How to check if your dog’s microchip is registered — in two minutes

Updated: Oct. 5, 2026 · Kynologic Sp. z o.o.

A microchip is a 15-digit number under your dog's skin — nothing more. It does not know who you are. Only a registry entry links that number to your contact details, and without one a scanned chip leads nowhere. This guide shows how to check in about two minutes whether your dog's (or cat's) microchip is registered, and what to do if it is not.

A microchip is not the same as a registration

Implanting a chip and registering it are two separate steps, often done by different people at different times:

Microchipping — the vet injects a tiny transponder with a unique number. The number goes into the pet passport or vaccination booklet, and that is usually where the vet's part ends.
Registration — someone (you, the breeder, the shelter or the clinic) enters that number into a database together with contact details. Only then does the person scanning a found dog have anyone to call.

If the second step never happened, the shelter's scanner will show a number that points to no one. It is the single most common reason why chipped dogs do not make it home.

How to check if my dog's microchip is registered — in two minutes

Find the microchip number. It is in the pet passport, the vaccination record or on the barcode sticker from your vet. If you cannot locate it, see where to find a pet's microchip number.
Open the DogWorldBase microchip lookup and type in all 15 digits. Spaces and dashes are fine.
Read the result. You will see whether the number is in our registry and whether any of the partner registries we work with recognise it. Owner details are never shown to anyone — if the dog is registered with us, a finder contacts the owner through the registry, anonymously.

The lookup is free and needs no account. Run it as often as you like — for instance after updating your details, to make sure the entry is active.

No result? Three usual reasons

An empty result does not automatically mean the chip is faulty. Almost always it is one of these:

Chipped but never registered

This happens constantly. The vet did the procedure, the number went into the booklet, and everyone assumed “someone” had filed it. Nobody had. If you do not remember registering the chip yourself or receiving a confirmation from a database, treat the dog as unregistered and register it now.

Registered in a database we do not cover

There are many registries in the world and we are not connected to all of them. If you have paperwork showing an entry in a specific database, contact that database directly and check that the details are current. It is also worth adding your dog to DogWorldBase, so the number can be found in one search no matter which country the dog goes missing in.

A typo

Fifteen digits are easy to copy wrong, especially from a hand-written booklet. Compare the number with the barcode sticker (printed, not hand-written) and enter it again. If you can get to a vet with a scanner, ask them to read the chip directly from the dog — that is the only way to be completely sure of the number.

How to register a microchip with DogWorldBase

Registration takes a few minutes: create an account, enter the chip number, add a photo and your contact details, and pay $13 once. No subscription, no annual renewals — the entry lasts for the dog's whole life. Your details are seen only by the system; a finder can send you an anonymous message, and you get a notification whenever someone looks up your dog's number.

When to update your details

An entry is only as good as the phone number inside it. Update it when:

you move house — even within the same town;
you change your phone number or e-mail — the most common reason a finder cannot reach anyone;
the dog changes owner — in DogWorldBase you transfer the entry to the new person, and the change takes effect once they accept it;
you travel with the dog for a longer time — add a local contact.

Typical situations

A dog from a shelter

Shelters usually chip the animals in their care and often register them in their own or a municipal database. After adoption the entry may still point to the shelter rather than to you. Ask at pick-up which database the dog is in and have the details changed to your name — or register the dog with DogWorldBase yourself.

A dog from a breeder

Breeders often chip the whole litter and may register the puppies before they are sold. Ask whether that happened and in which database. If yes, a change of owner is needed; if not, registration is up to you. The chip number is in your purchase contract and the puppy's papers.

A dog from abroad

A dog brought in from another country is sometimes registered in that country's database, with the previous keeper's foreign phone number. Look the number up, then register the dog under your own contact details in the country where it now lives, so the number leads to you and not to someone overseas.

What about cats?

Exactly the same. Cats get the same type of transponder, and the same numbers are checked in the same lookup. Outdoor cats go missing more often than dogs and rarely wear a collar, which makes a registered chip even more important for them. Checking and registering works identically.

Something else on your mind? The shortest answers are in our microchip FAQ.