It takes under a minute, costs nothing at an appointment you are already attending, and answers a question most owners never think to ask: is the chip still where it should be, still answering when a scanner passes over it? A microchip only earns its keep on the day your dog is found by someone else, and that day is the wrong time to discover a problem.
Make It a Standing Request at Each Visit
Make the scan part of every routine checkup, without exception. Annual health checks, vaccination appointments, and any visit where your dog is already calm on the table are all natural moments. A standing request, mentioned when you book and repeated to the nurse or vet, survives busy clinics and forgetful days in a way that good intentions do not.
Frequency works in your favour here because problems develop gradually. A chip that read perfectly last year and faintly this year is information; a chip untested for six years that fails outright is a surprise. Checking at every routine visit turns a potential failure into a slow, visible trend you can act on early.
What That Scan Actually Confirms
A checkup scan confirms two separate things. First, the chip still reads: the scanner picks up its number clearly, which shows the device itself is functioning. Second, the chip has not migrated. Chips are implanted between the shoulder blades, but they can drift, sometimes a surprising distance, moving down a shoulder or across the chest as tissue, growth, and weight change shift things over time.
Knowing the chip's current location matters practically. A finder or shelter scans the standard spot first, and a migrated chip can be missed by a quick pass. If your vet notes where the chip now sits, that detail can be shared with anyone searching, and future scans can sweep a wider area deliberately rather than by luck.
If the Scan Struggles
A weak or absent reading at a checkup is a finding, not a crisis. The vet will usually rescan slowly over a broader area, because technique and scanner position affect the result, and many a missing chip reappears two inches from where it was expected. If it genuinely cannot be found, discuss the next steps at that appointment, including whether a further chip is appropriate, and update your records with whatever is decided.
Whatever happens, write it down: the date of the scan, whether the number read cleanly, and where the chip was located. Note also who scanned it and which practice holds the note, because a result you cannot place in time is hard to compare against the next one, and comparison across visits is the entire value of the habit. That small log, kept over years, is how you prove the habit happened and spot the visit where something changed.
The Registry Is a Separate Layer
Do not confuse this scan with the registry record behind the chip. The scan proves the device in your dog works; it says nothing about whether the phone number stored against that number is current. The chip carries a number only, the registry holds your details, and the vet file holds medical history; three layers, three separate checks. Use the same appointment to confirm the registry details too, but never assume one check covers the others.
If the registry holds current details, a successful scan can lead a finder back to you; keep both halves of that chain tested and the system stays honest.
Pet Passport, held within KinsLe, logs every dated scan result against the visit that produced it, building a record of readability checked appointment after appointment.