Thursday, May 3, 2012

The Doberman: Ear Cropping and Posting

In The Doberman: Do the Looks Make the Breed? I talked about cropping and docking. Today I thought I would take it a little bit further and talk about ear cropping and the aftercare, posting specifically.

Before I got Elka, I didn't really think much about how Doberman ears got that way. When I learned that it was a surgery at around 7-12 weeks, I wasn't too bothered by it, clearly. I wasn't even too phased by the notion of posting the ears (which is what you call it when you have them taped like that), though I should have given that more thought, I think. Imagine a 16 week puppy whose had the post pop out of place, whining as you fix her up again. It was a process, and we got off easy! Elka was cropped in July, and by the end of August, we were no longer taping her ears. Some people have to tape them for a year or more!



I don't actually have very many pictures of Elka in her "space helmet". I  have something of a blessed amnesia about that age of her puppyhood, filled with constant potty trips outside and teaching her "No scratch", as pertained to her head. 

Typically, when a cropped puppy comes home, their ears are either left to flop (the edges stitched), or glued to a cup on their head, making them look like a herd of adorable long faced Shriners. When the stitches come out is when the posting and taping bonanza begins.

WhYou can look at this thread on Doberman Talk; I think this was my first encounter reading the forum! We didn't do it exactly as the thread reads, but I guess we did all right. No infections, and they stood! Fast!

Basically, you take a post of some form, be it backer rods cut to size, tampons with cardboard applicators, popsicle sticks, etc. You wrap it with tape, and then "back wrap" it so that there's a sticky side out layer of tape. You settle one end into the ear and gently stretch up on the ear so that the lengths match up (this prevents "pockets" and weird creasing and such). Then you wrap with athletic or cloth tape. Depending on what stage you've reached, you put a "bridge" across the top of the head as well, to keep things secure. Ideally, the ears will point gently towards 10 and 2 on a clock face, to acclimate the muscles to holding them upright, gaining control, etc.


Elka's crop, though I would have preferred a bit more artistry to it, a little bit between a "medium" crop and a "pet" crop (we asked for medium, by the by). The Dobermans that we saw at Westminster  had longer "show" crops. These crops can take a good deal more posting than we had to deal with, depending on the strength of the dog's cartilage. A good photo example of a Military/Pet crop, a Medium Crop, and a Show Crop can be seen here at DobermanClub.org

If I occasion to tape ears again (really, I do feel that this is in my future at some point), I'm going to give the following method a whirl. It's organized, uses minimal tape, and seems to be everything you want from a method. The kennel that owns that YouTube account seems to be in Brazil, so it's in Portugese, not English, but even watching with the sound off, you get the idea.



It is worth noting that an earmark (get it?) of a reputable breeder is to have the puppies cropped and take care of the immediate aftercare (antibiotics, painkillers) before sending the puppy home. Sometimes, puppies aren't sent home until after the stitches are removed, but everybody does things differently. I  mention this briefly in Picking a Breeder, but don't detail why. Reasons vary, of course, but should a dog be returned to a breeder (and again, a reputable breeder will tend to have a contract that states a dog returns to him or her, should the original home no longer work out), a cropped dog is easier to find a new home for. Cropped dogs are easier to put championships on, currently, though with the amount of countries banning cropping and docking, we may see a dramatic shift there. This of course isn't to say that there are no natural eared American champions; I'm sure there are. It just isn't the current status quo.

So, taping Doberman ears can be a daunting prospect, but it isn't impossible. Important things to remember are to keep an eye (and nose) on them to make sure that there is no sign of infection. Also, the tape does not need to be tight! Adequately wrapped, yes, but too tight, and you run the risk of cutting off the circulation and damaging the ear, which would cause a lot of pain and discomfort for your puppy.





11 comments:

  1. I do not think I would like to have to deal with cropping and all that taping and after care. I get a little squeamish when it comes to that kind of thing. :)

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  2. Very informative. I've never read a detailed explanation of ear cropping. Tail cropping of Poodles is infinitely easier. One snip, two stitches and it's done for life. But I adamantly think it should be done. I'm wondering if Dobie breeders also have the dewclaws removed.

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    1. Dewclaws are removed around the time the tail is docked. All of that is around 3 days old. Ear cropping is done much later usually between 7 and 12 weeks with 7 to 9 weeks being the ideal.

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    2. I'm pretty sure Doberman tail docking is comparatively easy to poodle tail docking! Dobies do have the dewclaw removed, as Marinegeekswife covered.

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  3. Great post. Very informative about posting without involving all the stupid politics that come up about the subject. We used a similar method when posting both Spock and River. On the breeder having the ears cropped being a sign of a reputable breeder, that was our experience. Spock was our first purebred dog and while we tried to pick a good breeder we didn't do the best possible job. She sent him home uncropped and too young. We had his ears done by a vet but they didn't turn out as well as I would have liked. With River we had learned our lesson. We picked a better breeder who takes her puppies to a vet that does a marvelous job on the ears.

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    1. Thanks!

      I support cropping and docking, and it's my blog, so I don't have to talk about politics ;p (well, if somebody asked I would. But other than that....)

      I do wish sometimes that Elka's ears were better, but by the time we noticed, I didn't want to put her through surgery again anyway. She's still my pretty girl!

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  4. I wouldn't be able to deal with ears like that. I would find the whole thing too daunting!

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    1. It is at the same time not as bad and far worse than you think! Kind of funny, really. All in all, the only thing that really seemed to bother Elka was the taping, and the removal of stitches (which my breeder did not, in fact, take care of). Other than that, she didn't display any stress or pain that seemed to be as a result of her ears.

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  5. I recently had my dobe Apollo's ears cropped and were dealing with the taping now. I just posted them for the first time today and he is so bothered by it, I have to make him wear a cone. I am not happy with the job the vet did on his ears either. They didn't use any adhesive remover when the took the cup off and now he has no hair on his ears. I'm guessing its going to take a while to grow back. Anyways, I wrapped his ears with an ace bandage type of tape before taping them so that its not irritating his naked ears any worse.

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  6. I am just learning about dog ear cropping in Littleton CO. How do you know if it is right for your dog?

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    1. Typically, a good rule of thumb is that if your breeder did not take care of the ear cropping, you're probably better off leaving the ears natural. A reputable breeder of a cropped breed will take care of the cropping of the litter, and be available to help new owners with aftercare and other questions.

      From the picture on the front page of Columbine Animal Hospital, I would not be happy with a crop that looked like that. Ear cropping (from what I understand) is not really taught in veterinary school, but taught between vets. Some are "artists", some are simply vets. You want somebody who is experienced, and who can offer the best suited crop for your dog.

      Also, Doberman ears are most typically cropped at 7 weeks (though this does vary) with 12 weeks being the absolute latest. For Columbine Animal Hospital to recommend 10 does not necessarily apply to the Doberman breed. Other cropped breeds, I do not have the information on that, and it could vary.

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