Microchips

How is cold branding done? I am surprised to hear that it is "totally painless." That statement leads me to believe no anesthesia is used. I have worked in labs and handled die ice with gloves...and it will burn and hurt if held without a glove. If I didn't have a glove on, I would drop it pretty quick...but, I never held it long enough to know how bad it would feel if I kept direct contact with it.

 

How is cold branding done?

The actual procedure is surprisingly similar to strike branding. Instead of immersing the (often copper) iron into the heat of a propane torch, the iron is bathed in a solution of liquid nitrogen (or any number of other cooling agents -- another common solution is a 5% dry ice, 95% pure alcohol solution). The iron is then pressed to the flesh. The amount of time is determined by the thickness of the skin; the thicker, the longer. For horses and cows, this usually means between thirty seconds and a minute -- for humans it should be far less.
If a good brand has been achieved, an indent in the shape of the brand is left; within five to fifteen minutes it becomes level and then swells up. When hair grows back it should be white. If the brand is left on longer, the hair won't grow back at all (but the amount of scarring should be minimal). Many ranchers prefer freeze branding because of the LACK of any keloiding (and because it's less traumatic to the animal).
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This can explain it better than I can.

L H Branding Irons

In here you can see pictures at the various stages after the branding has been done, We do this exclusively on our cattle now because it is faster and easier.

L H Branding Irons

 

Oldtimer, I am not going to lie, I copied and pasted that information,^^^^^ there is no way I had all that stored in my brain!

 

I have doubts about this being accepted in the K9 industry even though it is already safely done among the agricultural based community simply because of "companion animal" status quo.

 

You and me both, There was a few men that came out and showed us all sorts of things and went into big long speaks about the benefits and such but hell if I can remember it.

I just know it works well and none of the animals even know it is being done and it yields nice clear brands that hold up nice over time. If you have done any branding the regular way you know what a time consuming and dirty affair it is, The smell alone will get you no matter how long you have been doing it. And that is one of the things I like with the cold branding method, No smell or anything like that.

 

I agree, But I think it is a viable option for yards to keep tabs on their dogs.

Not only do I think the companion animal deal will hinder it, But I think a lot of folks will not want it for aesthetic reasons as well.

 

i have seen a dog or two come in the clinic where i used to work that had a tattoo on the abdomen. what yall think about this?