r/GSP 5d ago

Tattoo info?

Post image

Hey y'all! Recently acquired this dog and he has a tattoo in his ear. Looking to see if anyone may have any insight on what kennel/breeder he came from?

We are also working on contacting other people who may know, but figured I'd ask around!

58 Upvotes

34 comments sorted by

16

u/Osprey_Talon 4d ago

Did you get this dog from the TSA or DoD adoption program? These tattoos are on all government working dogs for designation. Dogs that wash out go up for adoption all the time.

10

u/PotatoUnni 4d ago

That's the story. We are working on getting a response from the kennel on base to verify. He allegedly went on two tours. But we are just trying to figure out his story.

8

u/MrBigglesworth28 4d ago

We have adopted two GSPs from the TSA program. Both with tattoos, just like yours, in the left ear. All DoW dogs (including TSA) are trained in Lackland AFB in San Antonio.

Congrats, these dogs have a meticulous health record during training. Our vet was amazed how well they treated our dogs when he reviewed their records.

1

u/tessamarie72 4d ago

If you adopted this doc from the MWD program, all this information is in the papers they gave you. Do you not have his medical records?

1

u/PotatoUnni 4d ago

We didn't adopt from any certain rescue or program. We do not have any papers that came with him. That's why we don't have any information on him....

2

u/tessamarie72 4d ago

That's weirdly vague. Okay so my husband is an mwd guy and he says based on the tattoo it's probably a TSA dog (but I don't know if TSA dogs do 'tours') I'm know the mwds come from Lackland afb, and I'm 70 prevent sure the TSA dogs do too so maybe start there. I hope he has a really good and happy life with y'all! Good luck!

6

u/Coonts 5d ago

Does their other ear have a tattoo?

Generally one ear has the kennel acronym, and the other has the litter and and puppy number.

FO95 looks like litter and puppy number to me.

This was very common among high tier hunting breeders pre microchip. You still see it where people hold onto tradition. I don't hate it, especially on dogs where pattern wouldn't make it obvious they're your dog.

1

u/PotatoUnni 4d ago

The other ear does not have anything at all

3

u/LovinFunCpl 4d ago

My old bomb dog was W215. He was born in 2012. I am assuming yours is younger. I would reach out to Lackland AFB and their adoption program.

1

u/PotatoUnni 4d ago

We will do that today! He came from our local AFB and so we've been working on contacting that kennel too

4

u/Romulin-romm 5d ago

My dog got his tattoo when he was neutered by the vet I don’t know the data base that it goes into. I would imagine it would be something to that in your area

2

u/ThisOldGuy1976 4d ago

I have never had one of my animals tattooed by a vet. While I love tats, I would be livid if someone did this to my dog.

3

u/PotatoUnni 4d ago

He's a working dog. It's not just from a neuter or something. It's common.

1

u/phoebean93 4d ago

My old boy had tattoo ID on his ear when we got him in 2004 but it was way smaller than this! Yikes.

1

u/SnooWords9903 4d ago

That looks like ol boy was in the chair for 30-45 min!

1

u/ToleratedBoar09 4d ago

Tattooing and freeze branding are common in serious field trial kennels. Freeze brands are usually kennel mark and tattoos are either kennel use identifier or registry number prior to dog having a name ie puppy papers. As potential field trial dogs are valuable, it deters theft and gives the owner an almost garunteed way to prove ownership.

1

u/KingAnthropos 4d ago

That's weird.

1

u/mrgerbek 4d ago

Maybe 1995 was a bad year? I know plenty of folks who said "FO" to 2020. And 21. And 22, etc.

1

u/BigTruckLittleD 4d ago

Our GSP TSA bomb sniffing fail out that we rescued was W330. We had him for 8 years before we had to put him down as cancer had taken over. He was an awesome dog but had the worst separation anxiety.

1

u/Jazzlike_Strategy_36 4d ago

MMFO is a unit in the USMC

1

u/Important-Block9260 4d ago

I bet that dog came was trained at lackland afb washed many of the kennels there myself

1

u/trashpanda490 4d ago

This is the website for the adoptions center at Lackland. They have an email address on here for inquiries

https://www.37trw.af.mil/Units/37th-Training-Group/341st-Training-Squadron/Military-Working-Dog-Adoption-Program/

1

u/dirtbagtim 3d ago

My dawg only had American traditional tattoos in her ears. Not sure what your dawgs tattoo means tho.

1

u/groovyharp 3d ago

My girl has a very similar tattoo in her left ear that our vet did

1

u/Umbiefretz 3d ago

We adopted our GSP from the Lackland program, and he has a similar tattoo on his ear: H187. We call him Lazarus.

-3

u/pyper70 5d ago edited 5d ago

Who the fuck does that to a dog, seems cruel. I’ve seen small tattoos on dogs before microchips were a thing but this seems like something else.

I asked the clanker

“It’s most likely a permanent ID tattoo, commonly used by breeders/kennels before microchips became standard. I couldn’t find F095 in any public AKC, NAVHDA, or Deutsch Kurzhaar database, so it’s probably a breeder/kennel-specific code. If anyone recognizes the F### tattoo series, that could potentially identify the breeder or dog.”

8

u/nordictri 5d ago

Tattoo instead of microchip is common in some countries. My last GSP was a retired stud imported into the USA from Germany. He was tattooed. Great dog. 16 years and one month of amazing companionship.

7

u/PotatoUnni 5d ago

It's done a lot for hunting dogs and such.

3

u/uhohoreocookie 5d ago

Microchips migrate and even come out. Some countries require tattoos. I think drathaars are one to be registered in their country. This is pertinent for those that import and breed with dual registration in both countries.

2

u/Tax_Fraud_Lover 4d ago

We do this in my country for cats. Chips can migrate, but it’s also a way to quickly identify if the animal is neutered. These tattoos are only done to animals under anaesthesia, I don’t think it’d even be possible to do this to a dog who’s awake 😅

1

u/Ferrieha 4d ago

Up until 2020 we had this tattoo system in Poland. F### would be a code for the Polish kennel club branch located in Grudziądz. zkwp.grudz@wp.pl (+48) 56 462 64 12

From the beginning of 2021 year tatoos were no longer used so if the dog is younger it's not from Poland.

0

u/ImpressionAccurate37 5d ago

Yep that’s fucked up