Quote Originally Posted by Giselle
Well, I think cropped ears are beautiful on appropriate breeds like Boxers, Danes, and especially Dobermans. I think it gives Dobermans an exceptionally regal and streamlined look. Cropping was not a pointless "cosmetic surgery" years ago, although the need for shortly cropped ears is definitely no longer an issue since today's dogs are not used for vicious sports (usually).
I agree --- I think that cropped ears make the dog appear much sharper and smarter. I don't agree with cropping, but I do think cropped ears look better.

I can see why the majority of show people crop ears --- because the ones with uncropped ears just don't win. You'll never see a North American Best in Show boxer with uncropped ears. It just wouldn't happen. So I understand the breeder's point of view, who want their dogs to do alot of winning. If I were in the situation of being a show breeder of a cropped breed, I think I'd like to have some cropped and some uncropped dogs -- it's alot more fun trying to be the owner of the very first best in show uncropped dog than it is to automatically win with a nice looking cropped dog. So I do have mixed feelings. In all honesty I wish that all of the registries would ban cropping altogether. It's original puprose was for the working dog -- but then we get situations like these, where it's only used to make the dog look mean. So why bother anymore? If the registries did ban it, it would certainly prove which dogs come from irresponsible breeders and which dogs are being used for fighting. Of course their are the legitimate working dogs, but those are so far and few apart I can't imagine it effecting a huge portion of the canine population.

Just some of my thoughts. I don't think that trying to make a dog look mean is a very legitimate reason to crop it's ears. I understand that was why Louis Dobermann started cropping his dogs ears, but this was a different day and age, and mutilation was thought of much differently then. These days there are so many different breeds to choose from -- alot of them already have upright ears. I understand that they might not all have the "sharp" look of a cropped ear...But if it's a pet puppy, not a show or working puppy, looks shouldn't be that important, should they?