What to put on a dog tag (in priority order)
You have between 20 and 60 characters per line, depending on the tag size. Use them in this order:
- Pet's name. First line, biggest font.
- Your mobile. Second line. Include the country code if you travel with your dog overseas.
- "I'M CHIPPED" or "MICROCHIPPED". Third line. Tells whoever finds the dog that even if the tag info fails, a vet scan will recover ownership.
- A backup contact. Partner, sibling, neighbour. Optional but useful — if you're somewhere with no signal (camping, hiking), a second number gets the finder a real person faster.
That's it. Anything else is filler.
What to leave off
- Your full address. Strangers don't need it. If you're worried about a finder bringing your dog home and meeting you at the door, that's exactly the point of the tag — but they don't need the door from a public-readable tag.
- The dog's breed. Doesn't help recovery. Also wastes a line.
- "REWARD IF FOUND." It can occasionally encourage someone to hold a found pet hostage waiting for a payout instead of just calling. Most lost-pet recovery is volunteer-driven and doesn't need a reward incentive.
- Your full legal name. First name's plenty.
- Year of purchase, "PUPPY 2024," etc. Ages the tag and tells everyone how out-of-date the info might be.
Character limits to plan around
Most Australian engravers work to these rough limits:
| Tag size | Lines | Characters per line |
|---|---|---|
| Small (~25mm) | 4 | 18–22 |
| Medium (~32mm) | 5 | 22–28 |
| Large (~40mm) | 6 | 28–34 |
Plan your wording before you order. The classic mistake is "BUDDY THE LAB / 0412 345 678 / I LOVE BELLY RUBS" — wasted line. Write for the finder, not for cute factor.
Where to get a dog tag engraved in Australia
Pet stores with in-store engravers — Petbarn, Petstock, and most independents have a Quickling-style in-store machine. Done in 15 minutes, ~$15–25, fine quality for stainless steel. Best for "I need a tag this afternoon."
Online Australian engravers — heaps of options on Etsy, eBay, and dedicated brands. Quality varies. Read the reviews specifically for durability after 12 months, not just first-impression looks. Aluminium tags fade fast; brass and stainless last.
Specialty shops — for working dog and farm dog setups, country-town saddleries and rural supply stores often do tougher tags than the city pet stores. Worth knowing if you have a high-impact dog.
Locksmiths. A surprising number do small engraving as a sideline. Cheap, fast, often better quality than a shopping-mall machine.
The failure mode nobody warns you about
Engraved tags fade. Aluminium fades fastest, then anodised, then brass; stainless steel lasts longest but isn't immune. After 18 months on an active dog, half of the original engravings are noticeably worn — and that's the half a stressed finder can't read in dim light.
Check your engraving every 6 months. If you have to angle it to the light to read your phone number, the finder will give up before figuring it out.
The other failure mode is staleness — the tag is fine but your phone number is wrong because you changed plans, or your address is wrong because you moved. Engraved tags don't update. If you change phone or vet or move suburb, you re-engrave or you accept that the tag is now lying.
When to skip engraving and go QR
If you find yourself re-engraving every two years — or you have a working dog, an anxious escape-artist, or an outdoorsy lifestyle that beats up a tag — a metal-engraved QR tag avoids the staleness problem. The QR is just a link; the link points to a page you control. Move house, change vet, switch phones — update the page in 30 seconds, the tag itself stays the same.
We make a metal QR tag — laser-engraved stainless steel, $45 for the tag with 12 months of service, $2/month after. Same engraving durability as a classic stainless tag, with none of the rewrite-when-life-changes pain.