Why were Rottweilers ears never cropped? Discussions

This is such post 2 am question but i was thinking why did the rottweiler never have its ears cropped??
All the other big german breeds seem to have at one point in time if it be for a task or show reasons.
You got Boxers,Dobes,Great danes and giant schnauzers(sp). But no rotties ,,

Interesting question, I haven't a clue though.

Why were/are any dogs' ears cropped? Has there ever been any kind of work justification or is it purely aesthetic?

If it's just to make them look fierce maybe it was thought that they already looked fierce enough! (Although that doesn't explain why they do it to Affens so maybe I'm completely wrong!)

Just to go completely OT for a mo, have you noticed that whenever you see a Doberman in a (US) film they are always portrayed as viscous/evil and always have their ears cropped. Took my kids to see that film with the talking guinea pigs (what was it called?) and they ended up hearing a lecture on the evil of ear cropping from me!

J.

G-Force i think thats the film you are talking about, brilliant film.

i agree with you though MS there is no need for a dog to have its ears cropped it looks disgusting. there is no need for it whatsoever

It had its place in history ,,
why do you think shepherds are bred to have pricked ears ?
Same reason people cropped in the past most probs ..
To keep ears out the way of being hurt?

Bred and used for different reasons really, I suppose. Rotts were a herding breed with guarding properties, dobes were bred to protect a handler and I suppose looking intimidating would come into that. Rotts also have smaller ears and I think at one point it was belived the dogs with close sitting ears should be cropped to hear better, in days that are well gone by that is.

Other than that I don't really know much more than that tbh.

Probably because they originate from a Roman herding/guard dog & not a native German dog

The guarding breeds bred in Germany were cropped to look fierce & also to prevent an intruder/attacker from being able to grab the dog by the ears(or tails)Hence Boxers, Dobes etc were cropped

Great Danes were never guard dogs originally they were Boar Hounds(& the original colour was the mottled Merle !)they were cropped to prevent the dogs ears being damaged in the hunt as they ran through the brushes etc They were also used to hunt Wolves, Deer, Elk etc The ears were cropped much shorter than they are today, more like the way the Turkish Flock guards are cropped

The German's docked their tails as they were used as butcher's dogs & the Romans docked tails to remove worms!!!

Interesting!

Why does a butcher's dog need it's tail docked?

J.

Shepherding breeds are bred with erect ears because they are more able to hear faint sounds. Most semi erect eared BCs will raise their ears when commanded by whistle I know mine always have done

Kiki's got Rottie style ears and she can prick them up to listen out for things. They don't tend to go right up - sometimes they will but I think that's more a coincidence, but they're certainly not as floppy as an uncropped Dane's ears. Might be partly why they were left alone? You can see her listening out for a squirrel here

where BC's pure herding dogs? Where were the large flock guardians you see in other countries?
Or was that not a need in the uk?

As they pulled the carts with meat in them it kept the tail out of the meat !

Eeew! Wasn't it covered? I guess not in those days, yuck.

J.

Because of the way the sheep are kept in the UK & the way the breeds of sheep have developed here, there has been no need for "flock"guards for sheep in the UK since the wolf was hunted to extinction. Primitive breeds like the Shetland sheep will accept a flock guard(Shelties were developed to work with SS in the Shetlands without the presnce of the shephered every day-one reason that Shelties survive as feral dogs if they are lost !)

There was a couple of people who tried the Turkish Kangal with UK sheep breeds but the did not bond the way the sheep/goats do in Turkey.

Kangals have been used in Africa to guard Goats from endangered big cats with a good level of success.

They are used in the US for protection against Coyotes, Mountain Lions etc

LOLOLOLOL Ok as long as the dog didn't have the trots Hee Hee

Fascinating knowledge Dyane, and a little OT I know, but could you tell me a little more about the shetland sheepdogs history/early days/early breeding, really curious and always been curious about the feralness!

Rotts have lovely soft ears, would be a crime to crop. I hear many reasons/excuses why people dock/crop. To me it's all bullshit because if dogs are born with ears and tails, it's nature.

I still feel guilty for having the little Griffons I bred many years ago docked, but that was the breed standard in those days. In the US some people also had their ears cropped.

Tikva, my current little one, is half Doxie half Minpin, and most Minpins are docked and some also have their ears cropped, although I have never seen a Minpin here with cropped ears. Docked, yes - ears cropped, no.

Regarding Dobes, there are a few on this Moshav, usually chained up as guard dogs although sometimes one will get loose and literally gallop along the road. They are all docked almost to their anus, and all cropped. Horrible sight.

Sometimes I wish my breed was docked, happy tail isn't fun.

Even if you think it's BS nothing about dogs is natural (nature).