Ear Cropping/Tail Docking

[Ness2289]

I was just wondering... Those of you with dogs (such as schnauzers, dobermans, boxers) that usually have cropped ears or docked tails: What are you feelings about it? If you chose NOT to dock and crop OR if you chose TO dock and crop, why?

 

[EeyoreFan1]

No! How would you feel if someone came up to you and cut off your ears..or..tail..

 

[Barb]

We have had three Schnauzers over the years. All have had their tales done before we got them. Two had their ears done. Minnie, our current baby, has floppy ears. All I can say about that is that while she's as cute as can be, she has had numerous ear problems. I can't help but wonder if it's the floppy ears. As far as looks go, as I said, she's as cute as can be. When she's excited, she does this run/hop thing and her ears go flying in the air. She looks just like Snoopy!

 

[DawnCt1]

Poodle tails are usually docked. If you like the look of the breed and are looking to conform with the breed standard, it goes with the territory. Usually "owners" have no say anyway whether or not the tails will be docked. They are done a very young age prior to adoption. I did hear of a great dane whose tail was never docked. Beside clearly off the coffee table every time he walked by, he ended up with cuts and lacerations on his tail that seemed to come in contact with everything.

 

[ColoradoDis]

Our mini-schnauzer has his tail docked (done before we got him). But we decided not to crop his ears (actually, our vet told us to do what we wanted, but she wouldn't be the one to do it!). His ears are his most expressive part--they are always moving to see what is going on.

By the way, he was 5 on July 4 and has never had an ear infection.

 

[DMickey28]

My baby, a Corgi, has a docked tail. It was done within a week of his life. A Corgi's ears are also pointed, however they are natural and usually pop up around 10 weeks or so.

 

[Kahana-ri]

We have had two dobermans in life. One already had her ears and tail done. The second we rescued and only her tail was docked. He ears are beautiful and natural. I would never crop ears or tails, I just don't see a point other than cosmetic.

 

[debbi801]

When I was little (30+ years ago), we had dobes. All of them had docked tails and cropped ears. As an adult, I would never do it. I think it is cruel.

 

[JoyG]

We bought a mini schnauzer from a family who's schnauzers had puppies. The family had kids and when the kids found out the parents were going to cut the tails and ears of the dogs the kids cried and begged them not to do it.

So our Pepper had her tail and her floppy ears. Her tail curled over in a circle most of the time and she was sooo cute. She was a very memorable schnauzer.

 

[lclark0621]

We have a Great Dane. Dane's ears are usually cropped. We are not cropping our girl though.

We had thought about it. DH & I both like the "classic Great Dane look". I spoke with our vet about it & she is 100% against it. She wont do cropping & if you want to crop ears or tails she will tell you to find another vet to do it. She wont stop seeing you as a patient, but she wont do the cropping.

She explained there is no medical reason for it. She also explained the bennifits of keeping her ears natural. Our vet is a holistic vet.

We listened to her, we thought about it. We decided to keep her ears natural. She is 10 weeks old now & I love those floppy years. She is right now chasing a toy in front of me shaking her head around & her ears are all over the place. It is just way to cute. I am glad we decided to keep her ears.

 

[MickeyMouseGal]

We dock tails between three and five days of age, usually dewclaws are removed at the same time. (Like circumcising a little boy.)
Ear crops, on the other hand, are major surgery requiring general anesthesia and sometimes painful bandage changing.
As a veterinarian, I have no problem with tails and dewclaws (I removed Walter's dewclaws at three days of age), but I'm not a fan of ear cropping. Thankfully, in my area cropping is going out of style and we rarely do it.

 

[lclark0621]

I did hear of a great dane whose tail was never docked. Beside clearly off the coffee table every time he walked by, he ended up with cuts and lacerations on his tail that seemed to come in contact with everything.

Great Danes generally DONT have their tails cropped. I dont think I have ever seen one with a cropped tail. Lots of people crop the ears, but I have never heard of anyone cropping the tail.

 

[disykat]

We got our miniature schnauzer too late to prevent tail docking, but before ear cropping. Her ears stand straight up - no flopping, just huge stand up ears. She's so cute!

 

[hiwaygal]

Lately, what I have come to understand, is that the ONLY reason to dock tails and crop ears is if you are going to show the dog. They must have these features "altered" to meet the breed standard. But if the dog is just a pet, there is no real reason to do this. I believe it is now illegal in the UK.

Dogs with floppy ears are sometimes more prone to ear problems, you just have to be extra diligent about keeping them clean and dry.

 

[minkydog]

Our Standard Poodle has an enormous undocked tail--it's a wonder to behold. He was a rescue pooch. As he has gotten bigger(and bigger) his tail is like a long black flag, swooping left and right, providing air conditioning for small countries.

 

[hpygrll]

We've always had schnauzers - never crop....never dock. They're so cute with the floppy ears!

Jenny

 

[FroggyinArk]

we rescued a dobie when dd was a baby, his tail was docked , but badly done (we think the owner had done it himself, dukes tail was about 4 inches long) and his ears werent docked, we left them, and he was the sweetest most gentle dog i've ever had. he took over as the alphamale in raising dd when she was out side. funniest thing you ever saw was this 2 ft tall little girl in a princess dress walking a 85 lb dobie around on his chain. she never had any problems out of him. he was poisoned at age 5 and it waas devastateing,

 

[MickeyMouseGal]

Dogs with floppy ears are sometimes more prone to ear problems, you just have to be extra diligent about keeping them clean and dry.

Actually, the current theory is that allergies play more of a role in ear infections than do the position of the ear. True, there are a few breeds of dogs with excessively floppy ears (Bassett Hounds, Cocker Spainels, etc.) that do tend to have more ear infections than perky ear breeds, but I've seen scores of cropped Boxers, German Shepherds, etc. with chronic ear infections. Most often cropped breeds (like those with natural standing ears) have short ear canals and a wide, high set base and don't fall into the excessively long canal category. So, in these breeds, ear infections are not a good enough excuse (imo) to justify cropping. Most of the chronic ear infection dogs I see also have seasonal allergies which is a bigger risk factor than the hang of the ear. My first Golden Retriever never had ear infections, but she also had no other allergies. All I did was use ear wash after she was bathed and it kept her ears healthy.

 

[magicmato]

I was just wondering... Those of you with dogs (such as schnauzers, dobermans, boxers) that usually have cropped ears or docked tails: What are you feelings about it? If you chose NOT to dock and crop OR if you chose TO dock and crop, why?

We have a Boxer/Lab mix. He has the boxer tail and ears, but not cropped. That tail is a whip! He kneecaps people and it HURTS!

He has also had issues with injuring the tip and bleeding... and I do not mean a little... the first time it happened, poor DH walked in the house, went in the kitchen and though someone had been murdered. He actually searched the house and was about to call me when I walked in with the kids.

There was blood on the floor, smeared on ALL the lower cabinets, splattered all over the appliances, etc. It took 4 hours to get up all the blood. We took him to the vet and they bound the tail and all that... he was in a cone for two weeks and it was two months before it stopped oozing.

The vet has told us that it can get to the point where if it keeps getting injured, they will have to dock it... that this is partly why some breeds are docked.

 

[MickeyMouseGal]

Yep. Wounds on the end of a tail are a NIGHTMARE to heal.