[KoaRed]

So my boy turned 10 weeks today and was picked up from the vet yesterday, he got his ears cropped. I had to hold back my tears when the vet handed me him because I could immediately see how strange his ears had been wrapped and how they were uneven in shapes! I am not going to re-crop because I don't want to put my boy through this again and frankly he left so little ear that there is not much that could be done. I am just SO upset that i received this result after being promised something completely different from a trusted vet who has taken care of my families dogs fro years all the way from surgeries to vaccines. Any suggestions if I should retape using the cup method or leave it as is? He goes back in a week to remove stitches..

 

[greenkouki]

This is why it's so important to go to an expert doberman ear cropper used by show breeders, or better yet purchase a puppy from a reputable breeder and the pup will come to you with a great crop. Make sure the cut edges are clean, dry, and not covered in any way. Let them heal for about 2 weeks and then see where you stand.

 

[KoaRed]

these are the pictures

 

[melbrod]

What length were his ears before he was cropped? It is *possible* that the vet didn't have much length to work with.

But the wrapping looks OK, so long as all the stitches and cut areas are open to the air. If not, I would unwrap them and either let them hang or tape them together, tip to tip, over the top of his head for a couple of weeks until the surgical cuts heal, and the stitches are out.

Then you can start to post them and see what you end up with.

If you want to post pics of him at that stage, we can help you with the posting--also see our tutorial
http://www.dobermantalk.com/ear-cro...ting-directions-photo-tutorial-my-method.html.

We usually recommend that you learn how to post ears on your own--many vets don't know how to post properly--and you can fix any problems you might have right away instead of having to wait for an appt. too.

 

[Artemis]

Not all "vets who cropped" know "how to crop". And some specialize more in the specific crops of certain breeds etc. No matter how good they might be at taking care of your pets, cropping requires a certain set of eyes and artistic skills. Now you know. But just so you're aware, the way the ears look fresh after a crop can be a bit misleading to the untrained eye and don't always look the way they're end up after posting etc.

 

[4x4bike ped]

@ Koa

I can't really tell, but they don't look particularly butchered from my POV.

So... re-read the above advice and take it to heart. It is SO correct. Let them heal with NO sutures covered. Then go from there. Learn how to post yourself. If you don't trust your vet to crop, I certainly wouldn't trust them to post correctly

Also, as Artemis stated, good vets (even great vets) are rarely excellent, or even competent ear croppers. It is a specialty, almost an art.

John
Portland OR

 

[KoaRed]

thank you all so much for the great advice I didn't wanna sound like a whining baby but after doing so much research and seeing how crops should look and how they should be bandaged I was just in shock since I only want the best for my butterball. the pictures don't do justice cause I can't get the right angle since he'll only hold still for .21 seconds but there's a significant difference when you look at him head on. he left a lot more bell on one side then the other. praying it won't be so noticable once it's healed and they stand on their own.. I will definitely be leading how to post on my own. thanks guys !

 

[KoaRed]

his ears the day before surgery

 

[PatchworkRobot]

When I got my puppy I was a first time doberman (and dog) owner. I knew that I needed to trust his breeder but I also could have sworn that his ears were uneven because they looked different no matter what angle I looked at them from and no matter how still my puppy was. They weren't different after all and he definitely grew into them better than I thought he was. That's the thing with dobermans and ears - from what I've seen, 98% of the time the things that the new owners are unsure about end up becoming non-issues. Give it time. Let your boy's ears air out and heal and then start posting them. If it's still a huge problem after they're standing strong, then you can start considering next steps.

 

[DreamingDoberman]

It is way to hard to tell from these pictures what the shape of the crop actually looks like. But he came to you correctly, stitches exposed to air.

I am interested to see pictures once his ears are healed and are about to be posted to see the shape of the crop.