Cropping ears at home.

Neither the health nor the safety argument really works for me i'm afraid... Simple routine maintenance prevents ear infections for dog breeds with longer ears (even in warmer climates) and many protection/vermin breeds are not traditionally cropped with few problems...

I don't think the recovery from an ear crop is any more painful than the recovery from a spay/neuter procedure. I've seen cropped puppies, they bang their little cone-heads against everything without even a whimper. When my dog had a hernia corrected, he cried every time he got up. And the incision for that wasn't even as big as a spay.

I don't think the procedure itself is as painful as people make it sound. It's the fact that it's cosmetic (in most cases, let's face it, it is. What's the point of cropping, say, a Great Dane's ears in that long show crop? Certainly not function, but appearance.) that they don't like.

If it is done properly and humanely by a skilled vet, I do not see the need to fight it. There are so many other, far more serious dog-related issues for me to spend my time on. Why harrass the responsible owners and breeders who choose to crop, when there are people chopping their dogs' ears off with scissors, and as we saw at the shelter this week, burning kittens with cigarettes. What makes this worth such vehement disapproval, while things like that go virtually unnoticed?

I've seen crops that I suspected were home jobs, because they were just ugly. I couldn't imagine a veterinarian admitting to doing them. But I generally keep my opinions to myself unless they are asked, or its something immediately hazardous, like a loose dog heading towards traffic. I'm just not a confrontational person, at least off the 'Net.

Interesting how you can come up with this conclusion without knowing how old the person is, what type of background they have or anything else about them.
It absolutley amazes me sometimes how quick people are to insult instead of educate. Hmmmm, could that be just a little counter productive?

I guesss ro each their own in this case, you guys can have your uncropped pets and I''ll have my cropped functional working pets

As for which droopy eared breed to crop and which not to to avoid ear infections, basically the breeds that originally got cropped consistantly back in the day got cropped for other reasons and then the discovery of less ear infections were a wonderful added bonus! Have you ever had a bad ear infection? It hurts like a son of a gun! I''d rather my dog have one short pain that it wont even remember (a crop as a young puppy) than it endure a lifetime of pain coming back time and time again. Even if the vet can fix it.

And yes when in a fight there are other limbs in which the agressor could grab on your dog, but those are a lot harder to grab than floppy ears, and it is harder to tear. If this weren''t the case why would cropping start up in the first place?

Didn't we do like 30 or so pages on a Topic just like this not so long ago?

I have my opinions on cropping (don't like the idea) and others have theirs.
No ammount of debating will change that.

mmm. i know i shouldn't continue this. but really can't help myself.

i find cropping unnecasary and sometimes cruel. i understand other peoples ideas on it but i find natural ears more attractive on ALL dog breeds. i don't think you should have to crop your dogs ears to show them, that just seems a bit harsh and unfair (or have i been misinformed?)

i have heard that dew-claw removal is also sometimes practiced to stop dogs ripping them off during work. i understan dthat its a risk, but its also part of a dog. i know i don't need my apendix, but i don't remove it just because i MIGHT get sick from it

Hm. I think I want to have my heel partially removed, I got some really bad blisters lately

Okay... go figure, I am also anti-cropping. I think I'd rather spend more time cleaning my dog's ears out to prevent infections daily, then having their ears cropped. But that's just me.

Exactly :hail:

Huh? Chihuahuas ears aren't cropped. They stand up naturally.

This link will describe why a Doberman (for one) is cropped.

http://bakaridobes.westhost.com/publiceducation/PECEars.html

If my Doberman had natural ears, he'd look like an outgoing, friendly Coonhound to some unsuspecting idiot who might come barging up to him to hug and pat him, as so many people tend to do with some dogs. If they thought he was so in love with having strangers approach him that way, there could be serious consequences. With the cropped ears, there's usually recognition that he is indeed the reputed protection dog who you don't rush up to carelessly. That's just a little side effect of having a Doberman look like the traditional Doberman.

As far as cropping, the heeling is fast. Within 2 days, according to my breeder, the pups' edges of the ears are itchy, not in any pain. The puppies were wrestling and biting eachother, knocking into eachother and into the cabinets in the kitchen and she said they never even let out a yelp. They heel very fast, as it is cartilege. It's really not as horrible as it's sometimes made out to be. By the time I got Lyric at 9 weeks, he was all but completely heeled, a couple of scabs. That's two weeks after he was done.

I think people ought to put more energy in stopping abuse to animals, including using some of the harsh, unfair and psychologically damaging training methods which last a lifetime.

However, the point of this thread was a do-it-yourself cropping job and that is really disgusting with no anesthesia and perhaps improper after care.

I was wondering when someone was going to bring this up. That's exactly my point about times have changed as well as awareness and education.
I didn't say that my great grandfather was a responsible breeder. I would also like to add that he was born in Italy in 1886 and from what I have been told, he breed his chis because he loved them so much.
Unfortunately not everyone comes from backgrounds that are as aware or as sypathetic as most of us here. I think it's important to keep that in mind before we trash people that we know nothing about.

Dewclaws are also often removed in toy breeds because otherwise, they could do a lot of damage to those prominent, delicate eyes.

I prefer to see Dobermans and Great Danes in natural ears. I'm not a fan of cropping on any dog since it IS cosmetic, not a nessessary procedure. But hey, if someone wants to cut off part of their dog's ears have at it as long as it's done by a skilled vet.

It's the tapeing afterward to 'train' the ears that I think bothers the dogs more than the actual procedure. I've seen some poor dogs taped up for a LONG time and I just can't imagine how annoying and uncomforable that has to be...all just so they'd look a certain way.

Are you referring to my comment? If so, where on earth do you read where I was trashing anyone? My comment was short and simple. I was merely curious why a breed whose ears stand up all by themselves would need to be cropped. I did not say one derogatory thing about your grandfather, not one.

And as far as the cropping at home, the topic of this thread, people have every right to trash someone they know nothing about. They know one thing about them, the one thing that matters when that is the topic or subject...that they're being irresponsible and disregarding an animal by not having a licensed vet do the procedure. That is the general opinoin of most people in this day and age. So to compare something that people might have done in the 1800's is irrelevant to this situation and irrelevant to the present day when education is here for the taking and veterinary care is at our disposal.

Have you ever had a cropped dog or done the posting procedure? I used very soft material in the ears, very well cushioned. The bottom of the "post" goes into the floor or well of the ear and not where the canal opening is. I used paper tape which comes off painlessly and pre-streched vet wrap which is not sticky. This began at a very, very early age so the dog knows nothing else. It becomes the normal thing to him. It is not uncomfortable. The pup shows no signs of distress, discomfort or of being bothered unless the thing is coming loose, in which case it needs to be fixed up or the ears won't turn out right.

My pup took it all in stride and would in fact often sleep right through my posting. He'd be lying on the couch and I'd just fix him right up. The posts are very light weight. When it was winter, they kept his ears warm too. If he was awake, it was a sort of bonding thing. He got all kinds of attention, praise and treats for holding still. He learned how to hold still for other things. It was all associated with a perfecly pleasant time.

So, unless you have experienced it first hand, I don't see how you can come up with these judgements about misery to the dog. It all became par for the course and in fact, conditioned my Doberman to trust me with all kinds of procedures that might otherwise be objectionable to him. He is just so use to and comfortable with anything I do with him or the vet does with him...so trusting and tolerant.

Get a dog that has serious ear infections that simple cleaning so many times a day doesn't fix and that a simple crop would have prevented and you'll get one little reason why they are done. If you say its no big deal then you have never had a dog with a serioues problem like that. My boy couldn't move his head without crying to being perfectly fine the day of his surgery. this obviously all depends on the vet too. thank god dobes are not prone to theses infections though,it sucked,but I'll always get mine cropped now.

What I still don't get it major abd surgery to fix a dog is perfectly ok and looked down on if you don't get it done. But something non life threatening that the dog heals from quickly and only notices a couple days is horrible? You say clean that ears so the ears are not infected(which cleaning does nothing for the problme my boy had)-well keep your dog away from other dogs so it doens't get knocked up.

I absolutely was not refering to you. And I'm very sorry that it seemed that way. I was referering to the 'stupid' comments that have been posted on this thread.
I also was not accusing anyone of calling my great grandfather stupid either.
My point was that education is the key.
You're comment about chi's ears was a good example towards my point.

No I have never owned a breed that required cropping, however I have had many clients with pups that we're cropped and needed to be taped. I've seen these owners tape their ears, and I've helped them in some cases with rowdy pups. I'm quite familiar with the procedure even though I personally don't own a dog who's been cropped.

I've seen dogs who did show discomfort, I've seen dogs that ran from their owners when it was time to do this despite plenty of positive reinforcment, and I've seen dogs look absolutly miserable while it was being done and afterward. Now, if your dog is fine with it and wasn't uncomfortable then that's great, but not all dogs adjust so well even with proper training to accept it. I'm just commenting on what I've witnessed, not trying to bash you for chooseing to crop.

I appologize. Because your post came right after mine asking about why a Chi's ears would need cropping, I mistakenly associated with that context. I sure would never trash your grandfather or anyone way back in those days for doing what they needed to do when there probably weren't a bunch of veterinarians around. It was probably one of those newer professions just coming about. You're right about education though. That's for sure. Thanks for clearing that up. I didn't want you to think that I thought ill of or disrespect for your grandfather.

both my breeds are cropped but the ear flap is removed...done around 3 days and pretty much healed soon after