My younger son rides the bus to school here in Tallahassee and he runs out the door in the morning. Not long ago, when he was going out the door, he was followed by my Bassett Hound, Sassy. Well, Sassy has done this more than once before and that’s why she has what she has – namely, a microchip! My son said ‘Momma, you gotta get her chipped and tagged!’ Sassy ran away quite frequently when she was little. The first time she got out she was walking behind joggers, real friendly. She’s still a puppy, just about a year old, but she’s always been easy to find. When she sees me looking for her in the car she jumps in and also the neighborhood kids bring her back, so I’m pretty lucky.

This last time Sassy got out she got into a car with a neighbor who took her to the pound. It was great that I had the chip in Sassy and I was able to get her back. I’ve also put a permanent sign up so that when we can’t find her, someone can bypass the pound and bring her right home. Sassy is known to most people around here and they figure ‘We know she belongs to somebody’ and check her chip. From now on I’m gonna keep a little bit of a tighter rein and put her in a cage when it’s time for school!