Yuk, I notice they say infection is very much a possibility, how much more so it must be with dogs and their poor understandng of hygiene :rolleyes: I would image the poor pups wounds would need regular cleansing which would be very painfull I am sure :(

Thanks for your research, Jeangenie. Perhaps some of these so called dog lovers, will be willing to undergo such pain and suffering THEMSELVES, in order to satisfy their whims with their beloved, can't speak for themselves dogs. Sue x

At last they make the choice themselves! Can't knock them for that :)

Very true! So when the dogs can make the choice ... ;)
:D

...I can't see them booking themselves in at the vets so they can spend the next few weeks in agony ;)

Weirdos doesnt even come close.

If the breed had never been cropped and was always presented au natrel then you wouldn't have a comparison to make :)

You can only compare cropped and uncropped because someone has given you the option by hacking away at the dogs ears.

http://www.dobermanclub.org/Buying_Puppy/ears.html

Not sure if this is going to work but here are differnt pics of dobes with cropped ears, the natural one is best i think :)

Seriously - I cannot believe folk put their pups through all that for a cosmetic appearance. Its absolutely unbelievable!

On some of the american rescue pages they have some poor dogs that have ears so badley mutulated by there owners, who just chop at them :(

What about the ones that put elastic bands around the dogs tails, in the hope that they will "drop off" to give them the dock :(

Actually docking by banding is the prefered methid by many people giving a far better finish to the sock, and the tails do just drop off because of the lack of circulation, a bit like when a babies cord is tied off.

Baby lambs with fully developed nervous systems are actually docked this way, using special rubber bands.

Banding is in fact the most humane method of docking.

Sorry, my explanation wasn't clear,  I was talking about people that do it when the dogs are adults or nearing adulthood, then all it does it cause gangrene and infection and the tail has to be removed surgically anyway :( apart from causing the dog, untold misery!

I thought that tail docking was done surgically by a vet when the litter was very young to cause minimum pain?? Is banding the normal method?  I understand that tail docking is done to certain breeds of dog because of the work that they are bred for and still do. but why, for example, if there was a breed of dog in this country, that was hindered in it's job because of long ears, would it be frowned upon? That is of course presuming that the ears were done for the same reason, ie, work, same as the tail.

I think that people need to realise that not ALL ear cropping was done originally for visual enhancement but for bygone practical reasons. My breed was bred to cover 60 miles, but I would think that very few of my breed do that today,  but they still are used for guarding the flock on the terranious hill sides in France. And I know that those rural ones, will continue to have their ears cropped for the reasons I stated in my last post.  

I think most vets do prefer to cut the tails but I think that is just custom and practice, I've seen both methods used and I think when done by skilled people they are equally effective.
I don't actually know of any breed whose legal activities are affected by having drop ears but it is a completely different thing to dock tiny puppies whose nervous system is not yet developed and to cut an much older puppy and subject it to ongoing painfull treatment to the wounds to manipulate them to heal in the desired way.

ChloeH, what will it be next do you think?  Botox injections to give dogs the trout pout, now THAT would be a designer dog :D  Sue

Should have added the "Codlington Terrier" perhaps