I don't crop. I cropped my first dane, and cried about it as soon as I picked him up from the vet. His tender pink ears were cut, red, and angry looking. He cried when I touched his head because he was afraid I would hurt them. I had to keep him away from the other dogs because he would yelp if they came near him because he was afraid they'd bump him. He ran from me when it was taping time. Finally, after a few months, I just said forget it. His ears never stood, but I don't care, I just hate that I did it.
Now, I'm not judging people that DO crop. What irks me though is that people claim it's for health reasons (I'm talking about pets....a dog that works is obviously a different can of beans). Dane folks will argue pro cropping all day based on "they might get ear infections or hematomas if they're not cropped". If that's the case, then why aren't bassets and cockers cropped? Those breeds take the cake for infections. And I've seen more German Shepherds with hematomas than I have uncropped danes. If you like the look of cropped ears, that's fine, just say it.
My other reason for not cropping any more is this:
That head is gorgeous just the way it is. And I love those soft flappy ears!
Now on to the subject of cropping at home - some breeders have veterinarians come to their home to crop puppies. It saves the puppies from being exposed to viruses at the hospital. But again, this is a veterinarian...not some dude with a litter of pups and a pair of scissors. That's just wrong.