Doberman Ear Cropping Styles

Why do we crop Doberman ears?

Doberman ear cropping is a surgical procedure (otoplasty), that shapes Doberman’s ears to have them stand erect. It is customary to identify the Doberman dog with having cropped ears. The crop contributes to the breeds’ identity, iconic look, and working duties. A Doberman with natural ears takes on a much different appearance but is preferred by people who object to this cosmetic surgical practice.

Historically, cropping Doberman’s ears was done for functional or practical reasons. As a working dog, having the ears cropped to stand upright allowed for increased sound localization. This is an important feature for a successful personal protector or watchdog guarding property. It was also performed to decrease the risk of ear infections. Nowadays ear cropping is usually performed to comply with show standards or for purely aesthetic reasons. Other breeds that have cropped ears include Boxers, Boston Terriers and Great Danes. 

What age to crop Doberman ears?

The Doberman ear cropping age is usually done at 7-9 weeks of the birth. It is not recommended that the ears be cropped after 9 weeks as the ears cartilage has formed to a flat shape. The procedure should be completed by a vet with experience in ear cropping to ensure a proper, good looking, standing ear. This procedure is both a science and an art. After the surgical procedure, aftercare of the ears and dog ear taping is essential and will take a few months. For the long crop, it may take almost a year of care.  A commitment from the owner to proper ear care is vital. 

Below you can see 3 different Doberman ear styles, a short Doberman (military) crop, the longer Doberman standard show crop, and a Doberman with natural ears. You may also find Dobermans with a medium ear crop. The shape or length of the ear crop style can vary with the dogs’ purpose or job duties.

different doberman ear crop styles and length

There is some controversy regarding ear cropping and it is outlawed in some countries. Where it is allowed by law, fewer veterinarians now offer this procedure and it’s not taught in many vet schools. Again if you choose to crop, it’s essential that the vet have experience in ear cropping as this procedure involves more shaping skill than technical surgical skill. Doberman breeders should be able to give you cropping vet recommendations. You’ll want to see previous dog patients as adult dogs, to assess how well their ears developed. But remember the crop success will depend on both the vets’ skill and the owners’ aftercare.  

The surgery is done under anesthesia and takes about thirty minutes. The ears are trimmed and then a rack, post, or cup and tape hold the ears in place. The ears will usually stand upright after taping for about 5-6 months. The timing will vary, with some Dobermans needing up to one year until the ears will stand on their own. This is more common with the longer ear crop. It is the lengthy healing period which is more uncomfortable to the Doberman than the surgery itself. Again proper after-care is essential to prevent infection and allow for a successful standing ear crop.  New owners should be aware of this big commitment to proper after-care.

For more information on Doberman pinscher ears check out the ear taping post.

Have you had your Doberman pup’s ears cropped? Were you happy with the results? How difficult was the aftercare for you? Would you have the procedure done again on your Doberman?

For more of the pros and cons of Doberman ear cropping.

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251 thoughts on “Doberman Ear Cropping Styles”

  1. So does it really take 6 months of taping for the ears to stand on their own?
    I’m planning to go for a half way crop.. any advice?

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    • It’s best to post until all the baby teeth are gone, usually by then the cartridge should be sufficiently hard enough to stand in their own. The average is roughly 5-6 months.

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    • Do short crop then you won’t need to post them up for months & months typically 1 month my opinion they look better I have had both crops on my Dobermans

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  2. I have a question. I just put a deposit down on a dobie puppy and am trying to figure out of cropping is something I want to do. If cropping is essential to this breed, then why do they not crop or dock in Europe?

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    • It’s not really essential if you just want one as a pet. It is if you plan to show as it is the breed standard on the US. It is also a good idea if you plan to do things like bite and protection work. If you don’t crop a dock a doberman that’s doing bite and protection work then the dog can repeatedly develop blisters on their ears and tail which is painful for them and makes them susceptible to infection. The tail is also prone to breakage, and it is better to dock than have it amputated later on in the dog’s life. If you plan to have it as a pet there isn’t a reason to have their ears cropped, but do know that they are a high drive working breed and will need to have an outlet to prevent behavioral issues and to be happy overall. They also do crop in Europe where the dog is being worked. Here is a YouTube video: https://youtu.be/0LgCGpbMhAo
      It explains why dobermans should be cropped and docked when working somewhere around the 14 minute mark. Hope this was helpful. 🙂

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  3. Hello everyone!!! I’m
    Looking for ear cropping service in WA state around Seattle are. Any suggestions are highly appreciated! Please help as we have 2 weeks left!

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  4. My Doberman is one and she has been posting for almost a year! Commitment is a struggle most days. One is is perfect but we have the other ear that gives her a turn signal most of the time. We post it with breath right strips and pet safe glue. A lot easier the the traditional post we did for 6 months!

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  5. I’m pro cropping; my preference is mid-way between a short and long crop. I personally think a long crop makes the Dobe look like the vet wasn’t sure about what they were doing. And too, I’ve seen long crops with floppy ear tips.
    Costs; last I paid for a crop it was close to $500. Now, I hear the crop cost is about as much as the pup. $800 or better. I’m sure the better the vet and future intent of the animal, the costs could go higher. If you’re planning to show you sure aren’t gonna chintz on the cropping.

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  6. Anyone on here still who knows of a good vet for cropping in Denver, CO? I’m buying a Doberman next Saturday 2/9 and seek to get his ears done. Puppy will be 8 weeks. Not sure if the breeder knows of a vet who will do it. Tails are already docked. Thank you in advance.

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  7. Hello. My 10 month old is Thor. His ears are beautiful but the one tip wiggles a bit when he runs. I am nervous he will have a tip break as he gets older. Is it too late to post this ear for a bit? we faithfully taped until he was 7 months…that was what the breeder had us do.

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    • I WILL ALWAYS CROP THE MALE AND NOT THE FEMALE HEIR DOBERMAN KEPT HIS FEMALES FOR BREEDING AND ONES HE DIDN’T BREED HE SHOWED SO HE DIDN’T CROP THE FEMALES OR DOC THEIR TAKES IN GERMANY. THE MAKES MILITARY CROP WAS 1 TO 2 INCHES . THE MEDIUM IS TO BE SHOW AND GAURD IS 3 TO FOUR INCHES . The Show crop is 4 to 6 inches . In my time in the 90s the Judges use to take a tape measure and properly measure the ears as well as the dobermans body to see how it compared to other dobermans to judge the standard requirements for the doberman to determine what winning place and title the dog should fairly and properly be given! Also above I have a Veterinarian diagram of all 3 crops
      You do not show the traditional military crop of One to two inches ! You show a medium crop which is show and guard. . Then you show the long Show crop. Then the long crop is meant for show for today. But some people still train guard and protection with long crop which is actually cruelty to the PRESERVATION of the doberman . Why ? Because a doberman was not meant to be Fi Fi with long ears . FI Fi is not bred to be a protection guard dog . Because of a poodles long ears as well as other long eared non working class dogs . That’s why some of these non working class long eared dogs land in the veterinarians office from another dog attacking Fi Fi’s ears while in a dog park or on a walk with their master.
      Leaving a working class dog with long ears and Not CROPPING a Dobermans ears is cruel and destructive for this breed and it’s a disgrace to its traditional master piece to the PRESERVATION of the tasks of protection and guard they perform. I had a Mastiff come after my doberman and me on our daily walk from behind a tree loose from out of no where.
      If it wasnt for my dobermans ears being cropped that Mastiff would of had my dobermans long ears and ripped his stomach out and my stomach next . Then wede both be dead.
      Thats why Heir doberman CROPPED and DOCKED fir personal protection in case he was attacked by human or other dogs while tax collecting. Because the first target for a dog is its other dogs ears is always usually where the first assault happens ! Because the dog already knows by attacking its victims ears they can bleed to death . No different
      then a improper ear CROPPING. Heir doberman used different ropped lengths when tax collecting to show what his dobermans were used for! Actually any doberman over 80 pounds in his breeding stock had the 1sn 1/2 to two inch MILITARY cut only on the males. He took them tax colecting and didnt breed or show them . He kept his best breeding stock for breeding and sow only. They didn’t need the military short crop.He also got the Rottweiler out of the breed and the Dane in the early 1800’s !
      I will always cropped and Doc my males ears medium crop properly by a veternarian for show and working class guard as that is what the doberman is traditionally bred for a Masterpiece.
      Less is more for the PRESERVATION of the doberman!

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  8. I was wondering if you thought it would be beneficial to wrap their ears before they get cropped to get him used to the feeling and being tapped. Or will this do some kind of harm ?

    Thank you

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  9. better air circulation with crop prevents ear infections later in life. A more important reason is that the dog seems to have more confidence and self esteem, because they do realize that people find the cropped look thrilling. This is not my imagination but long years of observation of who cropped and non cropped dogs respond to the reaction of people observing them.

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    • The cropped dogs look more stressed, see dog stress signal information, it’s in their mouth and eyes and facial tightness. The natural dog looks more peaceful and less traumatized in the eyes and mouth and facial looseness.

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          • You’re all sick. Cropping does nothing to improve the dog’s health or wellbeing, it’s unnecessary surgery that is cruel and can cause further problems. Have you no fucking compassion for a fellow creature? Imagine if your mother took you to get your ears cropped when you were a kid and you had no say because…you couldn’t fucking talk.

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            • I mean mothers circumcise their children when they can’t talk and I bet you neutered/spayed your dog. Neither of these procedures are necessary either you’re being dramatic

            • How do you feel about circumcision Derg? Think of all the males in the word who had this done and are grateful

            • Really? What further problem can occur after the surgery know-it-all? I bet you’ve never ever owned a Doberman. Just go back petting your useless lap dog.

            • Relax Derg, calling people sick that you don’t know makes you a sociopath. I’m curious to hear your opinion on circumcision and abortion since you have the “moral high ground”. actually the more you talk the foolish you sound. I gave a show crop on my doberman and I can assure you and people who respond like you, that he didn’t feel a thing! How do I know? he told me… and gives me good kisses all day long.

            • Derg,
              you expose your pathetic tree hugging opinions by your classless foul mouth. Just because someone disagrees with what you think about the care and concern over a pet does not make them cruel and heartless. I’m not going to even bother writing anymore, because people like you don’t ever consider anything other than their own narrow minded opinions, no matter how many facts are presented. Have a nice miserable life.

            • My mom had me circumcised. Didn’t really need it but it looks better right. It’s a preference I don’t remember getting it done and my pup don’t remember either.

        • I’m very happy I cropped me dobie’s ears. He can hear a rabbit walking on the lawn from the inside of the house. His hearing is outstanding! I don’t have to worry about recurring ear infections and ear hematomas. Something we (myself, friends and even strangers) experienced with out flappy ear dogs. I had 2 dobie owners beg me to crop to avoid recurring ear infections. They regretted not cropping. It’s not a cruel procedure when using an experienced vet. My vet has been cropping for over 15 years. It is surely an art and a science. He understands how to beautifully shape then post the ears during the surgical procedure, hence causing the ears to stand in two weeks. That’s right only two weeks for a medium length. He shapes the ears where they are not so heavy at the top and have enough support at the bottom. He pulled my dobie’s ears as tall as they could go. Now, it would take a little longer to stand with the show length ears, but not as long as this article states, because my vets technique is excellent. My vet is Dr. Simmons out of Tallahassee FL. Discomfort was certainly at a minimum and lasted for around 5 days with pain meds. I also used the backerod method (https://youtu.be/TzwSgvMucX8) about 4 times to post my dobie’s ears after his ears healed. It was a bit necessary to help get his ears super straight. Each post lasted about 3-6 days. I would unwrap and wait for 2-3 days before I reposted. I did that a little over a month. I could have taken him to the vet for the rewrap, but there was a fee. And a few times his post in his right ear popped out. It was a hassle making unplanned visits to the vet to have them repost especially cause I had to take off work. So I was motivated to learn. Anyway, my gorgeous dobie is now 6 months and his ears get compliments often. They stand all the time. But for new dobie owners it’s good to know that the ears have a slight relaxed state during sleeping, eating and maybe other times. Which is perfectly normal. When the dobie hears something, is alert and serious his ears should stand super upright and straight. I didn’t know this until I researched and spoke with my vet. My dobie was also docked shortly after birth. He’s the most handsome dog I’ve ever owned. He’s gets positive attention every where I take him. But many people are very intimidated by his look (goal accomplished, lol). He’s the most brave, alert and smart dog. But quite stubborn as this breed is so continuous training is required. I’m sharing because I really hope the information helps. I hope vets like Dr. Simmons educate other vets, because it’s very hard to find one so good and with experience.

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          • I would love to see a pic of yours. I’m on the fence about it and have to decide by next Saturday. We have a 3yr old female with natural ears and I’m worried about her playing rough and ripping the posts off and doing damage. This would be the first time to go thru this so I want to be sure I’m making the right choice.

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          • Hi Mary, how old was your puppy when you got his ears cropped?
            Getting a Doberman puppy soon and trying to figure out the best time to do this.

            -Thanks

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      • Depends on who is doing the crop if its done by someone without experience then yeah.I have seen many dobie pups with AMAZING crops. As an experienced dobi owner my sweet dobie males crop came out Great!!

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      • And you are basing this on what science? My one natural eared Dobe has constant issues. So please point me to the medical documentation that supports your claim. Just because you have not dealt with the experience does not make it a fact.

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  10. We adopted a 4 year old doberman with cropped ears… however her ears were not trained right. Is there any training we can do at this point to get her ears standing.

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  11. Choosing a veterinarian who is well equipped with trained licensed veterinary technicians should be very important in your vet selection. Puppy anesthesia can be tricky- and post op pain should be addressed. Veterinarians should provide pre-op bloodwork and confirm Von Willebrands status prior to surgery or discuss bleeding and coagulopathy risks with owners. Our veterinary clinic – Dr Johnson, in Mt Vernon, WA at Highland Animal Clinic has been performing this surgery for over 35 years. The puppies have an IV catheter, fluids, monitors- ECG, pulse oximetry, ETc02, Temp, Blood pressure and Respiratory- and a dedicated licensed technician. Many large breed pups can drop blood pressure very fast. Depending on the anesthetic agents being used, you can have more risk. Vets should have other drugs, atropine, dopamine, glycopyrrolate, naloxone, antisedan- just a few – in case they need to adjust the level of anesthesia. Gas anesthesia is essential- so good technique and care in endotracheal tube placement, management- is important by technicians. Fluids must be cautiously given, care not to give too much. Colloid fluids like VetStarch can be given IV when needed for low blood pressure and other complications and antibiotics given when infection is suspected. Pain management is extremely important, Dr Johnson’s technicians apply a Bupivicaine/Lidocaine pain block carefully under the skin in several areas, creating better recovery. Puppies are given additional pain meds upon awakening and fed Caro syrup and canned puppy food post surgically to combat hypoglycemia- low blood sugar post operative. Ears are laser treated afterwards, special ointment prep applied and splints applied prior to recovering. The splint changes and follow up care is included with Dr Johnson’s costs of cropping- normally $500-600 – age dependent. Ears are generally resplinted every week for 4-6 weeks.

    Hope this helps in defining some of the extra steps and care that can be taken. If you are near Washington State, Dr Johnson is an excellent option for Doberman crops – with a specially trained staff for this procedure.

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    • Great comment, even though my dogs ear cropping went great a few weeks a go. This information would’ve been nice, thank you for it sir, and that price you mentioned is not bad also however in the Saint Petersburg/ Clearwater Fl area it cost about $900/$1200! Just because “they use lasers”

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      • My service dog of over 12 years developed congestive heart failure; with medication, change in diet and our regular 3 hours of walking the neighborhood stores every morning and being on the regular monthly cruise ships, he lived his final 6 months happy.
        The day came when I saw his first horrible attack of his congestive heart failure; the same day my vet helped him to remain calm and happy die across my lap 9 months ago.

        There s a good Dobie breeder who uses a skilled vet in the Venice, Florida, I live in the Tampa area of Florida
        So my private trainer will be selecting a Dobie from this breeder to train with me privately to be my service dog.
        Because I walk with a cane for balance without a dog, I am a sitting duck to be mugged. And I have been. A Doberman with sculpted upright ears may help prevent this.

        I swore I would never have dog’s ears cut again, but for safety and being able to walk for exercise for the Dobie and me,, I’ve concluded, the Dobie must look like the traditional Dobie and not like a hound dog with long floppy ears.

        Am not doing it for protection, but for deterrence and to have a short haired, easily groomed strong dog for help to get on my feet after a fall and to wake me from PTSD nightmares, and some other needs.

        The breeder’s pups include the crop with when sold. The breeder’s price is very reasonable for the pedigree and ancestral history tree to verify no inbreeding or puppies inheriting the cardiomyopathy resulting from that. Contract reads no evidence of other pups in past showed positive for this heart condition developing.

        Splints to shaped ears are used now.; interestingly my original ownership of Dobies was in Louisville, KY where a specialist vet did not use splints. His approach was the pup went home the day his ears were sculpted to be comforted and “mothered”.

        I rocked mine for hours ….so sad to hear those tiny whimpers…and prescription bottles were used to shape the ears, starting with very large ones, then gradually smaller ones over a few weeks. That seems so much easier than the splits, glue,, etc. process and his ears came out beautifully in a flame-tip shape.

        But as an adult, my large male never forgot that rocking in my arms. He would stand in front of my Boston rocker looking at me. Finally, when he was about 3 years old, I told him if he could manage to climb into the rocker without stepping on me, he had permission to sit in my lap.. Dobermans really are graceful. He managed to do it, ending up sitting in my lap facing the television.

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  12. Ok there is a medical reason for this procedure. Only in art, style and experience for a good post operative result, will technical surgery experience matter. This is a simple skin/ cartilage procedure, no different than an ear piercing or simple mole removal. No body organ are affected making it a simple “closed” procedure that takes 30 minutes including dressing and posting.
    Please understand this is a benefit for the dogs and I will explain to you why
    1. Dobermans are working, family and guard dogs. They are bred to protect their family. Cropped ears, docked tails and their coats immediately identify them as Dobermans. Which means people know they are working guard dogs. They are not likely to touch you or them without permission. This keeps you, the public and the dog safe. Very much unlike the look of a freindly hound dog that is not working.

    2. Dobermans are prone to ear infections. Especially as they age. Please consider saving the dog multiple ear infections throughout their lifetime.

    3. Finally, this is the Doberman standard because they are working animals. Not that you can’t love and cherish your family pet…… But they naturally work, their bred to do that. It’s a personal decision on what you feel is the best for the dog.
    It’s not fair to quickly judge the owners for what they feel is appropriate for their dog.

    I would happily adopt a ” flop eared do dobie” no problem. If I bought a puppy AND it was appropriate for that dog I would crop for the reasons explained above. Lastly I would say people who decide cropping is right for their dobie is not torturing them and in the end it very well could be the best thing for that owner and dog. I know ther are a lot of people who are all natural and good for you! I would like a dobie that is a working animal to the Doberman standard! Thank You for your consideration in reading this post.

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      • Around the Tampa Bay – Saint Petersburg Fl area it run around 750-1000. Because they use lasers to crop and they do the taping on return visits.

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        • Hi, I was wondering where you took your dobie I’m in Tampa i’m looking for a reputable vet who has experience in doing that years, because my vet says they have not taught it in vet school in over 40 years so it’s truly an art has to be sought after, but I see the benefits and want to get his done ASAP, thanks.

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  13. IAM LOOKING FOR A VET IN FL OR GA WHO HAS EXPERIENCE IN AND DOES A GOOD JOB WITH THE WIRE IN EAR POSTING METHOD. I UNDERSTAND THE POSTING TIME IS GREATLY REDUCED WITH THIS METHOD,

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  14. I debated about getting my dobes ears cropped because people feel it’s inhumane and I am a huge animal lover. However, I decided to do it because yes, I like the look. To anyone who is thinking about cropping their dog’s ears, make sure you properly research the vet you choose. Many do not do it and it is very expensive. My puppy had proper after care and was never in pain (we gave him pain pills the first few days to ease any pain or discomfort). Never did he wince, wine or act like he was in pain. AS a matter of fact, he was completely himself after the anesthesia wore off. However, I did have my 2 week old son circumcised and he screamed during the whole procedure and for 2 days every time he peed. If you ask me, that was a worse experience and it too is only for looks.

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  15. I cannot believe the nonsense people spout, trying to justify cropping a dobermans ears. They look ridiculus, Dobermans have narrow heads, (originated from the Greyhound) cropped ears accentuate this feature, they cetainly do not look more aggressive. It’s the teeth that I would worry about, not the artificial looking ears. My advice would be to forget about the plastic surgery, and focus on their health, training and well-being. They truly are wonderful and loyal companions, treat them as such.

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    • That’s the dumbest thing I’ve ever heard. The American doberman has a narrow head. The European doberman has a lager, more box shaped head. To not crop a dobermans ears is to change the whole look and function of the breed. I love animals as well as anyone but who are we to change the tradition of the breed if it doesn’t hurt the dog just because a few people don’t like. Some people need to worry about more pressing issues like….Human wellbeing.

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      • Tradition is only created when you change the tradition that came before it. Cropping is nonsensical and had absolutely no medical use in an age where we can detect infections and whatnot.

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        • Hey Travis, spaying and neutering isn’t a medically necessary procedure, nor is male circumcision in human babies. But we still do it and are encouraged to do it. Cropped ears and docked tail is an emblematic identity of the Doberman. Besides the loyal and athletic temperament of a Doberman, the only other reason I would ever consider owning a Doberman is its trademark look.

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    • Well said! I am leaving my girl the way she was born, shame I didn’t get to the breeder before he cut her tail.

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    • Do you have a Doberman? Or is this just your opinion? Spaying is a bigger surgery than ear cropping if you know your facts.

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    • You’re an idiot. Cropping is the breed standard and if you don’t like that, don’t get a doberman pinscher. Stick to poodles

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      • They dock poodles tails. which I don’t agree with because it is ONLY for aesthetics unlike a doberman where docking the tail helps prevent it from being injured as they are prone to breaking. My own standard poodle had a tail that was docked but left too long for breed standard. Also the standard poodle is a hunting dog by nature. They were bred to be cold water retrieving dogs. They are gun dogs. They are also one of the top most intelligent breeds. So don’t talk shit about poodles. You can defend ear cropping in doberman’s without hating on another bread.

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      • I second that! Everyone is a keyboard wizard these days. Take up knitting or go save some whales. Dobies aren’t Dobies without ears cropped,tails docked and dewclaws removed. If you disagree buy a poodle That’s your speed.

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    • Thanks for telling us your opinion as if it were gospel. Can I message you throughout my life so you can tell me how to think/feel/ interpret things? I’d be grateful! Thanks!!!

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  16. I recently took my 13 week doberman and go her ears cropped. I done a lot of research before making a choice rather to do it or not. My wife and I decided to go ahead with the procedure. We looked at several different doctors and choice “Ears By Doctor Bill”. He came highly recommended by several breeders. People travel several hours from across the state just to have Doctor Bill preform the procedure . He is located in Flat Rock N.C. at Animals R Us. Let me say that i was blown away by Doctor Bill. As we got to the clinic we were greeted by the staff and was told to have a seat and the doctor would be with us shortly. About two minutes later Dr. Bill called us back and check our doberman over thoroughly. He answered all of our questions without hesitation. He even goes and far and giving a direct line to contact him, if after the surgery you have a question. after the surgery our doberman was still a little out of it. She slept most of the way home. (We drove 2 hours to Doctor Bill) When we arrived home she slept most of the day. When she woke up she downed a bowl of food and was a little curious of what was on her head. I will say she had done well with the stocking being on her head. She has pawed at it a few times but then goes right back to playing. after 48 hours we took the stocking off. She done very well with the part. She is shaking her head some but nothing major. She is playing just as hard as before the procedure. She will have sutures out in 10 days. I would recommend doing your research before finding someone you trust. Doctor Bill has an album online to show his work and also work he as fixed from other doctors. I’m excited to see the final outcome.

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    • I love Dr Bill! He did our Great Dane 5 yrs ago. We now have a Doberman puppy and I was going to call his office tomorrow. Our puppy just turned 14 weeks old today and I was afraid he was too old until I read your post! How did your girls ears turn out? Would you mind to email me in regards to my questions? Thank you so much!

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  17. I’m sorry but this is all so sick. Why on earth do you mutilate your dogs this way? For fashion? Because everyone does it? Stop being sheep for goodness sake!

    A natural Dobe with a long tail & beautiful floppy ears is stunning.

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    • Don’t understand your logic as dog breeding in general is all about function and aesthetics hahaha don’t cry foul on ear cropping when the very act of choosing a dog is based on certain superficial criteria. Get dat stick outta yo ass.

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      • exactly right……. should we leave dogs with dew claws…some say yes..how about neutering..more drastic then ear cropping. I think people just like to bitch about something..and today its ear cropping. The problem is,,,,they win in the end because its being banned in certain parts of my own country….now that is what is sick.

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    • To each his own. Myself I don’t understand if you want a doberman , he /she should look like a doberman instead of a black and tan coon dog.

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    • Get over it. Dobermann’s should have ears cropped and tails docked. This is the breed.

      Uncropped and undocked ruin the look of the breed!

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  18. We’ve had dobermans as pets for over 20 years now and most of them already had ears done. We had one male we adopted at 12 wks of age with still natural ears. Because of his age we knew 12 wks was probably too late to crop the ears so we left them natural. We had this dog until old age when a year or so back we finally had to put him down because of health issues. I can tell you, he was truly a character with those long ears! He would stand outside sometimes in the wind and the ears would flip back and reminded us so much of the cartoon Rocky & Bulwinkle with Rocky’s ‘cap’. Unfortuneately from about age nine until he died, we had to clean out his ears sometimes twice daily. This really pained him but his ears would get so dirty inside that it had to be done. Our vet sold us special ear cleaning medicine, etc. which did help but when I think back on it, maybe we should have cropped his ears. We had another male blue dobe before that from about age 6 wks which we took back to the breeder who did the ear cropping at about 8 wks and inspite of infection which did clear up with cleaning and medicine, the dog’s ears came out beautifully. He was a 120 lb dog in his hayday but died at age 8 of enlarged heart which we were unaware of. All the others have had cropped ears, two of which we took care of ourselves with the taping, etc. and they all had good ears and no further problems. So I guess I am on the fence about cropping. Zeus suffered so much from those ‘dirty’ long ears when he got older that I think I would err on the side of cropping. I have not heard anyone else with natural eared dobe that had this problem so maybe it was genetic or something. And with all our dogs the taping only took a few months, not a year however we never had the show-crop done so I can understand that may take longer.

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  19. I have just over a 2 month old pup who just got her ears cropped. I’m probable just being paranoid, but, she keeps on scratching @ her cone, is there any way I can get her to stop scratching?? My vet didn’t give me any pain killers or anything. Did anybody else not give their pup pain killers? Also, the vet said to keep the wrapping on for 4-5 days, but to keep them clean & dry. Is it normal to have some blood on the wrapping? Is it ok to keep it like that for 4-5 days?

    Reply
    • dogs I think find it itchy rather then painful. But you have to make sure there is no infection setting in. Blood would concern me. I would take her to the vet and have the ears checked, since this sounds like your first experience with the whole ear thjng . You may find another Doberman owner in the area who can help you out as well.

      Reply
  20. I had my baby boy’s ears done at 12 weeks old. The vet and staff at Eastside Animal Hospital in Indpls.,IN did an outstanding job. The cost of the crop included all tapings until the vet and I were happy. He basically had them taped for ten days after surgery then removed tape and let them rest for a week before taping again. He alternated tape for a week and rest for a week until they were standing the way that they should. My baby’s ears were standing in about a eight weeks. All the staff there seem to love my baby and he adores them. I’ve never seen a dog so happy to pull up at the vets office. Unfortunately, but fortunately, I got laid off about the time he got his ears done so I was home with him alot. I was able to keep scratching to a minimum which I believe resulted in quicker healing time. He is gorgeous and I wouldn’t trade him or Eastside Animal Hospital for the world.

    Reply
  21. hi just got my 11 week old dobe cropped its been 1 day and the vet sent me home with a sponge glued between the ears and stitches uncovered to heal faster> l was told to put polysporin on them 3-5 times a day clean with clue tip dipped in alcolhol rubbing or a saline..7 days l can remove stiches, if the sponge comes off 1 ear ,,take netted gauze and vet tape it back to sponge or remove all togther ..but the longer the sponge stays on this is keeping or training ears to stay up.so far so good.. all is a little red but can be expected 1 day after surgery. as for the wrooy of scratchin the stitches out l tried socks on feet hand made ring fabrics full of soft socks..and now l have a plastic cone on head which they didnt recomend because the weight of it pulls ears forward. but lm only worrying about the incision at the moment for the first 7-10 days and infection of course!!…..anyone for suggestions lm all EARS!!! please.. my first time but l want to know all ins and outs thank you

    Reply
  22. I have rescued 2 young adult dobies and think they are absolutely wonderful. One has cropped ears and the other has the natural ears. My vet (and another vet I used to take them to before he moved) said that the ONLY reason to crop the ears is for show. Both felt that it was unnecessary surgery that puts any animal at risk for infection and even possible death. I can not tell any difference in the hearing of either dog. Actually, the natural ears show more expression (and that dog is more aggressive). I can’t imagine putting a puppy through any unnecessary pain just for appearance. I pray that any “for appearance” surgery be outlawed. Please think about the innocent puppies who have no voice.

    Reply
  23. Beautiful Pearl, a 12-wk old fawn Doberman now lives in my home and my heart. No crop yet and 2 vets say questionable at this age and given how soft and floppy her ears are. Breeder says perfect age as cartilage is still developing. Most people who see her thinks she is a Weimeraner. She is wonderful without, but would be so elegant and unquestionably a Doberman with a medium crop. I’ve read every post here and am still so unsure. I’ve never had a dog where I had to decide to crop or not crop. What a difficult decision.

    Reply
  24. We got a beautiful Doberman about 2 months ago. at 12 weeks (5 days ago) we got his ears cropped and it’s been a very difficult few days. I was shocked the first time I saw him and the “rawness” of his ears, and eventhough he was extremely happy to see us, he was deffinitely experiencing pain and extreme itchyness. last night he had huge scabs on his ears and, although it’s been really hard, we’ve been doing our best to put neosporin on his ears which seems to have INCREASED the itchyness, and has gotten very creative at finding ways to scratch his ears and this morning, most of his scabs had come off, and it looks pretty raw again. I feel like a terrible pet owner for putting my puppy through this, I hope he doesn’t resent me for it…I don’t know if I can go through this again if we get another dobe.

    Reply
    • I’m feeling the same way today my doberman got his cropped Thursday and and I feel like crap to see him going through this process. I look at the finish product and think he’s going to look really good when it’s all said and done. But I know for sure I will not do this again with my next dobe I would rather them come with the cropped ears already

      Reply
  25. I bred and showed dobies for 15yrs and then just retired out my girls. It has been 2 yrs since our last dobie past away and yes we are now the proud owners of two beautiful showgirls. Yesterday then both went in and had a long crop done. Their biggest grief was that the vets office separated them after their crops. When we got them home they were starving. They are playing and running around like they did prior to the crop and neither is bothering the others ears. When they think about scratching at their own ears we are hovering near by to tell them no. So far all seems to be going well and of course we are willing to tape for 6 mths if need be to get a strong stand out of them. As for us we will always crop our pups.

    Reply
  26. Everybody here is going to hate me for this, but I was reading many of these comments and had to say my own thoughts. I am in no way trying to force people to change their mind about ear cropping, I am simply trying to help people to make better informed choices.

    Before even discussing ear cropping with a vet, please find out everything you can about the cropping procedure, the after effects on the health of the dog, and what happens if the surgery goes wrong.

    Please remember some of the downsides of ear cropping. For instance, expression. No matter what some people have commented on here, dogs who have cropped ears show less expression than dogs with floppy ears. Statistically speaking dogs with cropped ears are more likely to be attacked by other dogs, because the dog mistakes the other dogs body language. A dog will often hold its ears high, if it can see something interesting, or if it wants to show aggression towards another dog. If your dog has cropped ears another dog can easily think that your dog is trying to show dominance over it, if the other dog happens to be a very dominant dog it may react aggressively until the ears go down. Since the dogs ears are not able to go down the other dog may react in one of three ways (depending on how it was raised and its temperament) the first is to back off, this is because the dog has accepted your dogs dominance, the second is to completely ignore the signs, some dogs do not understand dog body language and will approach and want to play with any dog whom they happen to come across, and the third is for the dog to attempt to tear your dogs throat out. Tail docking often causes similar results, because a dog which is displaying dominance will hold its tail straight behind them and tail docking can make it look as though this is what the dog is doing.

    So basically you will never be able to socialise your dog with random dogs on the street, because you never know when one of them might turn. Even a dog who has never shown any aggression in its life can still try to injure and even kill a dog who is trying to be dominant over it.

    Also if you decide to go through with the surgery, fully research the vet who will be doing the operation. Ask the vet to show you photos of previous crops that they have done, if you vet refuses try someone else. Too many dogs are put through needles pain everyday because of bad vet choices.

    Unless your dog is a hunter (which dobermans hardly ever are), the amount of sound a floppy eared dog gets through its ears is enough. I say this to a lot of people thinking about having their dogs ears cropped, but the crop will not help your dog be a better guard dog. A dog with decent hearing will be able to hear a person trying to climb over your fence or beak in through the door easily. To test this try sneaking up on a floppy eared dog, the only time I have ever been successful with catching any sort of dog off guard was my cousins bloodhound who happened to be 11 years old and half deaf at the time. The only reason why having a cropped doberman would help to deter a housebreaker is because a cropped doberman looks more menacing that a floppy eared doberman.

    To finnish I would like to to talk about my own experience with ear cropping. Three years ago I adopted a doberman puppy about 6 months old from a local pound. He had been dumped on the streets after a bad ear crop hadn’t set properly. I took little Joey to my vet, he told me that the only way we could save the ears was to try and crop them a second time. Unfortunately when the vet started to the surgery he noticed a horrible smell, he made a small incision in his ear and found the remnants of the previous stitched from his last crop which had never been removed. The stitches had become infected and as his ear had started to heal, it had healed around the stitches obscuring them from view. Essentially Joey’s ear was rotting from the inside out. My vet couldn’t see any way of stopping the infection before it spread, so he decided to amputate. Poor Joey had both his ear amputated, unfortunately during the surgery Joey died while under anaesthesia. I think that it was good that Joey died when he did, because the pain it would have caused him would have been terrible and it would have continued for the rest of his life.

    A combination of abuse, neglect and ear cropping killed poor little Joey. I love dobermans, I now own 8 month old Logan who is an uncropped and undocked doberman. I am sure that many doberman owners who decide to go through with the cropping process are really good people and want the best for their dog, but whenever I see any sort of dog who has cropped ears I think of Joey and about how his death could have been prevented if his owner had not decided to crop.

    I would just like to enforce the fact that I am not trying to make people who have cropped dobermans feel bad or insult them in any way, all I am trying to do is express my own opinion. Just because my opinion is different to most people commenting on this site, does not mean that any of you have the right to bully me. I have told you my opinion, I have tried to include as much information as possible and advice about cropping, but remember I am biased because of my experiences, but really anyone who happens to own a cropped doberman is probably biased as well. In fact anyone in the world who owns a doberman is biased in their opinion.

    So if you have a doberman puppy and you are wondering whether or not you should crop, read all the information you can find, see everyones side of the argument and come to your own conclusion by yourself.

    Sorry for the long post, I tend to rant a bit.

    Thankyou

    Reply
    • We’ve never had an issue with our Doberman at the dog park but friends of ours do. She seems to be attacked almost every time she goes. So I have seen both sides.

      Reply
    • If everybody would do a little research before commenting on here and bashing people who crop ears its done because doctors have notices health issues in the dobermans when they do not crop ears they have really severe ear infections and many other problems. Look it up and do your research its not just for style its for health as well and i highly recommend it. Our friend used to raise them and he had cropped and uncropped dobies and they seen what health conditions you can put your dog through by not cropping. People have surgery its not a big deal it heals and the dog will have a long life of no health problems rather than suffer from ear infections etc. I think if you dont crop your being selfish to your own opinion and neglecting your puppy by not doing so. If it ends up getting multiple eat infections you will be told by a doctor to crop at later age which will be way more painful than any puppy surgery in early ages. Get your dogs cropped people.

      Reply
    • Great article very interesting . I’ve had rottweilers for the past 30 odd years and we have always had no tails. Then we hot 2 rottie crosses with tails…and now would never think about cutting tails off. The expressions we missed that tails give happy sad alert. We missed all this when we had dogs with no tails.

      Reply
  27. Hey all,

    I had my doberman’s ears cropped (short, military) at the vet when he was 11 weeks of age. Around the same time I had MY ears pinned back – by a reputable surgeon and not a vet, of course. It was something I had been planning to do for awhile, so overlapping the surgeries was more of a coincedence.

    Both of our surgeries were quick and, for the most part, painless. At times I would wake up in the evening with a bit of pain, but a quick painkiller would end it. On that note, pay attention to your dobie’s expressions. If it looks like he/she is in pain, don’t hesitate to use the cream that the vet gives you right away!

    After our surgeries, my dobie and I would sit on the couch while loopy on our meds and watch movies. Being a “tough guy” breed, he never showed any signs of significant pain. Both of our ears were patched up, so we looked after each other in a sense. We bonded, and he’s been (at times a little too much) the definition of a velcro dog.

    I wholeheartilly agree with one of the posts above about cropping being an opportunity to “vet train” your dog. I’ve had my dobie for eight years now, and all the vets I’ve been to can’t help but compliment his behavior when being examined. He has never had an ear infection and uses his ears as a queue to alert me if something isn’t right or if he wants my attention.

    On that note, both of our ears were sensitive for about two years after the operation. Once the tape is off, your dogs ears will STILL be sensitive to touch. Of course, a good scratch behind the ears is heaven for the dog! Now it has been seven years after our surgeries, and neither of us have any pain from our ears. Plus we look damn good.

    Reply
  28. My wife and I have a 10 week old Doberman, we got her ears cropped two days ago. The doctor is one of two in Hawaii who crop them. We constantly debate how long to keep them posted. I am in the Marines and with me being gone 8-9 months out of any given year for training and deployments I am not going to see my puppy as much as my wife. I want them posted as long as possible to ensure we have the best looking dog possible. She on the other hand read some where online that 6 weeks is long enough.
    Side note, I forgot who is against cropping the ears ^^up there^^ but look at it as circumsized penises. My dick looks alot better thanks the the decision of my parents when i was a baby =D Our dog will know she is the best looking dog on the block with ears cropped

    Reply
  29. In September of 2010 we picked up our 8 wk old doby from the breeder that does not sell her puppies uncropped. We got her the day after cropping, because she was show quality, she had a show crop, that we specificly did not want, so after driving 2000 miles what could we do? We drove back 2000k mad, she was taped to cups between her ears, we took of and replaced the cups on and off for about three months , with really little success, for the left ear.115$ dollars later, the rubber over metal halo was our salvation. Anyone even considering croping should have one. I am full blooded German, our dog is full blooded Russian.
    You get what you pay for, our 4,000$ dog, compared to 115$ was worth everything we wanted. The halo is my estimated best & simply the only way to go.
    She has the most elegant regal looking show crop you could want. She is drop dead gorgeous. If doby lovers can afford plastic surgeries for themselves, they can have a loving loyal beautiful majestic dog. Uncroped dobys in my opinion belong in the hound group.
    I still prefere the military crop

    Reply
  30. Oh my goodness! an incredible article dude. Thanks However I’m experiencing situation with ur rss . Don’t know why Unable to subscribe to it. Is there anybody getting an identical rss problem? Anyone who is aware of kindly respond. Thnkx

    Reply
  31. Just to share my experience on ear-cropping… I had my dobe’s ears cropped 1 mo. ago at the age of 3 1/2 mo.s.(26.1 lbs.). My vet has been cropping for 35 yrs. and suggested this age because her ears were just beginning to “prick-up” on their own. She stayed at the vet for 24 hrs. after surgery and was discharged with 14 Amoxi 200 mg. tabs.(antibiotic), and 6 Rimadyl 25 mg. tabs (for pain). Her head was fitted with a padded/wire head rack completely immobilizing the exposed stitched ears in a “stand” position and an elizabethan collar (to prevent her from scratching them) that she wore until the stitches were removed 7 days later. After removing the head gear and stitches, nothing else was done as her ears (medium crop) stood perfectly and still do! The only “pain” Freida seemed to exhibit during this brief period of time was the pain of not being able to see out of the sides of the E-collar! Maybe we were just lucky to have had such an excellent veterinarian for the job!

    Reply
  32. To Ginger and Jaki and all of those who voice their “negivity” on cropping ears… the doberman and other “crop-ear” breeds have been having them cropped for decades… and they are none the worse for wear for having this done. I have personal experience and can say none of my dogs nor dogs of owners I know have experienced any “undue” pain (of course it is up to the owner to make sure the ears are well protected and kept clean from injury within the first week of surgery!) In fact “spaying” and “ear infections” (in the natural ear of the dobes I have known) have presented more pain then the cropping! When you think of the doberman you picture a majestic animal with ears pricked up… and I can bet you if someone had two dobermans to give away, 1 with natural ears and 1 with ears already cropped and you had to choose between the two… you would choose the cropped-eared one… just saying!

    Reply
  33. I wish those who have their innocent puppies cropped would crop their own ears and see how it feels. The young puppy has no choice but to suffer. I rescued my dobie whose tail had been docked, but not her ears. She a wonderful dog, and despite having natural ears, she is a wonderful watch dog and protective companion. I say leave animals in their natural state! Your vanity should not be a priority.

    Reply
  34. 30 yrs. ago I worked for a vet who cropped all the breeds ears that are normally cropped. We would do the crop on the doberman just when the dogs ears were starting to “perk-up” naturally (right around 3 1/2 – 4 mo.s of age). Immediately after the operation we would superglue soft foam rubber shaped to fit just inside of the dogs ear running up the length, leaving the stitches exposed to heal. When the stitches were removed (within 10 days), the foam rubber was changed and replaced but not glued this time but wrapped instead with “coaches” tape. I don’t ever recall a puppy having to be taped longer then 2 weeks and the ears always stood fine( my own 2 at that time also)! I have another dobe puppy now who is being cropped in 2 weeks at the age of 14 weeks. This younger vet uses the “cup” method., I will see how that goes first but if need be I will have my foam rubber ready!

    Reply
  35. I have a three almost four month old pup. His ears were done by a vet in KS when he was 9 weeks old. Its really hard to find a vet who is willing to show you how to post come that time. Lets just say the vet we found was little to no help. He said since he didnt crop neo that he was weery about posting him. It has been almost eight weeks and his ears are completely erect. we found that if you put a sock on his head with holes where the ears are when you are posting it helps with scratching. Just make sure to cut to toe part off.

    Reply
  36. 18 weeks and 3 months is not to old to have the ears cropped! you can do up to 4 months and some vets dont wanna do them till 6 months so dont worry about it. it is better to do it sooner but not necessary! do research dont just listen to people on a blog!

    Reply
  37. I hope this doesn’t encourage an emotional outburst. I only offer my experience as a Dobe owner.

    I live in Perth WA. We are now enjoying our 3rd and 4th dobermanns. They are absolutely beautiful – The most well socialised dogs you can imagine.

    In Australia ears are not allowed to be cropped so I guess we have learnt to love big floppy ears (which is why I think puppies are so attractive).

    Recently tail docking was also banned. Consequently we were not sure how we would find our latest pair, as admittedly the typical Dobermann body looks really sleek.

    However when they have tails you realise how much more they can communicate.

    For instance when I come down stairs each morning it is accompanied by a rhythmic thumping as their tails beat against the sides of their (indoor) kennels.

    Even with floppy ears and long tails they are still top of the pile!

    Reply
  38. shut up you idiots about not liking ear crops. For crap sake dont get on this blog which is about cropping if you dont like it. Stay the heck away so that the people who have questions and want to be educated can get their questions answered.

    Oh, and you people who are complaining about cropping. You get your hair cut? Acrylic nails put on? Pedicure? Manicure, Hair waxing? Tanning bed? All methods of electively choosing to alter the REAL you. Go figure . We arent embarassed about the way are dobes look. We just choose to have them look like they are supposed to when they were originally bred. Stupid people never stop coming out of the woodwork. Man

    Reply
  39. I have a doberman that I was given at 18 weeks old. His ears have not been cropped. Is it too late to crop his ears at this point?

    Reply
  40. i just got my dobie ears cropped and the vet told me that he wanted to let the ears heal for 10 days befor he tapes them up i just wanted to know if it would be fine like that without any problem for the pup ears to stand up . plz send a comm bck to me on this subject thank you

    Reply
  41. hi.. can you tell me if there is a certain type of resin that you can use to stand up the ears ,with out having to tape them up..

    Reply
  42. I am considering getting a doberman puppy – and I won’t need it for show so I don’t think I will have the ears cropped – however my only concern with that is how leaving the ears uncropped will effect the dog’s hearing. If it’s a substantial difference I might consider the cropping – as I need the dog for protection as well as a family member, and being able to hear well is important! Thanks

    Reply
    • Laura, my dobes are natural ears and believe me they have no problem hearing, they let me know when strangers are around the house 🙂

      Reply
  43. Hey! I’m john,i’ve a doberman which is 75 days old.My friends are telling not to crop the ears but, i’m want to crop.can i crop at this age? Will it stand erect? Or to leave naturally? Plz help me…. I’m confused! :-S

    Reply
  44. Dee,
    Yes, it is normal that a dobe pup is the sweetest pup you will ever have, and has a personality that cannot be ignored. Don’t try to fix it! 😉

    Reply
  45. Hi guys,

    I am a first time time doberman owner and am already in love with them after only owning my 3 month old puppy for a few days.

    I don’t know much about ear cropping, but I think hers were done badly. She’s 3 months and her ears are cropped very short. But they don’t stand up straight, they kinda bend inward toward eachother.

    I’m not sure how they’re supposed to look by this age. Maybe this is normal and as they grow they’ll straighten out?

    I looked into taping on some websites, but from what I can tell, hers have been cut in the wrong shape to allow taping to help correct them.

    I really need some advice on how they should look and what I’m supposed to do

    I knew there was something wrong with them when I bought her, but she has a personality that could not be ignored, she is the sweetest puppy I’ve ever had.

    If someone could just tell me if this is normal, and if not, is it fixable at 3 months and what do i do?!

    Thank you so much in advance for any help you can give me.

    Reply
    • Dee, you might want to try posting a photo of the ears on one of the doberman forum websites for advice. Usually lots of breeders on there.

      Reply
  46. well wow i never knew it was such a heated debate about cropping i must say i would never have gone and had it done i thaught it was a silly thing to do but after much research i was undecided about it i have had dobi pups without ear cropping and my new pup i got at 12 weeks old she was 1 week into posting already when i got her so i had no choice in the matter i cant say for post surgury but i can say with the posting she seems to not care the least she has no problems never scratches or shows any discomfort i may have just gotten lucky to get such a sweet pup but our posting taping sessions only help us bond and she is learning that i dont want to hurt her only help her she seems to trust me as i am able to retape and post her ears by my self with no problems i think if she really did not like it she would put up a struggle her ears were really long and could have posed problems if left alone and i should say i now am glad her ears are cropped i agree with the fact that the doberman is not a natural dog in nature so to say about the ears there is nothing natural about them either way they are so lovely bolth ways i love the doberman think its the finest dog breed in the world and to all the haters grow up and quit telling people how to do things i wouldnt tell you how to treat your family probly the same type of people with kids on some kind of pills like aderall or whatever peace love your dog keep it healthy and safe its all that matters

    Reply
  47. I got my pups ears done at 10 weeks at the breeders urging, she said they will stand easier when they are trained earlier. However, if the cartiledge doesn’t harden until after they are twelve weeks, does it really help to get it done earlier? The younger a pup is, the greater the risk it will die under anesthesia. Also the vet has a better idea of the shape of the head and can match the cut to the head better. I know the rage is to have the longest cut possible, but I feel the cut should match the structure of the dog to be asthetically pleasing. This longer is better trend is as misguided as the bigger is better philosophy. Show cuts on most Dobes look out of proportion. I am not trying to tell people how to have their dogs ears cut, I just think they should have them cut to the dog, not the trend. Also compare laser cut ears to scalpel cut ears and see the difference in scarring, a good vet with a scalpel leaves no scars. To those worrying whether it is too late to crop their dogs ears, I once had a rescue put whose ears were done at 6 months. It took some work, but the ears stood wonderfully.

    Reply
  48. I had my dobie’s ears done this past friday and by monday her ears were standing perfectly she still has her stiches in and she hasnt had them taped or anything. her ears have been standing on their own for a couple of days now. maybe some dogs ears are just better then others??

    Reply
  49. I got my pup’s ears cropped at 10 th week and removed stitches after 10 days.Before removing the stitches I had taped both ears together and made them stand erect for 3 or 4 days.When the vet removed the stitches the ears were already standing erect!
    Its been MORE THAN 2 WEEKS now since the stitches were removed and I have not taped the ears yet but the ears are still erect.Does this mean that I don’t need to tape them at all? Or will they just drop after a few more days as the pup grows?

    The ears are perfectly erect and the pup is able to move them in all directions.By the way its a medium long crop not a short crop.
    Has anyone had this experience?

    Reply
  50. I have had dobermans on and off for years….By far my most favorite breed of dog. Remember it is TRAINING the ear to stay up. Keep them taped, used gauze around ear..then the tape..never tape right onto the ear…NEVER! If you are checking ears for standing up at a week or two…give it up..IT TAKES A Month or two or three for some! Every dog will be different. But at one time, I bought a female at five months old. They couldnt show her cause one ear kept falling forward. So they thought. I simply cut a template out of foam..stuck it in the ear..and taped it to her for a week or two at the most. That was the end of that. ITS training the ear to stay up everyone. It takes more than the Vet cutting them. Keep bandages on as long as possible…not letting them wet or smell…Don’t give up!

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  51. First of all, if you’re so against ear cropping, why are you on this website? Second, its okay if you’re against it, but you shouldn’t tell people not to get their puppy’s ears cropped if they want it done. Ear cropping is something that the owner of the dog should be allowed to decide on for their own dogs, but you shouldn’t tell people whats right and wrong. It’s a personal decision, so keep it to yourself.
    I love dobermans and i think they look better with their ears cropped but if you don’t like it, don’t do it. Mind your own business and let the people who want it done do it.

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  52. I have a 12 week old Doberman, and had her ears cropped exactly a week ago. I got the shop crop- which is gorgeous in my opinion. I have taken work off for a few weeks to be able to focus and make sure her ears are perfect. The first week is always the worst since the stitches are still intact. My vet had me keep the tape on after surgery for a week, and had them untaped today to air out. I will go back in the morning to get them re-taped. They are healing nicely, and she has been strong and great.
    To help with the scratching, I taped socks on her back paws or you can buy little booties (without the rubber on the bottom) at a pet store. They say not to get a cone because it will break the standing of the ear by putting to much pressure on it. I know the show crop will take longer to stand up, but I have done a ton of research and have a friend who has been walking me through it. Luckily, I have choesen a very experienced and awesome Vet that I can trust. You can’t just take them to your local Vet and expect them to truly know what they are doing.
    Anyways, Valere is doing wonderfully, and has been an easy pup to work with. I was sad to see her the day after her surgery, but the first day and the first week is the worst, and now they are both over.

    :):) I love my Doberman.

    Reply
  53. hi i have a min pin she got her ears done 6 days ago i went with the long cut.the process of them heeling is doin better then what i thought.her ears are beautiful so i recommend that you get them done because everybody knows dobies,great danes,min pins,and brussel griffons look very wierd and not full blooded without the ears cropped marquayven jones

    mafiaminpins.com

    Reply
  54. HI!

    I have a 4 month old dobbie and have been faithfully taping his ears since he had them done at approx 8 weeks. I have tried two different methods (posts made with popsicle sticks / Styrofoam cup in the middle of the head with the ears taped to it), but both have left him with infected ears where I have to leave them un-taped until they heal (2-3 days). I am worried that they will never stand as right now they are just flopping on top of his head.

    I am using an Elastoplast tape that is breathable, but he tends to scratch at them a lot.

    My other dobbie had no problems with her ears. A bit of infection at the start, but that went away quickly and they stood perfectly and still do.

    I am thinking with this last bout of infection in his ears that I will have to leave them down for a few days…

    Will this just be a vicious circle, and they will never stand? Anyone else run into this problem?

    Reply
  55. me and my boyfriend just purchased bro and sis dobies about 4 weeks ago…we got their ears done on friday..they were 11 weeks old….they are wearing the wire halo…one has done well and not scratched too much to point of pullin stitches out…the male on the other hand was a heavy scratcher…it is day five tomorrow and he has almost scractched one out completely…we have been doctoring and putting antibiotic puff powder daily on both pups..we also use wonder dust on the male.. most of the stuff with male happened in first 2 days..he has calmed down quite a bite and we are using chew toys and raw hides for distractions..we have not allowed both dogs to play with each other and have kept them seperate to avoid one hurting the other…the look to be healing well…HOW OFTEN SHOULD WE DOCTOR AND RETAPE? WE HAD TO TAPE MOST OF EAR TO HALO WE LEFT BOTTOM WHERE EAR CANAL IS OPEN….HAD TO DO THIS TO ALLOW THE EARS TO HEAL BECAUSE OF THE SCRATCHING…SHOULD WE PUT ANYTHING EXTRA ON THE EARS FOR HEALING…STITCHES ARE SUPPOSED TO COME OUT NEXT MONDAY…BUT AT THE RATE HE IS GOING…HE MAY HAVE HIS PULLED OUT BY THEN ON ONE EAR….IS THIS A PROBLEM??

    Reply
    • Crystal the vet that performed the crops should be giving you aftercare advice so I would contact the doctor for assistance with your guys.
      Also try contacting the breeder? A good breeder will want to ensure their pups are doing well and will offer advice on cropping aftercare.

      Reply
  56. I had my Doberman’s ears cropped at 3 months because my vet said to wait that long
    When I picked him up his ears had a medium cut, stitches no tape and a little bit of oozing blood. The vet said if they started dripping blood to bring him back. Said to lightly clean them twice a day and smear neosporin ointment along the cut edge. Not to tape them, just massage them to an erect position several times a day. I don’t believe it was more than week before they stood erect occasionally the tip of one would bend down. After a month never had to worry about it. I like the cropped look for a couple reasons 1. Know doubt that’s a Doberman. 2. Because it’s a Doberman no one just gets out of their car around my grandchildren without letting an adult know first. Living in a rural area calling 911 gives you about 10 minutes before any emergency service arrives. Everyone has respect for those ears just like a warning flag. And as every Doberman owner knows 99 times out of a 100 that Doberman just wants to play. The worst part was every time the blood oozed to the point it would run a fraction of an inch. My Doberman would flick his ear and sling a few drops of blood on who ever was sitting next to him. That lasted only for the first day. He never scratched at them. After getting snake bit, I took him to a emergency hospital, the first thing the vet commented about after treating him was how good his ears looked and that the vet that did really knew what he was doing. People will never agree about cropping a Doberman’s ears. If you don’t like it don’t have it done. If You like it make damn sure you take care of it until it’s healed.

    Reply
    • again distraction with treats or favorite toys. If you don’t have a kong yet, go buy one and stuff it with peanut butter.

      Reply
  57. Hello I just got mu 12 week old Doberman puppy’s ears groped andand she is trying to take the bandage off. What do I do?

    Reply
    • distract her, give her yummy chew toy toys and make sure she gets lots of exercise so she’ll want to settle down and sleep.

      Reply
  58. I’ve grown up with huskies and dobermans and have always preffered the cropped look. With that said I’ve had both cropped and uncropped dobes. In my experience my dobermans have always done better with cropping than with spaying/neutering as far as pain goes (each dog is different though). The dogs have always had more of an issue with the taping and adjusting to something being in/on their ear. The doberman I have now that’s going through taping though could care less, he didn’t slow down or let the procedure effect him one bit. He still keeps up with my 1 year old dobe (natural ears) and my husky and couldn’t be happier. As how long the taping will last its going to vary by dog and with some they’ll never stand. My current puppies ears were standing fairly well after the first week and most of the dogs from his line stand within 1 to 2 months, with other dogs it has taken 6 months or more.

    As long as the owner is responsible and cares for the ears properly the dog isn’t going to have many issues if any durring the cropping/tapping process. Also my cropped dobies do get ear infections less frequently. Still its a personal choice and everyone is entitled to theirs.

    Reply
  59. We got our dobbie from a pound and his ears were already cropped medium style. When he is in chill mode they will half flop down, but when he is elert they were up. I loved this because I can better tell when I should be more aware. We are looking to get another dobbie and I wonder if this is normal or if it was the way the cropper cut his ears or if it how his previous owners let his ears heal?

    Reply
  60. I was given my first doberman from a trainer who had had her since she was born. She was registered and had her ears cropped as a puppy. She was 4 when I got her. My second was a rescue with natural ears. To me, they are family. Personally, I cannot imagine intentionally putting any animal through such suffering and potential risk for my own vanity. I have consulted several vets (as I was new to owning a dobie), and they all agree!! I think owners should have their ears cropped BEFORE inflicting such on an innocent puppy who did not consent to the vanity procedure!

    Reply
  61. Hi Greg I will have to disagree, having the ears cropped does not make your dog any less happier than if they weren’t cropped. I have had Dobermans my whole life cropped and uncropped, it does not affect the breeds temperment at all one way or another, matter of fact if you want to say that it should be the other way around, having floppy ears cause more ear infections and more time to clean which in that aspect would make the dog unhappy from the infections and the more frequent ear cleanings than anything. Either way we have our opinions but I think everyone here can agree once you have a Dobe you will never own another breed.

    Reply
  62. On the page about ear cropping the picture of “natural ears” undermines your credibility. The ears are, indeed, natural but the posture is not. The extremely submissive posture leads to an unnatural line to the ears which many may find unattractive. If you are going to present a range of pictures, please do so in an unbiased way. Yes, I admit to being British and would, therefore no more slice pieces off my dog than I would my children. But then, I suppose in your land of almost compulsory plastic surgery it would be an acceptable thing to do. At least people have a choice – the dog does not.
    Castration makes sense for many reasons, ear cropping makes none at all – unless, of course, you know differently.
    I do not intend this message to sound insulting or judgemental, but I love my pets and cannot comprehend why people would mutilate a beautiful dog like a doberman.
    Regards
    Phil

    Reply
  63. show crop will always have wobble in the tips nothing you can do to stop that. the longer they are the worse it is. My dogs medium ears dont do it but even the vet said they wobble the longer they are because it happened to her dog as well.

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  64. PLEASE HELP ME PLEASE! MY DOBERMANS EARS STAND BUT THE TIPS ARE REALLY WOBBLY, HOW DO I GET THE TIPS TO BECOME HARD? THEY WONT FALL BUT IT BUGS ME THAT THEY WOBBLE SO MUCH, IS THAT NORMAL. WHAT DO I DO TO MAKE SURE THEY ARE HARD, BY THE WAY THEY ARE SHOW CROP>? CAN ANYONE HELP ME PLEASE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

    Reply
  65. hi all,
    i have a doberman he is 6 months old and i have untapped his ears now and the left ear droops a lil still should i still tape both of them just to make sure i dont have the same problem or will it be ok to just tape the left one all alone. And ya i found that they dont always have their ears up.

    And to everyone that has such a problem with ear cropping, first off why would you come to a page about ear cropping and talk on a blog because obviously we dont care because were gonna get it done anyways so you probably just make your own blog or just keep your comments to yourself. Dobermans were bread for specific reasons and with ears and tails being done from the beginning. You see any wild dog that has floppy ears no because in order to survive in the wild they need their hearing to be as keen as possible.

    Reply
  66. my doberman got his ears crop at 12 week and they never tape them till the stiches were out , he had no no cup or tape on him till stiches were out then they just tape them no cup,no rods or nothing and a week later thay stand just fine and are still standing fine.
    He had a meduim crop it cost 200,he seem fine after no pain

    Reply
  67. Hello Cyndi,

    We have a 9 year old doberman that was purchased from a renouned breeder in our area (www.dobermanstrikerfire.com) and had the ears taped up at least 10 times since he purchased her.

    Today, we have let the ears untaped for about a month now because we got discouraged to see that the tape was bothering her.

    What is your opinion on the operation where a thin plastic strand is inserted under the skin that attaches the ears together?

    Thank you for your time, I greatly appreciate it.

    Jimmy

    Reply
  68. Are the dobies ears supposed to stand up 24-7? I just took mine back to the vet to have them Reposted and they said not to because they look great. But they don’t stand up all the time. They have a slight bend in the middle halfway up the ears, that causes them to bend out to the sides. I was wondering if anyone knew if they are supposed to stand all the time even if they aren’t alert. They vet office was busy so I’m wondering if they’re just being lazy. Her ears have been posted 3 times for 2 weeks each time, so far, and when they stand the do look great, but they don’t always. I paid a pretty penny for this, and want them to do what’s right, but this is my first Dobie so I’m not sure!! Any thoughts would help! And I can email pics or something if anyone wants to see the ears up pics or ears not up pics. Help thanks!!!

    Reply
    • Matt, my understanding is that no sometimes they don’t stand up 24-7. If your dog is very expressive with it’s ears they will move with their expressions.
      But also 6weeks doesn’t seem long for posting, some dogs need posting for months.
      Anyone else care to comment?

      Reply
  69. I have a red 8 month old Dobe with natural ears. He loves to have his ears rubbed! Natural ears does give a different look to the dog but I love them as is. He wasn’t going to be in any competitions so I thought it was an unnecessary procedure. So far he hasn’t had any problems with his ears as some people have stated happens.

    Reply
  70. I’ve seen a few people here repeat this, so I thought I’d comment about my experience:

    Dogs with droopy ears certainly DO get ear infections more often. It is most prominent when the ears are also furry, but I’ve also seen many shorthaired dogs with this problem. Personally, I’ve known at least four dogs with constant ear infections throughout their lives. All with droopy ears. On the other hand, I’ve met no dog with that problem that had their ears standing. I have two dogs at the moment, both with droopy ears, and I have to constantly check their condition in order to prevent this. When stating your opinion on this subject, please remember that it also depends on genetical predispositions of a dog. True, some will live all their lives healthy, but many will not.

    I’ve witnessed dogs with this problem and believe me, I’d rather have the dog even in pain for a day or two, than going through something like this, because it lasts all their lives, and even if you manage to keep them healthy, it will requre a lot of attention to the ears, which isn’t pleasant for the dog either.

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  71. Saxon is a guard dog first,not a companion.The cropped ears will increase his sensativity to the smallest noises a criminal may make.Thus giving him the upper hand in preventing a break in or violent attack on my family and buissness.

    The ear croppn was performed by a professional vet,he was asleep the entire time….

    Reply
  72. I think anyone who crops their dog’s ears should have to have the same surgery on themselves. A dog is a companion to be loved, not a fashion accessory. Too bad so many of you hate the true appearance of a doberman so much that you are ashamed to own them unless your dog’s appearance has been surgically altered.

    Reply
    • You “own” companions? hypocrite much? LOL I love you but you must do exactly as I say and sleep in a cage at night and when we go for a walk I’m going to hook you to a leash so you have no free will you will eat what I want and only when I let you. You will learn every trick I want you to learn if I say sit you must sit and stay until I think you should get up and then I’m going to push my stupid small and simple opinions on others because my evils are less then theirs when they choose to make you look like they want. Oh I’m not so bad I just force you to do my every whim. You are my slave and I love you but I still own you… “companion” Honestly I think I’d rather have my ears cropped then be your slave.

      I had my Dobermans ears cropped. I just wanted to make a point on how people were so quick to judge others when in all honesty they are no better themselves. If they want to be all high and mighty maybe they shouldn’t “own” a dog at all.

      Reply
  73. Had my doberman pups done at 8weeks.I chose to go with a military crop this go round.One ear stood immeadiatley never even taped it.

    The other ear was bent over.I used pipe insulation and very little tape shaping the insulation to fit nicely like the picts showed.Just enough tape to hold in place but keep him(Saxon) comfortable.Of course I had to re-do-it everyevening while he fell in and out of sleep.Which is a great time to do it Ive found out.

    So had stiches pulled out today and his ear is standing.

    My parents had a longer crop on our dobermans when I was a kid.And I remember them taking months to stand.But my father was very patient and consistant.

    But I prefer the military crop myself…..

    Reply
  74. You covered quite a few curious things here. I found this by searching Google and I have to admit that I am now subscribed for your blog, it is very good 😀

    Reply
  75. Ok. So I have a beautiful doberman (Sierra) who came with her ears already cropped. The ears were cropped at 6 weeks. When we picked her up at 8 1/2 weeks the breader gave instructions on taping and her ears and her ears were already standing great. Of coase we kept on posting them. She has a med/long crop and she is now 5 1/2 months old. When I untape her ears they stand perfect for the first few days and then the right ear tends to droop after about day 5 so up the posts go again. This is annoying for her and me but from what I have read it’s worth it. I’m gonna keep at it.

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  76. I hav been around dobermans my entire life and have seen over 500 ear crops of this particular breed. the beset time to bring in the puppy to have the ears cropped is at about 10 weeks of age. healing time on an earcrop is of utmost importance and getting the ear cut by a Laser rather than a blade will help in that situation. the laser will cauterize the vasculature and promote faster healing. Also the tendency for the ears to stand is most depedent on the dog itself. If the dog doesnt hold the ears right or perk the ears up then the ears will not stand and that is it. lastly the longer the ears are cut the harder they will be to stand up. this is a cosmetic proceudre and all result will not be perfect, the veterinarian who performs them tries there best to get what we want and will try to help in any fashion they can. My vet is the best and have never had any issues at all.

    Reply
  77. So…I have a dobe named Dahlia,got her ears cropped at 13 weeks. -medium length.. brought in 3 pics how I wanted the shape & length to be. Its been about 2 weeks or so & I am so dissatisfied w\ the results. There is no point at all they are totally wide and huge just shorter…she looks like dumbo. Nothing like the pics. My dog has a sweet personality & for her to appear clumsy looking is upsetting to me. Should I get her ears re-cropped by the same vet?..ask for my money back?..call it as a $300. Loss and go somewhere else???

    Reply
  78. Ya know what? I’ve lived in a tropical climate until 2008. The Dobes had no problems. My dogs with hanging ears constantly got yeast infections in the ears. Not fun. Expensive. Cropped ears, I’ve found, have no problems. Ok, it’s cosmetic but all in all, I see it’s a benefit for the dog, better hearing, no foreign objects obstructing and inflaming. I feel they look better and when the process is done, the dog feels no pain–rymidal works wonders. It’s not a big deal.

    Reply
  79. Wow… ear cropping sounds like alot of work!
    I love the look of the cropped ears but I could never put myself or my dog through so much taping/posting/taping, etc. (It’s also illegal where I live now).

    I think Dobermans with floppy ears are just as beautiful and NO LESS of a Doberman than ones with cropped ears. Plus we get at least one compliment a day on his ears since we had him, and I will never regret that I could not get his ears done.
    All Dobermans are created equal and should not be judged by their ears.

    Reply
  80. Why do my doberman’s ears flip over her head when she’s excited or running around? They stand nicely at home but as soon as she’s excited, they flip over and it’s always in public which is embarassing. She’s been wrapped for over 6 months now but I sometimes like to give her a break but everytime I do, they end up flipping over the head and it’s very unattractive. What is happening here?

    Reply
  81. You wouldn’t crop your childrens ears, or your own for that matter – so why inflict this outdated, self-indulgent, painfull process on your best friend. An uncropped Dobie is a happier dobie.

    Reply
  82. Hello to you all… There have been many varying opinions about the ear cropping and I have had both natural and cropped eared dobes… I currently have a beautiful fawn baby girl named Jazzie who was to have her ears done last week (13 weeks) but suffered a concussion at the hands of a thief… Our vet recommended rescheduling her but my biggest concern is will she be too old at 15-16 weeks?

    Again, I have had natural and cropped ears but Jazzie will be the first of my Dobes that I had the ears done myself… I am excited and as a doberman fancier, I feel that I should experience the entire process for myself…

    What are some of your opinions on a pup being too old for the crop?

    Reply
  83. Hi, i’ve been taping great dane(5 inch high crops) and the dobie crops for years. I just went and purchased from a breeder that laser cropped and does it very young and then uses a large sponge between the ears and surgically glues the ears to the sponge. In 2 weeks they were up and standing and they never go down. He has the best standing crop i’ve seen in years.
    To all the people that think the ears should be left alone i totally disagree. First of all the thought that this ear is “NATURAL???”,,,this is a human engineered defect. What wild dogs do you know of that have floppy ears. Nature never intended dogs to have floppy ears and every dog i’ve ever owned with a floppy ear required constant ear cleaning , (and i bred labs for 20 years, talk about stinky easily infected ears) special care and if not, constant infections! These dogs would never survive in the wild, they would die of a hematoma first! So get off your soapbox with natural ears,,they are far from what nature intended. Think of wolves, coyotes, dingoes,,how many have floppy ears?? Less infections, better hearing and an upright ear are what dogs had naturally. It is the other dogs that are mutational defects that humans used and bred into the bloodlines. Get over it! If you want natural ears and good health,,crop your dogs that allow it….

    Reply
  84. Paulette- your dog would be shaking her head around most likely if you had let her keep the droopy ears as those are very prone to yeast infections. I was constantly shoving cotton balls soaked in medicine, down my Retriever’s ears as she had chronic yeast problems. The vet told me it was a common problem with “floppy eared” dogs. With this one procedure you have given your dog better hearing acuity with her her great new looks. And my Dobe has NEVER had a single incidence of yeast infection. She will also be tender after she is spayed, but you will do this for her own good. If you do it before her first heat, you will reduce her chance of breast cancer by almost 100%- not quite, but pretty close to it. Please don’t allow yourself to feel guilty over something that you did that is for your dog’s benefit, you are her mom and she expects you to take charge. Is everything that you do going to make her uncomfortable? I would venture to say the answer is no, but if this is your first Dobe, you better be prepared to be very strict with her(and hear her yelp in disagreement NOT discomfort), otherwise she will take control of you. They are the most intelligent, loving, gentle, loyal dogs I have ever had, but they need serious guidance in their formative stages…especially during adolescence! Good luck and love your dog firmly, she expects it and wants it that way- AND she will always wear her head up and proudly:) “If you don’t want to crop, get yourself a Coonhound.” This quote comes from an issue of Dog Fancy magazine. This comment is not directed to you, Paulette. I just wanted to share it.

    Reply
  85. Why the hell do you americans insist on cropping Dobermans ears, leave them the hell alone, they look so much better natural, and are much less prone to ear problems.
    My beautiful old girl never had her ears or tail cropped, and was an absolutely beautifal black and tan specimen.
    Unfortunately i lost her at 9 years to CVI on the 16 October this year, and will miss her greatly.
    I just don’t understand why people have to ruin a beautiful looking dog, just to suit there own personnal and oftan selfish vision.

    Reply
  86. my doberman has a show cut on her ears. they were both standing untill about 2 months ago the left one went down , we have re tape, tried the breath right strips and nothing is helping. any suggestions would be appreciated. thanks shirley

    Reply
  87. I just got my doberman pups ears cropped like two days ago. I don’t think I will ever do that again. He has been in so much discomfort the past couple of days. The first day home from the vet he was whining all night. It broke my heart because he had to keep running around the house and chewing on bones to eas the pain. Then on day two the pain seems to be less but his ears are itching and he is whining because of that now. I dont think I could go through it again. I know some dogs don’t react to the procedure that bad but it seems he has. The vet is skilled in the procedure and they did do a good job but I would have to say it wasnt worth it to me to see him like that. I cant wait until they are healed. I dont even care if they stand. I just want him better.

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  88. Hi,
    My name is Evelyn and I have been looking for a dobie puppy for a long time I think I found the puppy and hopefully the transaction will go well. Now the problem is the puppy is now 16 wks old and the ears are not crop. I would like to have the ears done the make the dobie look more majestic.(that is a personal choice). So can the ears be done? What are the problems that I can run into? and What would you suggest?

    Reply
  89. Nikki and Stefani… The proper time to crop a Dobies ears are 9-14 weeks.. Buy the time the dog reaches an age of 2-4 his ear cartilage has either already healed (hardened) or is close to it.. Nikki, I would not recomend it.. As for Stefani, just try taping.. Its really the only thing you can do..

    Reply
  90. I have a question? Took my dobe in today to get her ears cropped at a bery well known vet. He recommended not doing the crop because her ears art to thin (cartilage) has anyone else ever heard of this or had this happen? Should I get a second opinion!

    Reply
  91. I have a question about “failed” crops in older dogs.

    My husband and I rescued a male Dobe,(black and tan he might be around 3-4 years. He was a street roamer,very sweet though!) Around this time last year. His ears are cropped ,in what I believe would be the medium crop. One of his ears is droopy, but will occasionally stand on its own. Is there anything we can do to fix it? I figured we can’t, and that he may have received some trauma to it. But the hubby is curious…XD

    Reply
  92. We just bought our red pup from the breeder at 11 weeks and she had already had a show cut done. She was in a cup and we were encouraged to get her to a vet to have the cup removed at the first of the week (we got her on a Thursday night). We got her in on Monday and when the vet got all of the tape off one of the tips of her ears was ‘sloughing’ meaning it was partially disconnected. She lost about a 3/8″ triangle from the tip of her show cut. She is 12 weeks now and we need to decide do we even the ears out or leave her “unbalanced”, the other ear looks beautiful. When I asked the breeder she said the circulation must have gotten cut off to the tip. Nothing I can do now – what’s done is done – I am just typing this so everyone can be aware that if the pup is scratching at the cup – when previously it had not been bothering her – you should probably get it checked. I think that over the weekend it may have moved some and pinched that tip, not sure though. By reading the above posts – it looks like we will have the option to correct if that is what we choose, she is still young enough. We had seriously thought about showing her because both parents are accomplished champions…but realistically…prob’ly not 🙂 she is a beautiful dog and when we go back to the vet tomorrow we will make a decision of what to do. I love this breed, I love cropped ears, and seriously – for those who get so opinionated about it — get over it.

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  93. This may be relevant – a study of baby boys who were circumcised when very young showed that they reacted with more crying and signs of discomfort when vaccinated at 4 and 6 months. Possibly they become sensitized to pain, having experienced it at an early age. Talk to anyone who has had surgery – wounds hurt.
    Has anyone looked at the psychological effects of cropping by comparing cropped and non-cropped young dogs? (Reaction to pain, general development which must be slowed down if a pup is sedated/in long-term discomfort, trust…)?
    I live in Sweden where cropping is not allowed, and where people have got used to appreciating Dobermans the way they are born…

    Reply
  94. i am getting an 8 wk old doberman female. what is the best ear crop to get? how long should i expect to keep the ears tapped up?

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  95. I just got a Doberman. She is 4 years old and she has been fixed, but her ears have never been cropped. I think it looks better to crop the ears, but I don’t want to do anything that may danger her. I was wanting to know if anyone knows if she is to old to have it done. She is in perfect health, but I really would like to have if done if it is safe, or even possible.

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  96. I just got my 10 week old Dobermans ears cropped and I expected his ears to be in casts sticking up when I picked him up from the vet the next day but the Vet didn’t cover the ears at all he stitched the two ears together at the stop so their kind of folded inside out so there is nothing covering the ears at all he is just wearing a cone and his bare stitched ears sitting there.. I’m worried that this is not the proper way.. has anyone else experienced it this way?

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  97. I have cropped my Doberman ears when he was almost 10 weeks. Now he is 6 months. Hi sears stood well but his right one drifts more toward the inside which makes it look odd and kind of shorter that left one. Any suggestions?

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  98. My names tyler, i just bought a doberman she was born on april 7th, and i was wondering how much it costs to get the ears croped, and whats the oldest they can be?

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  99. This is a fantastic article and the responses helped dramatically. I am on day 3 of my dobes (King Bentley’s) ear cropping and was very nervous because one ear was a little red and swollen. I just tried the H2Ocean that Scott refered to and Bentley is now asleep. I am going to check it before I apply it again in 5 or 6 hours to see how it looks. I did a lot of research on it after reading about it here and I have a lot of faith in it. I don’t know if I would do an ear cropping again. It is definately not as minor or easy as one would think. I was sick to my stomach when I saw him after picking him up the next day. He didn’t know who I was and I thought they gave me the wrong dog.

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  100. Owner of many dogs throughout the years and my good friend is a vet who does ear crops… you guys do realize that Dobermans are probably one of the hardest breeds to crop right? The ears are extremely long and so they, along with Great Danes take the longest to stand correctly.

    I’ve known people who’ve taped or posted ears for as long as 3 to 6 months sometimes. I will say, to any prospective owner looking to crop, unless you plan to show, no need getting the longer “show” crop. Although it looks amazing, it usually costs more and takes longer for the ears to stand.

    Also, make sure your vet has done long-eared crops before. Pitbulls are easy to crop becausr they have short ears and so require less than 2 weeks for them to stand. make sure your vet has done dobermans before.

    Also, make sure you familiarize yourself with taping or posting in case you dont want to keep taking your pet to the vet or paying money etc… Don’t be disheartened. Each pet is different. The earlier the better for cropping is what I say.

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  101. well i just picked my dobie up from the vet. He got his ears cropped two days ago and he is acting very hyper. Is it common for the vet to tape the entire ear?

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  102. Take her back to your vet. It sounds like she got her ear wraps off and shook her head and that split the inside stitches. The warmth can be a sign of infection.
    Good luck.

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  103. My 12 week old fawn Female had her ears cropped approx 3 weeks ago. They have been fine, and seen the Vet twice to have them re-wrapped. today while gone to the store she got her wraps off. Now her ears are swollen and it appears to be with blood. The ears feel warmer than normal. Is ther anything I can do? She still has her appetite and acting normal.

    By swollen I meen the parts of the ears are about the thickness of AA battery.

    Any help is appreciated

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  104. Gretchen, the Isabella Dobe….Thanks so much for the posting on taping your dobes show cropped ears! That is the first really good info I have found! I have been posting and taping my 6 mos old dobes ears since she had the crop done at the breeders at about 9 weeks old. The base is nice and solid, the tips are still a little wobbly, your suggestion on the breathe right strip is GREAT!! I am going to try that for her as soon as I get home! That way I won’t have to wrap the base of her ears which are standing really well at this point. Did you have any trouble with the strips not sticking to the fur? Would you recommend shaving a bit of the fur from the inside and placing the strip that way? Any other ideas on getting the tips to be more solid?
    Another dobe lover…

    Reply
  105. hi, my name is kenny and i have an 8 week old blue doberman pup named jax. the vet office i am going to get his ears crooped at is full upto march 31st. he will be 13 weeks at that time, so i was wondering if anyone knows if that is to late to get his ears done or if that is ok? i was also wondering if maybe anyone knew of another place near the san gabriel valley that does ear cropping?

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  106. hey mate wondering if u could please help me out, iam in australia and have a doberman that had its ear taped at 6 weeks, its just that its illegal here and noone can give me any info… They were orignally standing on a cup, once they healed i removed the cup and noticed that the ear were standing stright up by them self, i thought this was too short of time so i still posted them for a further 3 weeks, i took posts off every week for 3 weeks and replaced. The ears are currently standing perfectly straigh when his aleared, and when his relaxed they droop down a little too the side, but do not bend at all.. The tips are slighly bent, but very minimul.. Do u beleive the ears are ready now or should i post for longer?? Its a short crop by the way

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  107. I researched many ear-cropping vets in my state BEFORE even purchasing my dobe puppy. I went to a vet who laser cuts the ears. So much better!! It cost a bit more but very much worth it. Far less healing time, no stitches to remove, minimal scabbing, and my puppy showed no signs of being in pain. Even the very first time the bandages were removed (3 days later) and the first posting was done, my baby showed no signs of discomfort. We only posted every 5 days for 6 weeks and his ears turned out beautiful!! If you do your research and can find a vet who laser cuts, please pay the extra and go this route.

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  108. I got my doberman’s ears cut months ago. About 3 months ago. I waited two weeks before taking her back to get them taped because they seemed to have a hard time healing. She put a rack on the dogs ears and I noticed that the rack would have the dogs ears turn inward rather than outward. So I decided to make post and tape them myself. The first time making the post went fairly well. The second time she started messing with one of the ears and after a week I noticed it seems to be infected. I am scared to put them on again as I believe the ear needs time to breath. As for her ears I am scared the longer I have them un-taped the longer it will take. PLEASE HELP! One of her ears is standing pretty well when she is alert, other wise both stick straight out like airplane wings. WHAT DO I DO?

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  109. I have a 4 year old doberman. I got his ears cropped when he was younger. His ears stood perfectly and have for almost 4 years now. Just this week one has become “limpy” and falls down to the side. When he is alert he still can make it stand straight but it still falls to the side most other times. Has anyne ever heard of ears falling years after a successful crop? Please let me know. dudandbender@yahoo.com

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  110. I have 2 brothers from the same litter and they are 9 months old and their ears dont completely stand all the time. Both of them have an ear that doesnt really stand as well as the other one. I feel better after reading that it can take up to 1 year for the ears to stand !!!

    cpagebeats@gmail.com

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  111. Well, that sucks. For one: My dog is obviously to old for ear cropping! I really wanted to get them done. But two, I had no clue it was that much work… I ASSUMED they would snip, i would tape for a week and walla! Beautiful pointy ears. I guess not…
    Also after reading many replies i have realized this process must be very painful to them, poor little guy I’m not sure i really want to put him through so many weeks of misery for a possible failed attempt to make his ears look better. Just not worth it…
    I have also noticed he uses the ears to express him self, he looks very cute when making certain faces. I’m sure cropped or not when hes full grown i highly doubt anyone will want to mess with him. I guess floppy he will stay 🙂

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  112. I wanted to say my experience mirrors Jill’s above. Over 20yrs having Dobies and never had a problem or bad experience in all that time. I use a very highly recommended vet that specializes in ear cropping, at almost $400.00 it is not cheap but like I said, all my dogs have done very well. I recently got another Dobie After losing my 8yr old to severe diabetes which she had for 6 yrs. Again, no problems and she was playing the same day she had her ears done. Like my other Dobies her ears were standing and no more taping in about one month. I have always gotten mine done when they weight about 18lbs. Over 20lbs and the vet will not do it. He uses a wired halo and this seems to work great, also makes taping ears very easy. This allows for maximum air flow and keeps ear canal open. The main thing is to keep ears clean and never leave ears untaped if they are not standing. Just my experience. I am not a breeder, just a Dobie lover.

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  113. I purchase a doby 1 week ago and the breeder has been breeding for 40 years and she does her doby ears at 3 to 5 weeks old she states that the younger the better and she also says that it allows her to take care of the ears untill all stiches are out and two weeks of taping because this is a very timely process and it shuold be done with exp. so when u take them home the hardest time is complete and u need to do them every 6 days

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  114. I just took my 8 week old dobie pup last night to have her ears cropped by the same vet that has cropped every dobe I have ever owned. He does a “standard” medium crop and usually after 7 – 10 days when the sutures come out, they stand without further posting. I have never had to post or tape for longer than 3 weeks with any of my dogs.

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  115. Hello,

    I have been reading posts on this site for about 15 minutes and I had to say my peace. I have a 5 year old red dobe girl. SHe has her ears cropped by an awesome vet. Her left ear is normally down tho. She controls it and she decides when she wants both up. When she is playing outside or hears a noise that she wants to check out both ears are up. In fact, I think her personality goes great with one up and one down. So, to those of you stressing over an ear that won’t stay up. It’s okay!

    O Yeah! I don’t know if I would say my dobergirl is unhappy since I cropped her ears. I wouldn’t say a dobe would be happier with natural ears. And to those of you who are against the dobes ears getting cropped for cosmetic reasons people circumsize their sons are you on their cases too?

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  116. Hi! I took my puppy in on Monday to get her ears cropped. They assured me that everything was going to be fine. Well it wasn’t about an hour and a half later when they called me to tell me how the surgery went they told me that my puppy had died. Yup she died…and all over getting her ears cropped. I am not sure if they gave her too much meds or if her heart wasn’t strong enough. (The vet said that she made it through the procedure just fine but when they tried to wake her is when they had problems) I am so upset. I know I had only had her for three weeks but she was part of the family. She was such a sweet dog!! My four year old loved her to death. I have mixed emotions about ear cropping now. Poor baby!

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  117. i had 2 dobies puppy 5 months old one is cropped ear when he was 4 months old it was my biggest mistake and thank you good that i didnt crop the other puppy its verry hard work and its very painfull for the dog.
    my dog didnt eat well for one day and didnt eat at all on the second day i kept him in the vet for 2 weeks until he recover and now after a month of taping only one ear start to stand and drop after few min and the other one never stand at all.
    ill never go into this again

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  118. Hi All,

    We have a 5 month old Dobe and he has the long show crop. He has been pretty good about his taping. His ears stand, but not straight up. When something gets his attention his ears will stand straight up then. I was wondering if we should contuine taping them or let them stand alone for a couple of days? Any help would be appreciated

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  119. I’m glad to see that there isn’t TOO much anti-crop silliness on here. I do want to point out, though, that the word “natural” is misleading. There really is nothing “natural” about domestic dogs. Wild dogs are natural, and if you notice, they all have standing ears. Why? Because that helps them hear better and more directionally. Dogs have great hearing despite the flap of skin that surrounds it, yes. But they have BETTER hearing with ears that can stand and swivel. Also, dogs are very expressive with floppy ears, but it’s EASIER to see what they’re thinking with more mobile ears. I can’t speak for a dog, but if I was born with 11 fingers, I’d get the excess removed.

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  120. Hi my name is travis and i have a 14week old female doberman. i just got her ears cropped and when i went to go pick her up the vet had folded her ears back to her head and did not use a cone or a cup to stand them up. i use to raise boxers and had a couple of their ears done and the vet then used a cone to prop the ears up. i was wondering if folding the ears back right after surgery is a normal practic. please help with any advice. thanks

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  121. Hello !! I have a 13 Week old Dobe named Sydney !I bought her from a local breeder at about 11 weeks. I knew abosultly nothing about getting the ears cropped. We dropped her off at the vet and they told us nothing !!!! Finally i said well are you not going to ask me how i want the ears done. I told them i wanted a meduim cut and they were like what? (that should have been my first hint) The breeder highly recommended this vet and he has 5 adult dobe’s there who all had the Working cut(which the breeder prefferd) and all of these dogs ears looked great. So orgianlly the vet said that when we got her back after surgery she would have NO TAPE on her ears. Well when i picked her up she had both ears taped and a one of those Collars on so they cant sratch. They gave us no directions on how to take care of them. No medicine NOTHING !!! They said bring her back in 7 days so we can remove the stiches. not even half way home Sydney managed to get all the tape off of one ear. I called the vet and she said for me to tape it my self. After like 6 attempts i gave up and called the vet and they said to just leave it alone and bring her back on her appt date. WHAT DO I DO. i feel like im getting no help from the vet !!! I also had no idea about all the taping im gonna have to do after the stiches come out !!

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  122. I have a blue dobie named Bacardi. Hes 6 and a half weeks. we are setting up a 12 week old visit for him to have his ears cropped. Im wanting the medium crop. I was wanting to know, if the vet doesnt tape them at all or says to not tape them to the stiches come out, does he have a less chance of them standing?

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  123. I have 4 month old Doberman that came to us with cropped ears. We have been trying to post them, but she keeps pulling off the tape or vet wrap and it is leaving big sores on her ears. One ear stands better than the other, which I hear is common. We even got the little cone collar, and she still got the tape off or our Rottie did. We have never owned a Dobe before or any dog that had it’s ears cropped. Is there any set method to taping? Could we be wrapping too tightly or is it fairly common for them to try to get the tape off? We use a figure 8 when taping the ears up after we have wrapped tape around them. My husband cut two pieces of foam to the shape of her ears and we use that. I thought that at first it might be the foam, but really she’s been trying to get the tape off since we got her. How tightly should we be wrapping the tape around the ear?

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  124. We have a doberman pup, 13 weeks old. We had her ears cropped 2 1/2 weeks ago & for us there was no question the ears had to be done.

    We have friends who have a 4 year old Doby, we witnessed their prolonged taping experience (6months on a long crop) & felt totally educated & prepared to deal with the after care.

    Nothing however could prepare me for the 1st week of post surgery care. The state she was in when we picked her up had me feeling like the worst human ever.

    I had no idea the surgery was so serious & that cleaning & caring for the wounds would be such a production. Anyone who says this doesn’t hurt the puppies or cause them any grief has never cared for them the day after surgery or is in plain old denial.

    If given the choice today, knowing what I know now, I would not have cropped her ears. The choice has been made so I can only move foward doing everything in my power to ensure they are the most beautiful ears ever.

    Her suffering cannot be in vain.

    Already we have had complications with the cropping, oozing wounds on the outside of the ear (behind the cup) The vet says it’s likely due to sweating & bacteria. The stench is disgusting & the green goop even worse.

    I have been to the vet 4 times since the crop 2 1/2 weeks ago to be sure that everything is going o.k.

    Whatever you decide to do for your dog is your choice…but please know this. If you are thinking about cropping your dog’s ears, be educated. Go into it knowing the surgery is serious, it’s not just a simple procedure & you will need to have a lot of time, empathy & patience for your pup.

    If you can commit to that then go for it but be prepared for it to be a big deal.

    I would never shun anyone for making the choice, as I have made it myself, I just want others to know it’s not as easy as some may lead you to belive.

    I would love to say I left her ears natural, as I belive this breed needs to be promoted with natural ears so others don’t feel like I did….that you can’t have a Doby without cropped ears.

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  125. Greg, Lucy and Deanna: Please leave us alone!!! We like Dobes with cropped ears. You may think it’s cruel, but we want our Dobes to look like real Dobermans, not like labradors. Don’t try to convince us that natural ears look more natural. We all know that Louise Dobermann wanted the doberman to have cropped ears. If he had been God (if God even exists), he would have made the dobes cropped ears, natural. So it’s all a matter of perspective.

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  126. I got my dobe ears done at 13 weeks which is a pretty late but I went to a professional ear taper who is a Great Dane breeder/trainer/show handler who been doing ear taping/ear shaping for 35 yrs. She looked at my dog’s ears and said her ears were thin enough to still be a candiate for ear crop. Her ears crop was done in oct 08, had the cup on for 15 days and had her stiches/cup removed to began taping. The vet prescribed an anti-bactoic powder to use to help with the healing. After 2 week on the cup we had her taping done to the middle of Jan 09. we continued using the powder anti-bactoic during her taping because the taping causes irriation(tape friction). we retape once a week and clean her ears the same time w/ alcohol to disinfect. her entire ear taping took 3 1/2 months but after that we did a test trial to make sure they stood/erect up. We removed the tape and see for a full day if they flop or stood up. She pass so we increase another day. We continue til we notice any flop and her ears stay stood. So my best info is have your dog ears exercise that they are staying erect (squeaking noises/ toys that squeak). We did these exercises during her taping and they worked cause at the same time this is helping the cartilage to take shape.

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  127. Regarding cropping ears: My 3 month old Doberman pup is better behaved than other pups his age because he has already learned to behave during the taping/untaping process. I think you bond and understand each other the more handle and expect of them.
    We tape for 3 days only, then leave untaped for as long as they stand. I also supplement with powdered milk to help during the growing process.

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  128. Hello! Our Isabella Dobermann, Gretchen, had her ears cropped at 10 weeks of age, on June 9, of this year. Her ears are fully healed and have been posted for over a week no. Her right ear is completely standing, with the aid of a breath right strip to keep the tip from flopping around. (She has a very long crop ^.^) Her left ear is still being posted as it’s not standing the way I wish it to. I’ll see how the right looks in a day or so. They still may need to be posted during the night to prevent her from sleeping on them wrong.

    She is on Taste of the Wild, pacific stream salmon blend. Low in protein, great for her coat, and its for all life stages and breeds. My Chi’s also adore the food! I have yet to supplement her with anything, though I plan on adding plain yogurt to her diet.

    I think the ears standing is all based on the dog itself. Like I said – Gretchen has a VERY long crop, and her ears are already standing relatively well. I post for a week, then retape. I don’t find it necessary to repost every 3-5 days as others do.

    I am not a breeder, just a Dobe fancier. 🙂

    An Added Note:

    My dog was perfectly fine the day of her surgery. We dropped her off at a HIGHLY recommended, experienced vet at 9 in the morning. We picked her back up around 5pm later that day. She wasn’t in pain, was running, active and alert. Her ears did not look hot or bothersome, though the foam that was glued to her head was slightly irritating her.

    I would not recommend having your dogs ears done by your local, or average run of the mill veterinarian. Look around and call some breeders for a recommended vet who knows what they are doing.

    Ear cropping is an art form that should only be left to the elite professionals. Natural ears are much better than a poorly done crop.

    Please feel free to email me with any questions or concerns! I would be happy to supply pictures the day of surgery, to present 🙂

    adorabull.xo@hotmail.com

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  129. I just got my dobes ears done last week (he will be 10 wkd Monday), the top stitches and styrafoam cup came off today and the ears are healing without support (which is fine since we aren’t posting yet and I trust my vet) his bottom stitches come out in 5 more days, and if all scabs are gone we will start posting.

    I was wondering if anyone supplements with anything? He is currently on Orijen large breed puppy food (2009-2010 dog food of the year) but I read on a clinics web page to blend up a hardboiled egg, shell and all once a day.

    I see someone said plain gelatin, any others reccommendations?

    Thanks guys!

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  130. I have a doberman. He is 8 months now and I never cropped his ears.
    Of course that is how a dobe is “supposed” to look, but I couldn’t go through with it.

    As for him not being able to hear as well because his ears are floppy…I think that’s bull. My dog is also used as a working dog and he has NO problems hearing whatsoever. Most working dogs and retrieving dogs for that matter, who depend on their hearing have floppy ears.

    Dogs were born with an incredible gift of accute hearing, and most dogs are floppy eared. I think that’s a myth. Also, I have heard nonsense about the dog’s ears ripping because of their weight and infections and what not…again, pure bull. I assume the people that came up with these rumours are the same that think a doberman’s brain becomes to large for its skull and then goes crazy! lol. What can be proved, is a lot of complications from ear cropping going bad because of vets that don’t really know what they’re doing. So I would suggest to contact a registered breeder (even over the internet) and ask them for a contact – you will pay more, but for the health of your pup, it’s worth it!

    Don’t get me wrong, I am in no way anti-cropping. I still love the look, I just personally couldn’t put my dog through it myself. If I got him that way I would have been happy, but I didn’t want to physically take him.

    Any-hoo…that’s my opinion.

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  131. I had my dobie’s ears cropped at between 11 weeks. We took him in for a consult at 8 weeks, and the vet said he would need more time for the cartilage to strengthen. We had a medium crop done. Our vet also had us leave his ears in a cup for 7 days while the stitches were in. Part of his stitches were taken out at day 7, and his ears were left down for a weekend before the remainder were removed at day 10. His ears were immediately taped as the edges were healed. Our vet taped for us on a schedule of 7 days up and 2 days down. We repeated this a couple of times. His ears stand on their own now. However, he’s teething now, so I’ve been re-posting them when they start to look a little droopy.

    The worst part of the crop procedure for my puppy was just having to stay confined for the 7 days. He had prescription tranqulizers though that kept him knocked out for the most part though. He never seemed to be in pain, but he was pretty doped up. All in all, I don’t think it was anymore traumatizing or painful that spaying or neutering.

    My advice is to find a vet that will tape and post the ears for you if you’re a novice like I was. Once your puppy is used to the process, it’s easier to attempt posting yourself.

    I’ve found using regular sized cardboard app tampons wrapped in bandage tape to be a good post. Plus the cotton on the end provides a cushion for the ear. It’s cheap and easy and sturdy.

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  132. I think it will depend on where (which part of the country) you’re having the cropping done, but my puppy’s crop cost $125.

    My vet wanted to do the crop no earlier than 11 weeks. He prefers to do it between 11 and 12 weeks, but no later than 14 weeks. According to him, after 14 weeks the cartiledge starts to thicken and it makes it a long difficult process to get the ears to stand, and there’s no guarantee they’ll ever stand. Before 11 weeks the ears are not developed well enough so it makes it more difficult to make them look right at maturity.

    Keep in mind, this is all my vet’s opinion. I don’t have any solid answers from personal knowledge. We posted our puppy’s ears for about a month and a half, and now they’ve been standing for over a week. Here’s hoping they stay that way.

    To Jill – I wasn’t suggesting that people that crop don’t love their dogs. Remember I chose to crop as well, although I am a bit bitter over the lack of real honest information out there and feel that I was not honestly informed about the downside of the procedure because both sides are more worried about defending their opinions than giving unbiased, accurate information. I don’t agree about the hearing. My other dog with floppy ears has excellent hearing.

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  133. I recently called a highly recommended vet for doing ears and I was told that he did not do it before 14 wks. Yet I read varying times from 7 wks up. I am planning to do a medium crop on her. The lady that answered the phone said that he waits til this age because it allows the ears more time to grow so you can get a better (more accurate) look. He does a consult/physical exam and asks that you bring in a pic of the crop you want. She also said that he will tell you how likely it is that the ears will stand based off the leather, etc. Can anyone give me any insight on this, as in opinions, potential warnings or problems, etc. Thank you in advance for any input.

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  134. I have had Dobermans for 20 years as pets and always have cropped their ears. My personal experience has been that my pups are in much less discomfort than being spayed. Which is to say they were back to normal in one day. the taping did not bother them after one day also. It is key to find a very good vet and to take proper care of the ears to avoid any issues or pain. I love the breed and animals in general and would not crop if I saw it casued my pups pain. I have had other dogs that have long ears that have been ripped by other playing dogs and they just keep going with no thought to it, pretty much the same if you ask me. It is not for everyone that is for sure but mine uses their cropped ears to localize sound better and seem to have better expressions than those of Dobes without their ears cropped. My Dobermans are working dogs as well as pets, they are used for personal protection as well as for family pets and the cropped ear helps them hear things quicker and easier than if not cropped. The breed was developed with this characteristic long before they became house pets and I find it serves them well as a family protector as well. If I ever decide not to crop my Dobermans ears then I would get a weimeraner who does not have cropped ears and a breed the Doberman was breed from. Just my experience. My Dobies ears always stand within one month and never have required taping after that, I always get a med crop.
    Either way the Doberman is for me the finest breed out there.

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  135. Before I had my Doberman puppy’s ears cropped, I spent quite a bit of time online researching this. Unfortunately, I found little facts about the procedure and follow-up care, but the back-and-forth exchange and heated opinions between the anti ear croppers and the pro ear croppers was never ending. So I am writing this post for all of those who want to hear about the ear cropping experience from someone who is not a breeder, just an average dog owner. (NOTE: anti and pro ear croppers, please do not respond with your opinions either way because I don’t care. This post is about my experience not your opinions)

    First, I have to say that I was totally unprepared for the state my puppy was in when she was given back to me post crop. Her ears looked so raw and painful that I literally wanted to throw up over the guilt of what I had put my sweet little puppy through. She was out of it from the anastesia, but for those people who say that it doesn’t hurt the puppy and “all they want to do is eat”, I am not calling you a liar, but my puppy DID NOT want to eat, and I am certain that she was in pain because she whined pitifully for hours. The vet did give me healing ointment which had a numbing anaesthetic in it. That did seem to give her some relief from her discomfort, although she dispised having the ointment applied and we had to physically pin her down in order to put it on her ears. How did her ears look after surgery? They were red and “meaty” like any other open wound, and they were stitched along the outer edge. Her ears were taped up into a cup. Her cup stayed on for a little over a week during which time we continued to apply the ointment. The entire time the cup was on, it drove her absolutely crazy. She constantly shook her head and wouldn’t even walk normally because she was in a constant state of preoccupation with the discomfort and was always trying to paw at them. There was little sleep all around in our household during that week. One night I gave her a small dosage of tranquilizer (meant for my older dog’s fear of thunderstorms) just to give her and us a break and let everyone get some rest. In fact, she shook her head so hard and often that the cup rubbed the top of her head raw. Make no mistake about it, for that week, she was uncomfortable and unhappy. Once the cup and stitches were removed, we began posting. She Has handled the posting much better than the cup. The posts do bother her sometimes and she’ll paw at them, but I believe that’s from itching, not discomfort. We’ve been posting for about a month now, and her medium crop just stood by itself for about a week, but now one side is starting to flop again so we’ll need to re-post.

    Would I do this again to another puppy? I don’t know. I do like the way her ears look standing, but I have to ask myself whether or not it is worth putting my puppy through this painful experience purely for aestetics -please do not give me your platitudes about less ear infections with the ears up. I have a 15 year old dog with floppy ears who has never had even one ear infection. Let’s all be honest, we’ve done this cropping because it’s the “breed standard” and we want our Dobermans to look like we all expect them to.

    I hope this post is able to help people who may be wondering what this experience is about make the decision whether to crop the ears or not.

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  136. My pup got her ears cropped last wed! We took the bandages off last night b/c today she goes to the vet to get the stitches out! When we took the bandges off her ears looked really good. We went w/ the med crop and they were just a little floppy! They go back up this afternoon but i am really excited for the final outcome!!

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  137. I would be careful to not give too much Ca+ Calcium to a Doberman puppy…They grow fast and too much Ca+ can cause abnormal growth in the legs and feet. In fact many agree a low Ca+ puppy food is recommended.

    As for the posting of ears…there is a great youtube vid on posting from a Doberman kennel out of Argentina. It’s call DOBERMANN – EAR DRESSING – http://www.dobermanbrasil.com.br

    They show the taping procedure and I like this taping because the air to the ear canal is still open yet the posting is solid and secure. Be careful to not tape to tight and lay out the tape as shown in the vid. I use athletic tape with the small holes in the tape. There is another tape method 100.00 which is called the earhalo.com. which I have not used yet but will try…

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  138. First off, to anyone who is about to have your dobermans ears cropped, research pictures on the internet and take in the examples of the kind you like to your vet. I didn’t do this, but luckily my vet, who is very experienced in ear cropping, whipped out a dobe picture book and the two of us went through it together. We decided to do a straight cut on my male rather than a rounded cut which we both agreed looked more feminine. However, not realizing it at the time, this resulted in a very long ear crop, like the show style above- which granted, wasn’t what i wanted. Especially now that it has been almost 4 months and I am still taping. Generally, the shorter the crop, the less time it takes to stand. I was glad to read a previous post from a person who’s dobe had the long crop. I will just keep at taping.
    I am also having a problem with one being ready, or so I think and the other not. Jackson’s left ear stands strong when I take the posts out, however the right one you can just tell is not nearly as strong, so there are times when I just retape only the right one and leave the left one standing. However, I keep a watch on it because it stands strong, then one day, it just falls over. If you have this problem… just keep retaping. Currently, both Jackson’s ears are taped again. I have a feeling because they are so long, and also because I had them done so late in his “puppy-hood” (13 weeks old), it’s going to take many more months. I was informed that a pup’s ears will always stand. If they don’t, it’s a result from the pet owner’s after care, not the dog. Just keep taping people.
    In regards to nutrition… The posting above mine is correct in that calcium is what develops in the ear to support the standing. Gelatin may be a good way to go, I don’t know, however I was informed to absolutely NOT give my dog a calcium supplement. This can really throw them off. What I’ve done is researched dog food at PetCo. I looked for the dog food with the highest calcium content which is done by looking at the nutrition facts on the back. The dog food is expensive at $35 for the medium sized bag, however, the calcium content is the highest, his coat is absolutely gorgeous and he is growing into a strong, beautiful healthy boy.

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  139. we have a 14 week old dobe. his ears were done three weeks ago. our breeder told us to take out the stents the vet put in and let the ears dangle and flop until the ears had completely healed. on our other puppy it was almost two weeks after surgery before we started taping. on this pup it didnt take as long. This dog is very destructive to his ears, so i am retaping every 3 or so days. our other dog lasted a full week or two before we had to redo. anyway , they both have great looking ears.
    also give your dog a daily dose of plain gelatin (like jello, but just the gelatin, same ailse in the grocery store) i mix mine with a low sodium chickenstock. he loves it. there is no forcing him to eat it. he just licks it right out of the bowl. the gelaton is just calcium and helps their ears to harden quicker. hope this helps.

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  140. It is sad and wrong to cause discomfort to an animal just to serve a human’s ideal of an aesthetically pleasing ear. Please, if nature didn’t create it that way, leave it alone and learn to love the look of natural ears.

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  141. mary jane, i would go with either a short or medium crop, they will stand quicker than with a long crop. it really depends on your taste. you will have to be very patient, i never knew how much work this really was. i am glad that we had it done though.

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  142. our dobie’s ears were done at 8 weeks and we have been posting now for 3 months. his left ear is perfect, but the right tends to fall after a few hours. is there anything we can give him nutrition-wise to help? also, i’ve heard that when they are teething their ears will tend to droop. anyone know?

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  143. My pup is 9 weeks old and we r going to the vet tomorrow to get her ears looked at to set up an appt for her ear cropping! What is the best way to go as far as cropping? What style is the best to use??!!

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  144. I have a 6 month old Doberman whose ears are show cropped. I’ve been posting them every week since she was 8 weeks old. They tend to droop after about a week and I post them again. Just keep at it everyone!!! It’s a long process but the end product is well worth it!!!

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  145. This question is for Scott from earlier in the forum. Which H2Ocean spray exactly do you use? I will be getting my new Dobie’s ears done in 2 weeks and I would like to try the product as I have had many Dobies and I am always looking for new stuff that helps the ears to heal faster. Thanks!!

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  146. Hi Veronica, That is crazy. You never let the ears hang for more than a few minutes. I just had my dobes ears done on marh 26 and my vet said not to remove the cup until the ears are healed . It took 3 weeks for the ears to heal and I started tapping them. Good luck.

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  147. I have an 11 week old doberman puppy who just had his ears cropped 6 days ago. im concerned that the doctor dont know what he is doing and that my puppys ears wont stand.
    The doctor told us to leave his cup on for 5-6 days.Then remove his cup and leave them alone until his stitches are removed in 11 days from the surgery. When the stitches are removed he said to make posts and retape them back up.
    I removed his cup last night and his ears are not standing at all, and i dont believe that i should leave them just hanging until his stitches are removed. Please help me i dont know what else to do.

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  148. When the ears are left natural, the following happens. The dog is calmer because it can cover the ear opening and recieve less sound. The dog can turn the ear to recieve sound from in front or in back without turning it’s head. The dog shows a lot of expression with the ears. Don’t worry, the dog will not miss a sound and will be just as protective. You will just have a happier Dog!

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  149. Hi my name is Donna, my sister and i bought 2 doberman puppies from the same litter. I had there ears cropped about 16 days ago and both of the puppies ears are standing great not flopping over or showing signs of it. It doesnt seem like they should be so soon. What should I do just watch them for droopy ears or put them back up.

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  150. i have a 8 year old doberman called bruno
    his ears are not cropped but he is the best dog in the world
    . he is blind.. is it common for dobermans to be blind ?

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  151. I raise and train Dobe’s and my closest friend raises Pit Bulls and the best thing I have found to use when cropping ears is called H2Ocean. it is an all natural healing spray, I found it at a tattoo and piercing shop. It helped the ears heal exceptionally quick and also the ears were standing perfectly in a much shorter amount of time. I highly recommend it to anyone for both human and canine use. It works great on minor abrasions and cuts as well. A little expensive but well worth it.

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  152. keep posting them until both ears are standing, 3 weeks isnt long enough, it can take months for them to stand alone. When you change the postings every week check to see how they are standing, if its weak, post them for another week until they are standing strong. Hope this helps, good luck!

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  153. hi My name is sam , I have a 5 month old dobe taht had ears cropped at 12 weeks old , I ve posted themn about 3 weeks and when i took em out they were standing very good but the one ear (left) is not standing right now what can i do pls help me 🙂

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