The American Beagler Forum

A few years ago, I had a male out of Mark v's Ace In The Hole. Some low life thought that he needed him more than I did.
I have heard about people putting a tattoo in the hounds ear. I talked to the vet about microchipping, and here that would be a waste of money. The dog pound here doesnt have a scanner and the vet that I have chose to use is in the next county. He suggested the tattooing as a way to ID if any of my hounds were ever lost or stolen. There is a man that is local that tattoos goats and cattle and said that he has done several hounds too. I had him tattoo a number in one of my hounds ears. The very next day it was gone. Not a sign of ever being there. I talked to him and he didnt have an explanation. I figured old ink that may have frozen or something. Well then another man told me to shave the inside of the ear and redo the tattoo. I bought a kit from the Tractor Supply store to do this myself. I read the directions and after applying the ink and rubbing it into the perforations, you could rally tell that it was there. The numbers kind of swelled with the ink in them and looked good. I put the dog in a separate pen. When I came out the next morning to clean, feed and water, the tattoo was gone. the excess ink was stilll there, but no numbers. What did I do wrong? Any help or suggestions appreciated.


Oh, yea I seen a hound that looked like my Ace male a few months after losing him. I wish That I would have had a way to ID him then.

I always wondered why AKC does'nt require the litter yo be tatooed?It seems to me you could say this dog is out of such and such a FCH but still not be able to prove it.Look alike dogs could field trail under one anothers reg. name if nobody could tell the difference.CKC requires it,do it when they are pups and none of these type of problems should occur.If I'm wrong, how do you tell one pup from the other?

Get the dog freeze Branded and your worries will be over.

Greetings Joak,

I'm not sure that your numbers arn't there. The excess ink always wears off before we can see the numbers well. We use the brush to dab the ink into the holes well. After a couple of days when the ear has sealed over you can clean the excess ink off & see if it took. The only reason it should not be there is either the hole didn't open or the ink didn't get in.
Best of luck...Patch

I HAD A RED BONE COON HOUND WITH A ROCKIN R FREEZE BRANDED ON HIM AND THERE WAS NO MISTAKE WHO THE OWNER WAS. TRUST ME IF YOU WILL PUT A FREEZE BRAND ON YOUR DOG NOBODY IS GOING TO TAKE HIM, AND IF THEY ARE THAT STUPID YOU WILL KNOW IT.

Thanks for the replies........I checked again......only a shaved spot. I guess the ink didnt get deep enough. I'll have to build up my nerve and try it again.

put on latex gloves and rub that ink in for about 5 minutes. keep adding ink as you go along by just dabbing your finger in the ink and applying it to the tatto area. You might try a different color ink, green shows up real well.

Try holding a flashlight under the dogs ear that will let you almost see through the dogs ear bringing out the tatoo. Just because you can't see it does'nt mean it is'nt there.