My New Topic! :)

Howdy!

I have a question, one that im sure has been asked a billion times on this board but im going to ask anyway !

the subject is : ear cropping

I was previously opposed to it, because it's not neccesary and im sure its painful (dispite pitty's high pain tolerance). I kind of shot myself in the foot so to speak because in my opposition i got my wife to be opposed to. NOW however it kinda looks cute/cool to me if its done right and the dog has the right face for it (some dogs look really ugly with cropped ears , others...you couldn't imagine them with normal ears). My wife isn't trying to hear it, all she thinks about is the pain for them.

I dont want it done for him to look vicious. I think thats a dumb reason anyway,,because a dog thats guarding its family will look vicious enough when its mad and defending.I thought it was cruel but now I kind of view it as similar to plastic surgery. Like I said if its done right it can compliment the dogs look. Anyway I want to get my purebred pitty's ears cropped (see topic "My kids"), because I think his head/face is one that would look good with cropped ears. I love it when his ears go back(like in the picture i posted). he looks kinda silly/doofy IMO when they are just normally sticking out. anyway... to the second part.

I've heard many stories...one that you should get the ears cropped BEFORE they are so old,, and then i've heard that you should wait until AFTER what everyone else says because they could die(which makes sense ,the older they get the more trauma their bodies can take). So..for those who'ev had it done..WHICH IS IT? He's ........14 weeks old right now (a little after 3 months)..is this to old? or is this the perfect time? Is it expensive to get it done? where should i go? do normal vets do this? What should i look for in the doctor that does it? How long do their ears have to stay in those things?

Like i said i have no clue about cropping because i've never had it done to any of my dogs past or present.

As far as the wifey..if you've had it done (and have pictures) could you post them and your story? ESP if you have puppy pics..I LOVE pitty puppy pictures..esp with cropped ears.

Thanks :y_the_best:

 

I agree that some look great with cropped ears and some look funny. I wonder if it's the shape of the face though, or the shape the ears are cropped? I personally like the look. I love the way Piper looks when she flips her ears forward and cocks her head sideways, but sometimes wish we had cropped hers. My vet told me we would need to do it no later than 12 weeks. I'm not sure if that is a personal preference or an absoulte. I believe I read that Pit's don't have to wear the casts after the surgery? I will be interested to read what the others know.

 

This subject was recently brought up on the all dogs forum here's the link.
http://www.auspet.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=5308
Pinky already had her ears cropped when I adopted her. IM pretty sure they were not done professionally they are very thick and there's lots of scar tissue build up. Bluebelle's ears were cropped by my choice. Punkin never had her ears cropped because she was so sickly as a puppy. I like her ears though they give her personality. Ear cropping is all about personal choice.

Bluebelle (before) Sorry the picture is not the greatest my computer crashed and I lost nearly all her baby pictures this one was scanned.


Bluebelle (Now)

 

Firstly I'd say its definatly depending on the dogs look, I see the same thing. Some with their ears cropped look so wrong and others (like Venom IMO) would look kind of goofy with ears.

Its not that painful IMO, the worse thing is probably the stitches, its more ITCHING then pain. Sometimes they will scratch them and cause a little bleeding.

You should check around with your local vets to see what their personal prefferences is and if they will do it at all. I'd also go to a vet thats done it for awhile and had experience with pits and knows how to do it. Some crop pits ears all wrong. Like a Great Dane or Doberman crop others do it way too short like a Cane Corso. I'd also try to get refferences of people who've used that vet and been satisfied because some are really sloppy. They come out uneven and goofy or they get badly infected.

Most vets won't do it until 9-10 weeks old because of the risk of loosing the pup while under. Some will only do it until 12 weeks, others 16 weeks and still others will do it no matter the age 12 weeks, 1 year, 2 years, ect. For best results I'd get it done before 4 months and definately before 6 months. It just works out better that way, its an easier recovering when they are younger their catalige isn't hard and their vessels haven't fully enlarged. It also cost more the older they are.


This is Tigra and her ears were done at about 3 months. They almost looked lopsided but only because of the way she held them, as she grew they stood up good. She had slight problems with them itching, she scratched and partially ripped one of the stitches out but they were almost healed and I removed them 2 days laler.
Her pup pic



This is Val her breeder did her ears before I got her. They are pretty much perfect and I think they give her a great look, very sharp.

This is her pup picture.


Ven had his done at the same vet as Tigra. I was very satisfied with the job he did so thats why I used him again for Tigra. His was done when he was a little younger then what she had hers done. He had no problems at all and didn't notice any difference in him.
His pup pic



Twister didn't have his ears done until he was 10 months old. They still turned out okay, I'm not sure if they look better either way. His pup picture.
Oh here is before his crop


This was my friends dog, came from the same breeder as Val who did his ears. He did have to wear tape for a few days because his ears didn't want to stand, for some reason they wanted to flop down. But they turned out looking real nice.

 

I think Twister looked better with ears. They didnt look too big and IMO they look good held back like that.
but thats just my opinion.