Ear Cropping: What’s The Point?

When it comes to ear cropping, it can be a painful surgery. Ear cropping involves cutting off up to two thirds’ of the earflap and is done when the dog is 7 weeks and 6 months old. Many nerve endings and acupuncture zones are removed during ear cropping. The raw, bloody edges are then closed with stitches from the bottom to the tip of the ear.

There is a strong debate in the US on whether or not this practice is humane. Many believe that the practice of ear cropping is completely archaic and fails to serve any purpose other than aesthetics. Historically, the ears of fighting dogs and flocked guardian breeds were cropped because the ears an easy target in fights, either between other dogs or wolves.

There are numerous risks involved in the procedure. Many times the job is botched because it is completed by the breeder instead of a licensed vet. Sometimes the ears won’t match, and/or may not heal correctly. They may even fail to stand as they should.
Sometimes as a puppy ages, ears that seemed normal at the time of cropping, will become uneven and small on the adult dog’s head. Some puppies might even bleed to death at the hands of inexperienced breeders trying to cut costs by doing their own cropping. There are also puppies who sustained permanent mental and physical damage because of poorly administered anesthetic. Even if the surgery is done correctly, a dog can actually have a “bad healing or carriage”, this can damage the puppy for demonstration purposes and ruin the look.

Even though US breeders and owners seem to be divided about ear cropping, Europe outlawed ear cropping and the docking of tails in 1987 with the European Convention for the Protection of Pet Animals. The United Kingdom officially adopted this in March of 2006. Their dogs are just as attractive as in the states, even if in just a slightly different way. The natural ear of the Schnauzer is no more unattractive than that of the Fox Terrier, and breeders in those countries are spared the expense and the risk along with bother of cropping. Fashion for ladies is always changing. Winter, Spring, Summer and Fall brings differences in periods of modification of everyone’s individual taste. However, after a while we become used to ladies wearing boots, mini-skirts, long hair styles, or the latest sneakers available, and these things seem normal, and possibly attractive. Many feel that it would only take a short time period to get used to the brand new look of the dogs with natural style ears.

In America, the AKC breed standards reflect 13 breeds that routinely have cropped ears:

Affenpinschers
Boxers
Briard
Manchester Terriers
Doberman Pinschers
Miniature Pinschers
Schnauzers (Miniature Schnauzer, Standard Schnauzer, Giant Schnauzer)
Beaucerons
Pyrenean Shepherds
Great Danes
Neapolitan Mastiffs
Black Russian Terriers
Bouvier des Flandres

Information provided by Michael Plant of Oh My Dog Supplies, the best store to buy dog pajamas online.