Cassie's Mom, each breed has a written standard, developed by the club for that breed. And yes, the standard for many requires docking, tail, ears or both.

This is the standard for the bichon.

http://www.bichon.org/akc.htm

You can google the breed name and standard and find the one you are thinking about. The Boston terrier has this standard:

http://www.bostonterrierclubofameric...dStandard.html

As you read through it, it says the ears must be erect, either naturally or docked.

And the standard varies based on which kennel club you are competeing in. AKC; UKC, CKC, and then all the other countries.