CROPPING GREAT DANES' EARS - HELP!!!

[ravencreek]

I have had both a dane with cropped and natural ears. I showed them both and they both done well. To be honest my cropped dane has more problems with infection than my natural. My vet no longer crops period. I had to take my pups 200 miles away to find a GOOD vet that does them. Just because a vet agrees to crop does NOT mean they are qualified too. Find a vet with references to YOUR breed. Also ask about what styles of crop they do for each. There are many different lengths depending on what your doing with the dog. There is a long show cut, medium, and short. Then there is a "pet" cut. And that is just on a dane.


My Dane Jewell at a show last fall. She has a medium show cut. She is a 4 time Grand Champion.

This is Cheb. He was my natural eared boy. He too was a 2 time Grand Champion, RIP Sweet Baby!

ETA: That is not me in the picture. That is the breeder/handler. I am the owner/handler.

 

[Akane]

Great Danes are super prone to fungal ear infections. If she plans to feed the dog a commercial diet, by all means, crop away!

Uh... if cheap food contributes to ear infection then how about feeding better food? That would be the really obvious solution to me. If they are having a certain symptom on certain foods it's very likely they aren't digesting it well and getting all the benefits. Why do a medical procedure with pain when better food would solve the problem and make them live a healthier potentially longer life. Sticking bandaids on long term problems makes no sense to me.

Personally I don't think claw removal or cutting of ears or tails should be done unless there is a true medical reason that does not have a better solution. I have heard of working dogs doing the job they were bred for that have higher rate of injury or health problems from not cropping/dew claw removal/etc... That is the only situation I consider it possibly acceptable. I hate shows that judge on looks. I've had nothing but bad experiences and it only leads to bad practices and unncessary stress on the animal. I only compete in events that judge on physical ability or training both for horses and dogs. Showing is not a good enough reason to have these things done and I've seen no real proof that floppy ears causes more health problems.

I did tape one of my akita's ears. One stood up fine but the other was a little weak so I taped it up with toothpicks and breathe right nasal strips to hold it open for about a week. Her breeder did the same with her brother but since she's using him for breeding and some exhibition she also used some spray that did sting a little for a few seconds and was suppose to tighten the skin to help. Both ways involved no surgical trimming and only mild discomfort so I consider them acceptable. Zami's ears came out near perfect with just a slight bow to the outside on the previously floppy ear and her brother's ears you'd never know there was a problem. Mild things like this only work on dogs that have been bred to have their ears stand up naturally. If they have to be cut to stand up then I don't agree with doing it on anything but a true working dog in a situation where the risk of infections or other problems would be greater.​

 

[Harley's girl]

I know nothing about GD. But I was just looking into tapping, my pup is a wolf/GS. She has floppy ears now so I looked into how they would tape them up. I would strongly suggest reading this article. http://leerburg.com/tapingears.htm I have no clue if it applies to GD or not. If my Bella's ears are not up by 5 months I will tape them. Good luck to you.

ETA: Beautiful Ravencreek! Stunning looking dogs!!

 

[jywel417]

I work at a vet and we have one doctor out of our 6 on staff that does ear crops. He does beautiful ears but it needs to be noted that ear cropping is an ART. I have seen dogs come in for us to help tape the ears to train them to stand that literally look like someone took scissors and held the ear out and cut, AWFUL ears. If your friend decides to do it make sure they see pictures of crops that doctor has done before hand. I also know that our vet charges around 250$ for ear crops and is considering raising the price since it is a purely cosmetic surgery and we will no longer be doing them once our one cropping doctor retires. Danes ears also tend to take MUCH longer to train to stand in my experience, so your friend needs to be aware they may take an extra 5 months, or more, or less, to train them to stand properly after getting them cropped.

My mother and I have 6 dobermans between the two of us and only one of the 6 is cropped, we got her after the owners decided to have the ears cropped but none of our other kids are cropped. I do have docked tails on my kids because of personal preference and in my experience there the puppies scream when you pick them up, you cut the tail, put them back in the basket and the minute you set them down they get quiet again. We will not dock tails on puppies any older than 4 days where I work tho. In theory the nerves in the tail aren't fully developed by 3 days which is why it is generally a pretty painless procedure at that point. I will say once the nerves develop it is a much more painful procedure. My oldest dobe girl broke her nub as a puppy (yay crazy puppy antics) and when we spayed her at 6 months we redocked her tail past the break. She paid ALOT more attention to the tail dock than the spay.

If you have any questions regarding ear cropping feel free to PM me, but I urge anyone who is going to be paying money for an ear crop to request to see SEVERAL pictures of SEVERAL dogs that the vet has done before. Lets face it, if you are gonna pay for a boob job don't you want them even and looking right?

 

[abluechipstock]

my friend used to breed and show great danes, a great deal of time and energy go into keeping freshly cropped ears in good shape, i seen a ton of horrible crop jobs, where the ears end up crooked, floppy, necrotic and just plane ugly, it something they really need to think about, don't get wrong i like the look of a beautiful cropped ear, that is done correctly!!!!!! i would never have a regular vet do them, a vet that shows and breeds a cropped ear breed would be the best, good luck finding one!

 

[jywel417]

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Amen !!! It is truly an art . . . .

 

[greenfamilyfarms]

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We've had them with cropped ears and without and both were normal, hearing dogs.

 

[b.hromada]

Ravencreek, what gorgeous dogs! I can see why a champion so many times!

I know that in the U.K. they do not crop or dock, its considered inhumane.

 

[KotaDVM]

I am a vet student and our professors have emphasized heavily the ONLY practical reason for cropping ears are for gun dogs that must run through thick underbrush. Ear cropping prevents the sensitive ears from being ripped by thorns and breeding profusely. The 99.9% of people that have their animals' ears cropped are for the aesthetic look only.

It is a difficult ethical decision for each veterinarian as ear cropping is a very invasive and unnecessary process, but it makes a lot of money in a small animal practice. There are no medical benefits to full cropping and there are more humane methods to preventing chronic ear infections. On a side note, it is also illegal to show dogs in Europe with cropped ears. There is the possibility that the rules will change in the US as well in a few years.

 

[jywel417]

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I don't think that there are any gun dogs that are supposed to have cropped ears . . . docked tails yes, but I am 99% sure that the only breeds whose standards ask for a cropped ear are breeds that any more it is a purely cosmetic surgery . . .

And imo ear cropping isn't an invasive surgery. I have assisted in hundreds of crop surgeries and yes you are cutting part of the ear off but it is only cartilage and you aren't having to get into the body to do the surgery. I think even a neuter is a much more invasive surgery, tho that is a surgery that has a real reason.