I know its illegal in this country and i actually think dogs look better with their ears they were born with.

Saw a certain breed the other day in our park with cropped ears, had to take a double look as it walked away to make sure i wasn't seeing things.

I am one hoping that this dog has been imported from somewhere that allows this and its not been done in the UK.
On this breed it really ruins the dogs appearance and makes its look aggressive, i suppose that they all do with cropped ears.
Just plain don't like it and glad its banned over here.

I moved to the UK about 13 years ago from the US.  I was used to seeing cropped ears on Danes, Dobies and other breeds.  When I saw a breed that was typically cropped with floppy ears I always assumed they were purchased from a pet store.

I was a member of a dog club and I recall the first time someone brought their Dobie puppy to a meeting.  I was totally shocked.  The puppy's ears were covered in tape with a tape-covered stick or something running between the ears, like a brace to keep them upright.  Up to that point I just had never thought about it.  I must have assumed you just snip a bit of flesh off the edge of the dog's ears and they would magically stand upright.  I was just stunned that anyone could do that to a dog.

Ear cropping is barbaric.

I read an absolutely shocking story, about a year ago, where a young man did some DIY ear cropping on a puppy Staff cross. He was arrested and found with pieces of the pup's ears in his pockets.

Ok, Stupid question I know but to understand this properly I need to ask. What is the process that is undertaken to get ears to stand upright, I assume some kind of surgery????????  With my breed, Great danes, I know its the done thing in other countries but could never understand why anyone would want to do it, they look so beautiful with natural ears and so aggressive with cropped ones.  :(

This describes what the puppy goes through.

>After Care The ears will tend to bleed for a few days, they will be painful, and the puppy will knock her head around trying to get the brace off. Now the challenge begins!

:-(

>What is the process that is undertaken to get ears to stand upright, I assume some kind of surgery???????? 

Yes. The ear flaps are cut and stitched under GA at about 2 to 3 months of age, then for a few more months the ears are bandaged and taped to a framework till the cartilige has stiffened enough to support them.

Image of taped ears.

Not a pleasant experience for a playful puppy.

If i see the dog again and locate its owner i'm going to ask abouts the dogs origin.

Its an awful thing for a pup to endure and i hope to god that no one has done it in the UK.
It should be banned worldwide but i doubt that will ever happen.

Not sure if i've said it before but when i was in Cali last year i went to a dog show, the Danes are what shocked me the most, normally dopey looking dogs with their floppy ears, these dogs looked harsh and aggressive in their looks just from the ears being done. Their temperament wasn't great, but hoping that was down to the 100 degree dead heat that they were standing in, that was in the shade as well.

Isabel, thanks for that--I 've never given this process much thought, although coming from the US you see it all the time--but the way it glosses over the weeks of pain caused to a young puppy in the name of "beauty" is repulsive. Mind you, human beings have bound girls' feet and crippled them for life in the quest for beauty so why should I be shocked?

You can import a cropped dog, in my breed we have a few cropped imports and some have been put out to pet homes after they retired..I also know a footballer (few yrs ago) brought his cropped dog into the UK, used to see him in the park every day,

Although it is something I would never ever contemplate doing..I happen to think a crop can make the right head fabulous I some of the European cropped dogs are to die for... but it is only my opinion..and slightly hypercritical... but it does not stop me admiring a fab dog with a good crop.

Just looking at it aesthetically I think they look terribly false and the surgery is very apparent.

We just brought home hubbys great dane puppy i really couldn't imagine her ears being cropped i think she looks beautiful the way she is!!!!

The pain must be awful for them

I hate the thought that anyone could do that to a little pup. I had to stay in the waiting room when my pup had her chip put in, She diden't even flinch. But the very thought of my four legged baby feeling any pain made me cringe. I cant understand how anyone could hand there puppy over to the vet knowing that for no reason at all (apart from looks) there puppy was going to have his ears cut off. They must have an off switch when it comes to loving there pup?

I think they look awful and glad it's not done over here. 

I agree, totally un-necessary and a very cruel practice, a good head is a good head if the ears are cropped or not so in my opinion, this is no reason for doing it!!

> They must have an off switch when it comes to loving there pup?

The main reason why Boxer puppies are seldom sold to the USA and even more rarely to a show kennel; where it will almost certainly be cropped.

Suejaw, there are a couple of charities now bringing dogs over from Iraq and Afganistan where dog fighting goes on so it is possible that this dog is an import.

They must have an off switch when it comes to loving there pup?

I must say that is not true.  I love my dogs with all my heart.  I took Cher to get her ears done, when she was 16 weeks old.  I watched the vet do the surgery, and I cried.  Even though something is regularly done, it doesnt make it any easier.  Please dont say that if we crop our dogs, we dont love them or have an off switch when it comes to loving our pups.  I normally dont get involved with talks on Ear Crops on the forum, since I know it isnt a practice in the UK, but this comment made me boil.  I had to respond. 

You were not forced in to doing it. You made a choice. And as you said, it made you cry so why put yourself and your pup through it ?

> They must have an off switch when it comes to loving there pup?
>

> but this comment made me boil.  I had to respond. 

I think that is a perfectly reasonable comment - if you are prepared to put your dog through such pain and suffering purely for aesthetics, then of course it is hard to believe you can care for the animal. Ear cropping is quite obviously cruelty being inflicted for appearances only. Why make them suffer if you love them? You cannot justify it. 

I'm totally against ear cropping - many years ago I used to think it looked good on Dobes on TV for eg to have erect ears but at that time I didn't know anything about the procedure :(

Crespin, can I ask why Min Pins in the States are cropped?  Surely their ears are erect anyway?

There is a "gentleman" that comes and chats to me about my danes, he is american and he is convinced cropping is the way to go and thats what i should be doing.
I argue there is no valid reason for it, he says it stops ear problems, which to some extent the lack of air getting to the ear can cause issues (in a small per cent of dogs) but what about the likes of bloodhounds, cockers, springers? you dont see them walking around with cropped ears

Isabel thats horrific do they still do this in USA?

>bloodhounds, cockers, springers? you dont see them walking around with cropped ears

lol - sorry have to laugh at the the thought of a bloodhound or cocker walking round with cropped ears

> I argue there is no valid reason for it

Might be easier to just point out it is illegal here. End of. :-)

> Even though something is regularly done, it doesnt make it any easier.

Which makes it sound that you do just as was said, switch of and go ahead anyway.

You may find that your pure bred dog is unrecognizable as such unless the ear cropping is done to give him that breed standard look

(Taken from the link that Isabel gave us.)

How can it be the breed standard look? unless they can be born with cropped ears!!!
Not forgetting that that would be a cosmetic procedure here and you would not be given permission to show your dog if it had cosmetic surgery.

What is wrong with people.!!!!! How can they do that to puppies.

> How can it be the breed standard look? unless they can be born with cropped ears!!!
>

I'm not defending cropping or anything but I'm guessing it's the same as with docking, it was originally done for purpose for some of the working breeds and therefore feeds into some breed standards eg the AKC and FCI breed standards

OMG I had no idea it was so invasive or had such a long period of doing stuff even after the surgery! :-(

>thats horrific do they still do this in USA?

Yes.

Luckily it's been banned here for over 100 years.

Mahonc, maybe you can point out to this man that with a bit of care and attention (which he must surely give his dogs) none of them should have 'ear problems' anyway. This is about the owner, not the dog, and to use this as a rationale for a barbaric practice would make me boil.

If his children suffered from athlete's foot would he be advocating the amputation of their toes?

It was only a matter of time before docking and cropping were mentioned in the same breath. docking is intended to prevent damage to the tails of working dogs, and is certainly not a cosmetic procedure to make them look more attractive. It would be interesting to know, breed by breed, how docking has been reduced since the change in the law. If the aim is to get your dog to Crufts, you won't having him/her docked, that's for sure.

> Crespin, can I ask why Min Pins in the States are cropped? Surely their ears are erect anyway?

I wish they were erect anyways.  But they are not always.  We dont breed for ears, since cropping can be done. Cher's ears didnt go up.  She had moments, but they were not upstanding ears. 

> I'm not defending cropping or anything but I'm guessing it's the same as with docking, it was originally done for purpose for some of the working breeds and therefore feeds into some breed standards eg the AKC and FCI breed standards.

That's the case in dobermanns as I understand it - the ears were cropped as street fights between dogs was common, back in the early days of the breed far more dogs roamed loose and dobes back then had a sharper temperament also.  Male dobes today are known for often being iffy with other males - my neutered male can be a complete @rse with males on walks, especially entire ones - so with the earlier temperament fights would likely have been more common and worse.

Also, I believe croppin was designed to help the dog during protecion work as cropped ears are harder for an assailant to get hold of than the natural ears.

Personally speaking, I think they can look nice if they are done right - but that's as far as my approval goes.  I certainly could not put a dog through the procedure.

One last thing - several months of posting is typical but it can go on until the dog is a young adult, as some ears don't adapt as well to the new position ad develop 'pockets' whe3re the ears try to fold.  So it can be very lengthy indeed.

> I'm not defending cropping or anything but I'm guessing it's the same as with docking, it was originally done for purpose for some of the working breeds and therefore feeds into some breed standards eg the AKC and FCI breed standards

I can't personally see how the cropping of ears actually helped a dog. I see Nikita has put a post on here about that in relation to Dobe's. BUT unless the dogs are worked which many aren't then there is no need for it. Not that i agree there is ever a reason, though the Americans and many other countries accept it, its been this way for years.
Sorry but with Min Pins, i really don't see why this would of been done in the first instance or even the Danes.

Docking a dogs tail i have to agree with on the side of working only. In my line of work we have ESS which are trained sniffer dogs. I know of one dog who was so manic that he managed to damage his full tail so many times he had to have it docked in the end. He caused himself much suffering due to it being a full tail.
The damage and pain a dog goes through with a tail is a lot more than any pain it goes through when docked at a few days old. So i have to say that i am glad that there are regulations allowing proper working dogs to have their tails docked, there is no other reason otherwise other than cosmetic.

We have all been used to Dobe's and Rotti's with docked tails and to many it probably seemed very weird to see ones with tails now. This is what other people will be feeling if and when they decide to ban ear cropping. Its the norm of what we are used to i guess.