Which Microchip? Important, If You're Traveling

Even when a dog has been microchipped, he can be denied entry in certain countries.
This is because different countries use different microchips.  Some have nine or ten digits, others have fifteen digits.  A microchip reader that reads nine-digit microchips can't read fifteen-digit microchips, and so on.  For example, an Australian microchip can't be scanned by an America  microchip reading device. (At least, that was the case when I returned to the United States from Australia, ten years ago) So just because your dog has been microchipped doesn't necessarily mean he can travel out of the United States and be admitted to a European country.
Our veterinarian uses a microchip manufactured by a company called HomeAgain, which produces a 15-digit microchip that can be read -- HomeAgain says on their website -- at over 50 international airports around the world.  So we got that one.  It's apparently the size of a grain of rice. The needle they use to implant it looks huge, but Xingxing didn't feel a thing.
But then I got to thinking.  There are a lot more than 50 international airports in the world.  When we disembark in Venice Airport, will the personnel at that particular airport be able to read Xingxing's microchip?
The logical thing to do was to check with HomeAgain.  So that's what I've been trying to do, this weekend. First, I sent them an email.  No response.  Then I tried telephoning. I got put on hold.  I got left on hold. Eventually, I was disconnected.  Tried again.  Finally got someone.  You'll be fine, he said.  But he said it the way people say things when they're speaking from a script.  And of course, he didn't have a surname. Nobody who works in Customer Service anywhere in the world has a surname.
Suppose they can't read the microchip?  I ask him. What should we do? Should we contact you?
You can contact us 24 hours a day, he said. But you'll be fine.
I gotta say, I'm not convinced. Of course, the important thing is to think positive.  Or maybe we should rent a microchip scanner, and carry it with us.
Meanwhile, Xingxing needs another rabies shot.  He's up to date, not due until next year.  But the rabies shots don't count unless they're administered after he's got the microchip.  And it's got to be done at least 21 days before we travel. So we'll do it Monday.
Traveling with a dog is like painting a house.  Preparation is everything.

We've Written A Book!

We've been back and forth to Mexico a couple of times, but the big news is -- our book, Will YOUR Dog Reincarnate? has just been published.
It's available on Amazon, but it won't be in bookstores for at least another three months, because it takes six weeks for it to be integrated into the distribution system, and then another six weeks for it to be delivered after someone goes into the store and orders it.  (I suspect this is why most people buy their books online.  The bookstores just make it too hard)
Meanwhile, if you don't want to wait three months, visit our website at www.willyourdogreincarnate.com and start reading.   Or go straight to Amazon and buy one and write a review.  I can hardly wait until someone writes a review!
I'm very excited about the book.  While researching it, I discovered that thousands of dogs reincarnate and return to their beloved owners.  And what really fascinated me was that many of these people are completely aware of the fact that their "new" dog is a reincarnation of the dog that left them.  They just don't talk about it, because they're afraid people will laugh at them.  Amazingly, one in four Americans believes in reincarnation.
What I learned from my own experience is that it's possible for us to actually help our dog reincarnate and come back to us.  Some dogs don't need help, but many do.  You don't have to be a psychic, or a mystic.  I am the most logical, left-brained person you'll ever hope to meet -- and if this could happen to me, it can happen to anyone.
Now that Will YOUR Dog Reincarnate? has been finished, edited, proofed and launched into the vast sea of books already published this year,  Xingxing and I are getting ready to do some really serious traveling.
The Azamara Club Cruise was so much fun that we're doing it again.  At the end of June we'll fly to Venice, Italy and take two, back-to-back cruises down the Dalmatian Coast and then around the tip of Italy and back up the coast to Rome.
The first step was to get Xingxing microchipped.  But that's a story for my next blog.