Dobermann and Cropped Ears

I am keen on the above breed but have to admit that I prefer the cropped ear look. That is simply my personal opinion. I am not refering to whether I believe it is acceptable or not to inflict surgery, on a dog, simpy for cosmetic reasons.

What I am wondering is this.....when the breed was created, or even a little further down the line, was it not possible to introduce relevant genes to the breed so that naturally they would have erect ears

I think cutting off a dogs ears and making them stand unnaturally is disgusting IMO. Only in America.

Of course they COULD have done that in the early years of the development of the breed, but they are not 'supposed' to have erect ears. It is only the nitwits that thought cropping would be a clever idea to make the dogs look hard that the sickening trend for it began.

I detest cropped ears. I know you mentioned that the process is irrelevant which is fair enough but it's the look of it that I dislike too. Everyone has their own opinions and likes and dislikes which is obviously fine. I dislike the cropped ear look as much as I dislike docked tails. Just my opinion. I'm sure they could have bred shorter more erect ears into the breed if they had wanted to though.

I could be mistaken but whilst it is now done for cosmetic reasons, I thought the original reason was so the ears could not be easily grabbed? (The same reason the tail was docked).

I think the cropped ears was a bit of an afterthought when it was realised that they could be grabbed at and so the genetics were already in place.

Like I say - I could be wrong.

I much prefer the breed with natural ears and a full tail, it's the way they look for me, not particularly the process (although that is disgusting) - the ears just look too big when cropped and the whole dog looks harsher and American!

So some say, which is ridiculous. Ears can still be grabbed when cropped. On that logic you might as well remove all of the dogs extremities to protect them from being 'grabbed'.

The reality is that dogs were originally cropped to make them look more aggressive. Now, people that are transfixed with making a dog look a certain way carry on the tradition.

I love cropped ears and there have been dobes with naturally erect ears and they looked awful! They are the wrong shape as croppping shapes them (dependant on where in the world they are)

I lived i Spain for a lot of years and when you see these pups with cut and shaped ears bandaged with a stick wedged between their ears and this is just to make them look more
aggressive is ridiculous and pointless. Its not only America they do this

Well I'm glad they didn't put the relevant genes into the mix so they have naturally erect ears. Not only do I detest cropped ears, the look as well as the butchery, I don't even like erect ears. I'll keep mine with their ears as they are thanks.

I think it looks horrible and it is cruel and selfish thing to do

Dogs communicate with their ears and their tails - lets not spoil that communication

and gluing and whatever else is just silly too - if there are no health issues and the ears work fine then leave em alone! if there are problems then breed better ears

Personally I don't like the look of cropped ears, nor condone the practice. But agree with Borderdawn on one thing; No dog has ears naturally that shape. Ear cropping is the only way to get that shape of ear. A Doberman with natural erect ears would have the big ol lugs of something like an Ibizan hound or Pharaoh hound, not this thin pointed shape...

Pharaoh hound


Cropped ear Doberman


But how could you do this to your doggy?


ETA: Dont get me wrong, these look like well cared fro good condition dogs, but.... still.. Not for me. I would never put a dog through this for personal aesthetics.