To Crop or not to crop. That is the question. General Chat

I have to agree, cropped ears are much more expressive than uncropped.

My puppy was spayed on 23 November. She not only did not come home with any pain meds at all, but was dancing around as normal the day after the spay. In the over 40 years in which I have had bitches spayed, not one has ever had to be on pain medication for one day let alone one week.

And if uncropped ears, Dobermans or not, are prone to ear infections, why are all breeds not cropped, to stop them getting ear infections?

Oh, and there is a slight difference between ear cropping [and tail docking] to spaying and neutering. The former is for the owners pleasure - "eye candy" as it were. The latter is to stop the thousands of unwanted dogs who end up in rescues, if they are lucky enough to end up in a no-kill shelter.

There is no need to leave, we have a number of US members, not everyone is going to agree with you on everything.

You don`t say how old your dog is, from my understanding cropping needs to be done around 14 /16 weeks (if thats correct) so if you your dog is older you may have missed the boat on that.

Its already been state that the forum is mainly UK based so cropping is s subject that will mostly get negative responses , due to it being banned for over 100 years, the same will apply to docking , since it has been banned, these topics will always get a rise.........

Personally I love the the cropped (and docked) look of certain breeds, Boxers /Dobes... not so much Danes and other breeds.... it can make a lovely head look stunning, so I am an admirer of the look, but on a personal note I would not do it to a pup, mostly due to the fact we have nt done it for yrs and the look is not necessary, and as I show my dogs, they could not go in the ring.

If I lived in a country were it was popular,....i don`t know, probably not , but you never know.

I have to agree that an erect ear is healthier, but apart from an odd WSD and Lurcher, all my breeds have had drop ears - Golden Retrievers, Cavaliers, Lowchen, and currently Beagles. Even if cropping was legal over here, these are breeds which would look very silly cropped - though it might improve the Beagles selective deafness! I have never had to treat an ear infection, because my dogs have their ears regularly inspected, and I always check immediately on any ear scratching or head shaking.
In my experience the dogs which get infected ears either have abnormally narrow ear canals, or belong to doting pet owners, who can't train their puppy accept routine care. The dogs which end up with a show crop are already in expert homes, and would therefore be likely to be well groomed anyway. Also, if the main reason is for health, why are all the cropped breeds smooth coated? A smooth coated pinna is far easier to keep healthy than, for example, that of a Cocker Spaniel.

Actually, FYI the very last thing that you would consider is anything violent if we were face to face discussing anything. I think that comments like yours above were totally uncalled for - and rather threatening.

I read somewhere the reason for the crop (in Dobes) was to prevent the dog being grabbed by a floppy ear, apparently a cropped ear is less likely to be held onto.....its only something I heard!

Not sure where this is relevant, your pup may not have come home with any pain meds but she will have been given a large dose at the vets before she was sent home.

She may well have been up and running around hrs later (once the anesthetic has worn off) but them most dogs are , Having a ear crop will not stop a pup running round after surgery. Why is coming home with anti biotics an issue, many dogs will be in this situation at some time in their life..

On a side not, no wonder this forum has so few (posting) members,when you attack them for something you dont like, also I am sure Silas would not have posted his last remark towards you if you had not been so nasty in the first place......

You dish it out, be prepared to take it back!

Yes Jackie, and I am sure that this was originally the reason that the fighting breeds were cropped too. Not just being held on to, but the amount of blood loss from a torn ear in a smooth coated breed can be both scary and very messy.

Agree an ear bleed can be very messy..

On a side note, we my be seeing cropped dogs at some champ shows from now on, since the new ruling of allowing them in as "spectator dogs",

@Jackie - I do not understand where I attacked Silas - but if you read through the threads about cropped ears, I was not the only one who said they did not like it.

Actually there are people wanting not just Doberman's ears cropped but also those of MinPins, and I am not the only person who has said that I do not agree with it.

Count them Jackie. Count the Breedia members who have said they do not agree with cropped ears, and then count the new members who are raving about how brilliant cropped ears are and how wonderful they look.

And then you can tell me that I attacked a new member. If that member thinks that I did then I apologise most sincerely.

@Jackie I actually know an illegally cropped Dobermann. She was discovered as a puppy with her ears still raw, and was taken into rescue. She is a really sweet dog, but her ears do have quite marked 'seams'.

Yours was the only post that told the poster he is "wrong" and he is " destroying " his dog, every one else gave an opinion but politely, and I assume the poster saw it that way to, as yours was the only post he retaliated too.

You can express a dislike for something, without making it personal, your Input into this thread resulted in the poster leaving before he even got started.

Poor thing, I would hate to think who did that...

Millies sire was an imported cropped dog, he was stunning , with a fabulous head and the crop made him even more so. I have seen a few cropped dogs here over the years, thankfully all cropped legally in the country they came from.

I'd love to see a cropped dobe, , giant schnauzer , or bouviour one day, maybe now we will.

@Jackie Only trouble would be - there's no benching available for spectator dogs, and carting a giant breed round for a day .......!
Although, I did have Eddie crated in the exhibitors tent when I showed Merry at an Open show this Summer. Nobody objected, so I suppose as long as there was space, it could be possible.
A good way of showing off imported docked stock too!

On Min Pins I prefer natural but on Dobes I prefer a crop, but whichever way you choose I am sure they will be beautiful.

Actually it has be done from 6 to 12 weeks

Why aren't all breeds cropped ? Well why aren't all baby boys circumcised it's called preference. Health is a huge factor along with work performance. A cropped and docked Doberman owns the record for tracking not a hound. Have you owned a freshly cropped dog ? If not your opinion is simply that, a opinion not back by any actually knowledge, but that of hear say. As for spaying and neutering my rescue has incontinece from her spay is that ok ? She now has a leaky bladder because of it. My Doberman has his testicles and has no issues but I'm a RESPONISBLE OWNER. " making your life easier so that's why you spay." Ok? That's fine but owning a cropped dog makes my life easier. So why is your preference ok and mine is not? Mine at least doesn't affect the NATURAL hormones and health. Yes ear infection can occur in any dog but more likely in one that traps moisture. It's common sense.

In Hungary as well as the rest of the EU, cropping of ears and docking of tails is banned.
As the owner of a Miniature Schnauzer a breed which in some countries is subjected to cropping and docking I'm happy the practice is banned.

To my way of thinking by removing most of the tail and altering the shape of the ears, you're depriving a dog of two of the most important means of communication. The tail and the ears are an essential for the interpretation of body language which without them must make their and other dogs lives quite difficult!

I much prefer my boy with his floppy ears and wriggly tail.

How is standing ears a lack of communication? Their tails still move even with docking ? Floppy ears would be more lacking in communication. Dogs communicate with humans just fine unless you have no knowledge of body language and we don't have tails or expressionate ears? This argument is just bogus. Once again have you ever owned a cropped and docked dog ? If not your argument is flawed. My Doberman has had no issues with communicating with other dogs at all , they speak with their whole body not just ears and tails. If that were the case floppy eared dogs would lack severely in communication ! Now I understand your preference is that and thats fine but don't say my dog lacks due to my preference.

My dogs have always been spayed as puppies. The one I have now is not- and likely will not be. As a responsible owner, a spay or neuter is not a medically necessary surgery. It can cause incontinence, as missboo said... When we were dealing with accident issues the first thing my vet said was "oh I'm so glad you haven't spayed her!" it's actually a white common misconception to spay and neuter early and can do a lot more harm than good.