKF online database!

For more information on common types of fraud in this area, watch this video:

the brand is immediately visible and the person who finds the dog cannot say that he did not know where and how to look for the owner or did not understand that the dog was a purebred;
The chip can only be read with a special scanner and is not visible visually, but it can contain more information than a regular alphanumeric code.

Information about the owner of a microchipped dog should be searched in the Animal Face database (animalface.ru).

When is a chip preferable?

A chip is preferable if:

the puppy is not purebred and there is no possibility to obtain a zero pedigree;
the dog is active and aggressive, it will be difficult to hold it in place for the procedure;
The owners are categorically against the branding procedure itself, preferring the faster and easier implantation of a chip.