Cropped ears poll

[Ken Brock]

So should we crop the ears on our doberman pup? (not our home in the pictures BTW)

The breeder had already had the tail done but Janet and I disagree on what to do with the ears

I won't tell you my choice right now............................................

http://www.jerzeedevil.com/gallery/files/2/8/8/6/doberman_leo_035.jpg


http://www.jerzeedevil.com/gallery/files/2/8/8/6/doberman_leo_033.jpg

[Mr.LaBella]

doberman's are meant to look tough, and floppy ears= NOT tough :devilzide

[HC Mullica]

I don't understand the purpose.

[Clydetz]

Six of one; half a dozen of the other. Either way, the Dobie is an impressive dog! Cropped... more stuff gets in his ears; uncropped... better environment for stuff to grow. My personal feeling... no tail docking and no ear cropping.


Uncropped:

http://www.jerzeedevil.com/gallery/files/2/5/dobie.jpg

Cropped:

http://www.jerzeedevil.com/gallery/files/2/5/dobie2.jpg

[Peter Lezard]

Tails yes, ears no...

[Toro]

If I was to ever own a Dobe it would have cropped ears and a docked tail.

I have a APBT and his ears are not done but APBTs look natural either way. A Dobe has too narrow and small of a head that the ears will over take his profile.

[zappadragon]

Tails yes, ears no...

Well put! +1 for Tails yes, ears no...

[Will]

M has not voted in the poll but she said tail yes ears no.

[Spufnik]

Gotta go with docked because that is the way the breed is supposed to look. Did my boxer's and will do it again when we get another. Schnauzers, boxers, dobies, it's a part of the breed I sez :signhere:

PC'ness will eventually ruin the world...

[RNST]

If you are showing it as a AKC standard Doberman then you have to crop their ears. Otherwise its your call. Personally, I wouldn't do unnecessary surgery on anyone or anything.







:RXX:

[lachrymalex]

please don't. there's no rational reason to mutilate an animal, unless it's health related, like spaying/neutering.

[Les Voorhies]

I voted yes, I don't know much about dogs but I've been a fan of Dobies since I got chased and bitten by one when I was a kid, they look soooo much cooler with the cropped. I a little surprised that cutting them is losing in the poll, it's really how they should look.

Edit: After looking at the pictures with the floppy ears I have to say they look much friendlier and maybe thats something you want....

[beergoddess]

beautiful, regal doggies! +1 for cropping. stays true to the breed standard. just make sure he's doped up. (what a cutie-pie...btw)

[One2gofst]

Cropped and docked for me.

[ppc6mm]

I've owned them with both types of ears, I prefer the cropped look.....

The dog's temperment would be the same, regardless of if you cropped their ears or not, they just look more intimidating with their ears raised in a point.....

[Clydetz]

beautiful, regal doggies! +1 for cropping. stays true to the breed standard. just make sure he's doped up. (what a cutie-pie...btw)

How can it be 'true to the breed standard' when the dog isn't born with 'cropped' ears or a 'docked' tail for that matter? I'd like to meet the first guy that decided that... "Hey... let's chop his ears and whack off his tail." (Goes for Boxers, too)

[Mr.LaBella]

M has not voted in the poll but she said tail yes ears no.

Well, let us get that :fixed: :wes:

[Anchorblew]

I have an APBT that has her tail and ears intact. She looks great with them, but if she was younger I'd still consider losing her tail. When she's excited her tail can whip her own sides and it gives a hell of a whack if it gets you.

Having your dog's ears and tail clipped are definitely a matter of personal preference. But if you're asking for advice then I'd say avoid any unnecessary surgeries on your pets, as putting them under always puts them at risk to adverse reactions from the anasthetia.

BTW - great looking pooch :bruce:

[Boogerball]

cropped and docked :yesman:

[RoyalM]

I would say if you are planning on studding or breeding your pup then I would get the ears done. If you plan on just having your pup as a pet then I wouldn't touch the ears.

In the UK you don't get the option anymore. They decided the benefit of docking were outweighed by the difficulties and or pain inflicted on the animal. I can see the point about the ears but how many lambs get docked each year and no one says anything about that so personally I think that it should still be allowed for dogs.

[SugarSkull]

YES:fisting:

[tndiver13]

I have a 13.5 year old Doby. Had his done and would have it done again. Looks good and has less chance of stuff growing in there. That being said I did not know at the time that there are two styles of size. One way leaves the ear longer and is considered "for show". I'm not sure what the other is called but they are shorter. They look fine either way so talk to your vet before having it done, if you decide too. Oh, and congrats on the dog. They make a great family pet.

[sickboy]

How can it be 'true to the breed standard' when the dog isn't born with 'cropped' ears or a 'docked' tail for that matter? I'd like to meet the first guy that decided that... "Hey... let's chop his ears and whack off his tail." (Goes for Boxers, too)

Yea, that.

sickboy

[spydercofanatic]

I say crop em Im a fan of cropped ears all 3 of my Pit Bulls have cropped ears

[1Zach1]

I think they look better without.

[rcn]

I would crop the ears. Not because I like to torture animals but honestly it can't be a much more difficult surgery than circumcising your son. Nobody would start a drama when you have your son circumcised.

[havana d]

Crop 'em & dock 'em. That's what is visualized when someone say's Doberman. Whether the dog is trained for home defense or not, it's definately a more intimidating look. Cool factor +1. Fear factor+5.

[Clydetz]

Just getting a little off topic... does anyone know why the practice of 'docking' and cropping' began? I assume it has something to do with fighting or hunting but I really don't know???

[Parker]

Does docking improve the function of the ears?

And I'm not interested in whether or not the doggie looks intimidating by his ears - the snapping and foaming mouth have a way of conveying this all by themselves :umberto:

[Les George]

I say fuck no.... I wouldn't do that to a dog but I do have a list of people that I would support it for....:madaddy:

[El Gringo]

Yeppers.

[silenthunterstudios]

Nope.

[shakie]

I've had 3 Great Danes and never cut anything off! They say their prone to ear infections with long ears, never had any probs. Tails can be deadly, my last dane almost gave two friends of mine a sex change. the wag of death!

[englishmark]

I go with yes........because they look so much more threatening with the clipped ears , which is good for keeping bad guys away from the house when you're not there.

[Soup_Monger]

Leave the dogs ears alone.

But... I would vote for getting some surgery done on your ears.

[Semper708]

:semper: Yes, Doberman's ears cropped....... :semper:

[EDCIowa]

Doing the tail is an insurance and male safety requirement. Leave the ears alone though...:bang:

[Boogerball]

if your dog is not standard its queer... :cheesydevil: crop & dock :yesman:

[ragingwolf66]

I believe the Dobie is a much more beautiful dog with ears left natural.

My Isis, is absolutely gorgeous that way. Incidently, why make a dog look more aggressive in these days when so much negative attention is on certain breeds?

[MelissaZ]

Well, let us get that :fixed: :wes:

Okay - it's fixed. I voted.

When we got Lazarus we fully intended to do his ears. Tail was already done by the breeder. That's a huge part of being a Dobie, right? However, within 2 days he was horribly sick with parvo and we didn't think he would make it. Vet REFUSED to do anything to further traumatize him. TRAUMATIZE was the word he used.....he reported that he had heard of many dogs that had dreadful nightmares after the procedure.
So that option was off the table for about a month for us. When we revisited the subject and they explained all that I would have to do for the next 4 weeks to make sure the ears stood up like they should, I said forget it. Wayyyy too much effort for me. Plus, if it gets screwed up and the ear doesn't stand up there is no fixing it.

He is 6 years old now and has had no ear problems.

Just my opinion.

M

[stoneman]

their ears can be trained to stay upright without cropping. my breeder sent me instructions for one of my dogs whose ears wouldn't stand. I'm sure you could find instructions on the net. he'd have to wear some cone-looking things onhis ears for a week or two, but I'm sure he'd rather that than chopping more of his parts off. Thankfully tail docking is illegal where I live

[RoadFish]

doberman's are meant to look tough, and floppy ears= NOT tough :devilzide

I voted "no" because it seems sort of barbaric to trim body parts of a living animal to have it conform to some breeders' esthetic tastes. That being said, I vote to trim LaBella's ears to give him a "tough" look! :thumbsup:

[floorguy61]

I've never owned a Doberman! But I've owned pits, German Shepard's, and Rottweilers. Doberman's don't look right unless their ears are cropped. Pits look good either way. Just my opinion! It doesn't hurt the dog if you do it when they are very young. So if your going to do it, don't wait.

[Clydetz]

You're not going to crop that pup's ears yourself... are you? Been reading up on the cropping thing a bit and it seems more and more vet's are shying away from doing this surgery. If you're going to get it done... I hope you've got a certified vet doing the job.

[Ken Brock]

You're not going to crop that pup's ears yourself... are you? Been reading up on the cropping thing a bit and it seems more and more vet's are shying away from doing this surgery. If you're going to get it done... I hope you've got a certified vet doing the job.


no, I have cropped some puppies tails in the past but there's no way that I would try ears


IF and that's a big "if" we get the pup's ears done, it would be done by one of my best friends who is a very experience vet


I don't want to have the ears cropped but Janet does. I think I've about swayed her away from having it done

the only way that it would be done is if she sneaks and has it done behind my back, which I'm pretty sure she wouldn't do

[rio]

hell no

[bootstrenf]

i voted no, but i have a good reason.....


if your dog were to bite someone on your property, i think that you would probably get less problems from the authorities if your dog looked nicer....


with all of the crap these days about dogfighting and such, a dog with cropped ears has a stigma surrounding it......


you might have to explain why it's ears are cropped, etc....

[Borongas]

please don't. there's no rational reason to mutilate an animal, unless it's health related, like spaying/neutering.

+1 on that

[Clydetz]

...I don't want to have the ears cropped but Janet does. I think I've about swayed her away from having it done...

Ya know... I sorta had that feeling! :bwah: I bet she wants to get his ears pierced and put nail polish on his toes, too. :ross: Don't tell Janet I said that!

[Shaughnessy]

I voted yes. However, you can still show your puppy if its not cropped. There are champions out there with uncropped ears. If your willing to do the required work to tape ears and so forth, then you should crop the ears. Should become part of the grooming routine, but also there is the advantage of less ear infections, with cropped ears. I would do it ASAP if your going to do them. Also the longer the crop the more work involved and the longer it will take for the ears to stand. I have lots of info if you ever need anything.

Larry

[Soup_Monger]

Cropping a dog's ears makes it look ridiculous.

[SoToo]

Not sure if I'm too late... however, my boy, Sinbad, was also a blue and his ears and tail were cropped before I got him. He never had any problems from the cropping, but I have had flop-earred dogs that were prone to many ear infections. The ear infections seem to be more prominent in pure breed dogs such as doberman, dalmation, etc. and are usually a result from the strained breeding practices within the breed. Once in a while, it just seems that many of the bad traits will come to the surface in a pup. Keeping the ears cleaned periodically and dry will overcome much of this problem. Other than that... I believe cropping does look the best , but I can certainly understand the benefits of keeping sheeple happy with not cropping. :twocents:

That is a damn fine looking pup you have. :thumbup:

My boy... Sinbad... RIP buddy.
http://www.jerzeedevil.com/gallery/files/3/6/0/3/sinbad.jpg

[RoadFish]

Brock's Birthday Bump Fest! So, what happened? Cropped? Natural?

[Ken Brock]

all natural

no croppage

[l2lku]

Tails - FUCK NO
Ears - FUCK NO

[Soup_Monger]

all natural

no croppage

Glad to hear it.

[Combative Edge]

Absolutely not. It's a cruel procedure that is only for the appearance of looking tough. In my opinion to make up for the lack of that in the human.

For the people who say that it's "how they're supposed to look"... Sorry but that makes no sense.

The only purpose was for dog fighting and hunting because the ears are very sensitive and would often get ripped off during the fight.

[l2lku]

doberman's are meant to look tough, and floppy ears= NOT tough :devilzide

Ken has floppy ears and he looks tough.

[RNST]

Glad to hear you left your dog au naturel.

Cropping is only if you are going to show your dog and it has to be part of the breed standard. Sort of like those poofy hairstyles on poodles; shaved asses and big Fro's on the dog.


:bwah:

[Shaughnessy]

Not to stir the already full pot, but you can show your dobe with natural ears, and its done in a lot of places, including the USA. There's actually a finished champion dobe with natural ears. As far as there not being a reason to crop the ears other than "looks", thats incorrect as well. There are distinct advantages to the cropping. The reduction in painful ear infections being one of the biggest. I mean after all we routinely go in cut out all the the dog's reproductive organs, and cut off things like dew claws, and we could care less if we never test any of our dogs for breed specific disease.

Personally to me I like them either way, but theres a whole lot more to worry about besides ear cropping if you truly care about the breed. When you see the "KING SIZED" dobes that are oversized being bred by the neighbors looking to make a whopping $300 bucks a piece, but don't care about any of the other health issues they have.........I think it costs more than that to get the ears cropped these days, at least by someone who knows what they're doing. Besides its much easier to just not crop, especially if you don't have a clue as to the care in taking care of those ears, which can last up to a year. A well bred, healthy dobe, from a reputable breeder will cost you quite a bit of money, and it should, considering all the medical tests done before you get your puppy. (hips, eyes, cardio, thyroid, VWD, etc etc)

Just as an example, Dobes are supposed to be square. Meaning they should be exactly square from the front of the chest to the back of their thighs, and from the top of the withers (shoulders) to the ground. My girl is 26" square. Take a look at the standard for the breed, it's very exact and written so form follows function.

Who cares anyways, I'm gonna trade my dobe in for one those trendy "designer breeds" anyways ......You know the ones where you can take ALL the best traits from BOTH breeds (none of the bad) and then I will have the best dog ever. Doesnt shed, doesnt get sick, is always in perfect shape, and lives forever. Long live "Schnoodles" !!!!!!! The other thing is I can pick up a bag of "Ole Roy" from Wally world ....80 lbs of pure corn for only $14.99, and I'm gonna save money too. Or maybe I will find something really EXOTIC like a white doberman or doberman(n) for those across the pond. Who cares if he can't be in the sun. Or the fact that, under those floppy ears he won't be able to hear a damn thing :devil1:

[Ken Brock]

just to clarify

I didn't crop the ears but the tail was cropped before I ever seen the pup

and when I was a kid and raised hunting dogs (of certain types) we would crop the tails on some of the pups

[Mr. Andersson]

I can´t see the reason for it either..
IMO it looks awful..

[Boogerball]

lol

http://www.jerzeedevil.com/gallery/files/1/0/1/3/keenkutter.jpg

[Boogerball]

just to clarify

I didn't crop the ears but the tail was cropped before I ever seen the pup

and when I was a kid and raised hunting dogs (of certain types) we would crop the tails on some of the pups

keeps your drinks from getting knocked over, too. :devil1:

[Shaughnessy]

Heres one that just finished recently with natural ears. :devil1:

AKC & LUXEMBOURG CH. GAINDYKE YOLO WAC ATT - "TYLER"
Tyler only needs 1 more win each to complete his
Dutch and UK Championships!!!!!
vWD Clear by parentage, Hips HD-A (Excellent) scored in France
OUTSTANDING DOBERMAN TEMPERAMENT

http://i589.photobucket.com/albums/ss335/MeridianKnives/Dobes/natears.jpg

[socom elite]

Gotta go with docked because that is the way the breed is supposed to look.

That makes zero since to me.

Don't crop them.

[Piet.S]

I my country, cropping is outlawed.
And rightiously so.

[RoadFish]

I my country, cropping is outlawed.
And rightiously so.

How about circumcision? In many States in the U.S., dogs are protected more than kids.

[jawilliams0425]

If you are going for the fear factor, cropped ears. If not uncropped. I like the fear factor for a reason.

[Piet.S]

How about circumcision? In many States in the U.S., dogs are protected more than kids.

Female circumcision is forbidden in Holland.

[Shaughnessy]

If you are going for the fear factor, cropped ears. If not uncropped. I like the fear factor for a reason.

Don't forget James they do croppings on a LOT of dogs....Boxer, Great Dane, all varieties of Schnauzer, Doberman Pincher, American Staffordshire Terriers, Pit Bull Terriers, Miniature Pinchers, Manchester Terrier, Bouvier des Flanders, Affenpinschers, and a bunch more.

Those min pins can be pretty fierce, gotta wear ankle guards. :devil1:

[jawilliams0425]

Don't forget James they do croppings on a LOT of dogs....Boxer, Great Dane, all varieties of Schnauzer, Doberman Pincher, American Staffordshire Terriers, Pit Bull Terriers, Miniature Pinchers, Manchester Terrier, Bouvier des Flanders, Affenpinschers, and a bunch more.

Those min pins can be pretty fierce, gotta wear ankle guards. :devil1:


very true. We have problems with some of the teens around here. Found one in my shop last week looking around. Doberman is my favorite. Great Dane (a horse) is Katies.

[jawilliams0425]

Heres one that just finished recently with natural ears. :devil1:

AKC & LUXEMBOURG CH. GAINDYKE YOLO WAC ATT - "TYLER"
Tyler only needs 1 more win each to complete his
Dutch and UK Championships!!!!!
vWD Clear by parentage, Hips HD-A (Excellent) scored in France
OUTSTANDING DOBERMAN TEMPERAMENT

http://i589.photobucket.com/albums/ss335/MeridianKnives/Dobes/natears.jpg

Shag that is a beautiful dog.

[SSandshark1050]

Awesome pup, Brock!

Whatever your choice is, be aware that cropped ears present some potential for health problems in the future. Ticks, mites and dirt in general are concerns.