Ear Cropping

[Chatito]

I would like to crop my pups ears, *but would like to get a nice pic of the "show crop" so I can show it to my vet. My vet is suppose to bring me photos of what he has done, but I would like some input from you all to compare. Thank you.

[Zhanna]

But he's so cute with his little floppy ears! *You could go to the American Kennel Club website and get good confirmation pics.
We're not going to clip Henry's ears. *I'm a sucker for the floppy. *Good luck.
Zhanna

[samsonsmom]

I'm with Zhanna, I'm a sucker for natural ears. Both Buck & Tia's were natural. Samson's were done prior to me getting him, but they did a good job at least..It's a personal preference really, but yes, I would want references from your vet before doing it. I have seen some horrible cut jobs.. Ck the AKC website & also try the internet...

[mom2scoutandgunner]

We found the style we wanted in a boxer book we got from Waldenbooks. *I prefer the medium cut to the tall cut. *The tall cut IMO is for dobbies and the shorter cut is for pitbulls. *It's just something stuck in my mind. *I think our vet did a wonderful job on both of ours. *

There are pictures at the following websites:

http://www.thepetcenter.com/gen/earc.html
http://www.animalcarecenters.net/ear_crops.htm

Or you could check out my photo album for some ideas: *http://www.boxerforums.com/modules.p...g2_itemId=1148

It does take patience when you have them cropped. *See if your vet uses the turban or if they tape them individually. *I prefer the turban because they tend to stand up better when they take it off. *Taping them individually does not give the ears the stability they need when healing. *After 10 days, the turban can come off and then if needed, they can tape them individually. *Only Gunner needed his taped after the turban came off and that was only 1 stubborn ear and only for a week.

Feel free to pm me if you have any questions, before or after you have them done.

[Chatito]

Thanx for the references!

[Braddock]

So the ear cropping only took a little more than two weeks? *I always thought it took months. *I'm a sucker for the natural ears as well, however after seeing a few on this forum, I am beginning to see the other side.... slightly. :wink:

[Newcastle]

It depends on the cut and on the ear; I've had a few that only needed to be taped for a month or so, and others that took almost a year.

[BurningRiver]

The actual surgery takes approximately one to two weeks to heal (the edges of the incision site do scab over). The tape is used after the ears have healed to make them stand - at that point, you're simply waiting for the cartilage to fill in and make the ear more rigid.

I've had very good luck with my current puppy bitch in that her ears stood at 5 months. I've had others that haven't stood until they were 8 months old (a dobe that we had growing up still didn't stand until he was almost a year and a half!).

[mom2scoutandgunner]

Wow, I consider myself lucky! *I didn't realize that it could take that long in some puppies for their ears to stand up. *The picture in my avatar is when gunner was about 3 mos. old.

[Chatito]

Ok guys, this is an update: The vet finally retaped my Chato's ears. Although, I have not seen this "style" of taping before. He put no support, such as a rod or a crown. He said that since his ears were flopping inward on top of his head, he did not want to add the crown again. Also, Chato ended up hurting himself on the lower part of both ears, so it is still tender. What do you all think about this taping? It's pure tape, he just told me that he had to "weight the ears down.....opinions?