Dobermans are born with floppy ears that a veterinarian typically crops.
Dog breeds such as Dobermans, Rottweilers, bull terriers and boxers are born with long, floppy ears, which are usually cropped during puppyhood. After a veterinarian performs the cropping, she sutures the incisions, tapes the ears over the dog's head and covers them with gauze or glues them to a piece of Styrofoam between both ears, says Speaker Bar Kennels. Be prepared to spend about $250 for this surgery.
Cropping Age and Style
Get your dog's ears cropped between 8 and 12 weeks of age, because vets generally won't crop after 12 weeks, says Speaker Bar Kennels. Be sure you tell your vet exactly what kind of crop you want for your dog. Dobermans, for example, usually wear a long crop, while pit bulls and showable bull terriers usually wear one of three styles, according to the Pitbull Ear Crop Styles video: a battle crop where most of the ear is cropped off (mostly seen on fighting dogs), short crop (slightly longer than the battle crop) and the show crop (for show dogs). Bring a picture of the length and style of crop you want.
Presurgical Care
According to Rios Pitbull Kingdom, make sure your puppy is up-to-date on vaccinations before surgery. Your vet will delay ear-cropping surgery if your pet is malnourished or covered in fleas and ticks, because the stress of the general anesthesia combined with the dog's poor condition increases the likelihood of infection.
Postsurgical Care
If you get your dog's ears cropped in the summer, be sure you keep it inside away from flies while the ears heal, says Rios Pitbull Kingdom. Otherwise the heat and the flies will irritate the ears, causing the dog to scratch. Also keep your pet away from other dogs to prevent them from licking or grabbing the new crop. If the dog starts scratching the bandages, consult your vet about administering one half a 5-grain aspirin four to six times per day to alleviate the itching, says Speaker Bar Kennel.
Taping
Vets usually remove the sutures 7 to 10 days after cropping and retape them 2 to 3 days after that, says Speaker Bar Kennel. Between suture removal and retaping, massage the edges of the ear twice a day with a lubricant (except on the day of retaping so that the new tape will stick to the ears). Stretch the ear gently as you massage to help prevent scarring. Keep the ears clean and dry before and after retaping. If the ears get wet after retaping, remove the tape immediately and take the dog to the vet to correct the problem.
Related posts
Ear cropping is a cosmetic procedure to force dogs' ears to stand erect.Ear cropping is cosmetic surgery customarily performed on purebred dogs to achieve the "standard" look of a partic...
Cropping dogs' ears, along with docking tails and other cosmetic surgeries, is an increasingly controversial procedure. Long a tradition, few scientific studies support ear cropping. Ear cropping...
According to United Kennel Club breed standards, pit bulls can be shown with natural or cropped ears.While there is controversy on the practice of ear cropping, owners of pit bulls often opt to cr...
A Jack Russell terrier is a small dog with a smooth, white coat. These dogs have a lot of energy and can be stubborn and aggressive if not trained properly. The Jack Russell terrier is an intellig...
The boxer has somewhat loose jowls, and ears are either cropped or natural.Pit bulls and boxers are among a number of breeds that are commonly called "bully breeds," indicating their sha...
