To crop or not to crop?

I adore the doberman breed and think they look gorgeous cropped and docked. I have seen dobie ears gone wrong and I hate the people that do it to them but I don't think it's bad when I vet that knows what their doing does it, especially for show reasons. I love Maggie with all of my heart and soul and if anyone thinks I'm a horrible pet owner because she was cropped and docked, well honestly I don't care. She's my baby.

edit: also to add that if a puppy is to old to be cropped and docked then I don't think it's right to do it, also I think their cute with out being cropped and/or docked.

My Ginger was already cropped when I got her, she was a rescued dog, but I don't think she looks funny or like a bat, I think she is beautiful just as she is. I had the choice with Cracker not to crop his ears and I chose not to. I don't see a need to do it but I am not going to condemn those who do it for showing purposes here in the states. That is the only way to get conformationally correct dogs or proper breeding, by showing. Until they make it against the law here I am not going to bash someone for doing it for that reason. I see no need to do it just because, though, and don't see myself ever cropping any of my dogs if given the choice. Their tails were done at three days old and I had no say in that but I don't mind that they have short tails, they don't have the chance of injuring it since it's already done. Had they come to me with long tails, they would still have long tails.

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Originally Posted by CagneyDog

No need to get hasty. I didn't even read the info, I just wanted to warn people that it may not be correct.

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You're right, I did overreact although some of my reaction had to do with other incidents that have happened and I PMed you regarding that. I should have just brushed it off, or responded more calmly ;).

I do still feel that unless you found something in the article that seemed questionable there was no need to warn people that it might be false. I do try to be careful and read through anything myself before using it as a reference. I used that article as a reference because I felt it was the most "informational" summary I could find at the time that was not a pro or anti cropping/docking site.

Hopefully we understand each other on this now and sorry for the rather strong outburst on my part :D.

I perfer cropped ears but I dispize the pain the dog goes through...

I like both, it's really up to the owner/breeder IMO. I don't think I'd have the heart to put any dog I personally owned through it, though. I don't know about other breeds, but show dog huskies also have their dew claws removed, but I'll bet it isn't as painful as cropping/docking.

Cropping-No

Docking-I am fine with.

(...ever seen eurpeon cockers with tails? :p )

We have cockers here with tails, they are so cute. I am against docking. It depresses me to see Autumn without a tail and think about how it got chopped off.

I normally like the look of natural ears with one exception, I like the doberman with cropped ears. If the pet is given a pain medicine after the surgery is done as it is supposed to be given, there isn't enough pain for the pet to notice. I wouldn't crop an older dogs ears. If a vet is good at what he does, I don't look at it as being the worst thing an owner could decide to do. It is TOTALLY different from declawing. You don't walk on your ears...

Another reason I love french bulldogs so much is that they are born with the breed standard look. Their ears stand up naturally and they are born with a very small tail - not much there.

I don't dislike the look of properly cropped ears but I dislike the procedure.

I do think there are still good reasons to dock tails though....my aunt's dog Levi is a Viszla/Pit mix, and his long natural tail wags so hard that he injures it and leaves bloody "Thwap thwap thwap" prints all over the house. I hear about it happening 4-5 times a year.

Since he is an adult, they don't really want to look into having it docked NOW, but if he had it done as a pup it could have saved him lots of pain and vet trips.

But at the same time, dogs use their tails in swimming, sitting, balancing, moving, etc. If we chopped off our limbs it'd save us pain and the trouble of breaking a leg or arm.

I wish I had the artical Amy had when I was in Utah. It was about how dogs "feel" their missing tails or limbs sometimes.. and how cropped dogs vs uncropped dog sit. It was an interesting read.

Yes there are a small percentage of dogs per year with broken tail tips, not much more than half are breeds that are normally cropped though. There's no way to predict which dog is going to have "happy tail syndrome".

I like natural much better... any breed I think looks better with natural ears. In my opinion it's kind of cruel.

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Originally Posted by tessa_s212

Cropping-No

Docking-I am fine with.

(...ever seen eurpeon cockers with tails? :p )

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I agree! Cocker's look very awkward with tails, they are really long.

Really don't agree with cropping, especially since it has virtually no function anymore.

i don't have anything against it. IF it is done properly and the owner does the proper after care. i think if you are going to have the surgery done, but not do the after care it's pointless and a waist of money and pain for the dog that didn't need to be done. i had Jake's ears cropped. he wasn't in a lot of pain and it didn't faze him a bit. i do plan on cropping my next dane too.