Ear Cropping

3016 Views 42 Replies 18 Participants Last post by Sinister, Sep 29, 2011

ppocalyko

Discussion Starter · Sep 26, 2011

My Male Doberman Krieg has his ears cropped and is 5 months old. Since the posting process, Kriegs ears has stood up for 8 days until one ear begins to droop over. This has happend to both sides, however it remains only one ear at a time will begin to droop. When this occurs we retape for another week or so and untape until this occurance happens again. We have read that during the teething period, which Krieg is experiancing, its normal for the ears to fall.

I am curious however, is there any warning signals to which the ears will never stand? Both have been up together the longest for 8 days, until one side begins to fall. His ears are a medium to long crop.

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Sinister

· #2 · Sep 26, 2011

I would keepp them posted until he is done teething.

Abby

· #3 · Sep 26, 2011

Well it sounds like he should have pretty good cartilage, but every time you let them fall will set you back farther- when you repost, leave them down for just a few hours to give them a break and put them right back up into posts. DON'T LET THEM FLOP. If it were my puppy, I'd feel like allowing them to flop was canceling out all progress we'd made. Just keep posting!

Warning signals? If you're still posting at two years they might not stand

Kidding, like I said, if they're standing for so long before flopping at this age it sounds like he has decent cartilage, they'll stand- just don't let them flop!

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Julie W

· #4 · Sep 26, 2011

You are prolonging the process by allowing them to start drooping each time before you re-post them. The first time they droop after posting at that age I would automatically continue posting for a month and then test them again.

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KevinK

· #5 · Sep 26, 2011

5 months is way too soon to start thinking about them not standing. Some people are still posting at a year old.

ppocalyko

Discussion Starter · #6 · Sep 26, 2011

Thanks for the information... I think we will keep him posted for the next month until his teething has finished.(untaping every week for a few hours and then retaping)

TheStig

· #7 · Sep 26, 2011

To the OP

There is 24 hours in a day, roughly 720 hours in a 30 day month and roughly 2,160 hours in a 3 month period. Do you really think letting the ears droop for an hour or two at a time will affect the ears in them standing? I didn't think so either. I left my pups ears un posted (between changings) for 1-2 days at a time, and his ears are done. I posted maybe 4 times in 1.5 months.

If cartilage hardened and formed that fast, ears would be standing perfectly when the cup came off the head. I think that with my pup, combining the vets knowledge and cropping work, and the pups own fortune of having good ears, I got lucky in having them done pretty fast.

Paranoia does not constitute knowledge. Most people are paranoid about the ears and never really give them a chance to breathe. No wonder there are so many threads about ear irritation.

I'm no expert, but neither is anyone else on this topic, but I think you are doing good by letting the ears breathe and have a break from having crap shoved in them, then taped so they won't come off!

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KevinK

· #8 · Sep 26, 2011

Stig, you've posted how many ears exactly? And isn't this your first doberman? You keep giving bad advice to people, I would suggest maybe kicking back and doing some more reading for a while...

Reactions: 5

Burns

· #9 · Sep 26, 2011

Julie W said:
You are prolonging the process by allowing them to start drooping each time before you re-post them.

^^ This. And completely NOT what TheStig posted.

Every time they are allowed to droop, you are derailing the process. Do let them air out between tapings, but only for an hour or so, and put them right back up.

Keep at it, and be diligent about keeping them up. I know its hard to wait but it will be worth it

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Adara

· #10 · Sep 26, 2011

TheStig said:
To the OP

There is 24 hours in a day, roughly 720 hours in a 30 day month and roughly 2,160 hours in a 3 month period. Do you really think letting the ears droop for an hour or two at a time will affect the ears in them standing? I didn't think so either. I left my pups ears un posted (between changings) for 1-2 days at a time, and his ears are done. I posted maybe 4 times in 1.5 months.

If cartilage hardened and formed that fast, ears would be standing perfectly when the cup came off the head. I think that with my pup, combining the vets knowledge and cropping work, and the pups own fortune of having good ears, I got lucky in having them done pretty fast.

Paranoia does not constitute knowledge. Most people are paranoid about the ears and never really give them a chance to breathe. No wonder there are so many threads about ear irritation.

I'm no expert, but neither is anyone else on this topic, but I think you are doing good by letting the ears breathe and have a break from having crap shoved in them, then taped so they won't come off!

How long is your Dobe's crop? I never let the ears flop nor did I ever have ear irritation. If done correctly, the ears will not get irritated or lose hair.

I'm glad your Dobe's ears stood great. However, statisically speaking letting them flop is the wrong way to do it and usually creates a longer taping process. I think we have to be careful when giving advice because sometimes our experiences may not be the norm per se.

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maggiemay

· #11 · Sep 26, 2011

TheStig said:
I'm no expert, but neither is anyone else on this topic

I'm sorry but you are so wrong on this statement.....there are many experts on this topic on this forum.

stryker2

· #12 · Sep 26, 2011

Keep posting. Clean them and air them out for a 1/2-1 hr. Do not wait until they start to fall.

Abby

· #13 · Sep 26, 2011

maggiemay said:
I'm sorry but you are so wrong on this statement.....there are many experts on this topic on this forum.

Yeah, I'm really not sure how he could claim that there aren't posting experts on this forum, we have members who have been posting ears for 50 years, and I'm not positive but I think we may even have some vets who crop on this forum. We definitely have experts, TheStig just isn't one of them.

TheStig

· #14 · Sep 27, 2011

The cliffs notes version:

-Unless you have a doctorate in veterinary medicine, specifically animal anatomy, you are not an expert. Simple as that.

-Unless you have done extensive testing with control groups...dogs being posted 24/7 with minimal time lapse between posting, and dogs being posted with a full 1-2 days between posting...you are only guessing. This is not opinion, this is fact. Fact, of this nature is scientific, and cannot be considered a fact unless tested.

-Ear cartilage is slow to form, slow to heal (if at all). A drooping ear just means the cartilage is not fully set. If a person were to let weeks pass by, then they will probably have a problem. 1 or 2 days in the scope of the thousands of hours some dogs need for the ears to set...I believe Jamie and Adam would bust that myth.

For whom asked:

-This is my first time posting ears (it's not rocket surgery). The cut is medium length. I posted for around 6-10 days each time, with 1-2 full days between, depending on the ears. If they started to fall, they went back up. Do not confuse me saying letting the ears be unposted for a day or two with me saying let a droopy ear be unposted for a day or two. Either way probably wouldn't make a huge difference, but I wanted to give my little guy a break.

-I realize that having your own opinion is blasphemy here, but I care very little about what others think about my opinion. The vet who did my pup told me to leave the ears unposted for a day or two between posting, and this coming from his 30 years of experience.

-My pups ears are done. I had no problems.

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Abby

· #15 · Sep 27, 2011 (Edited)

TheStig said:
-This is my first time posting ears (it's not rocket surgery).

R...rocket ....surgery?
:doctor:

Edit: to humor you, I looked up "expert." Turns out nothing in the definition mentions using scientific method or studies. Nothing about control groups, nothing about data or statistics. Just a person who possesses "a comprehensive and authoritative knowledge of or skill." Just knowledge and skill.

I'd also add that I know of very few DVMs that I think are even partially satisfactory at posting ears, and many more that I feel gave such awful advice it's amazing that some puppies ears stand despite the terrible advice they give. Cropping experts are not posting experts. Additionally, I believe some of the best ear croppers out there aren't DVMs, but breeders.

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the_discowhore

· #16 · Sep 27, 2011

TheStig said:
-Unless you have a doctorate in veterinary medicine, specifically animal anatomy, you are not an expert. Simple as that.

They don't teach cropping and posting at vet school... so what good is a doctorate in vet med when we are discussing posting? Keep in mind that most of the botch crop/post jobs on this forum were done by people who went to vet school.

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Adara

· #17 · Sep 27, 2011

TheStig said:
The cliffs notes version:

-Unless you have a doctorate in veterinary medicine, specifically animal anatomy, you are not an expert. Simple as that.

-This is my first time posting ears (it's not rocket surgery). The cut is medium length. I posted for around 6-10 days each time, with 1-2 full days between, depending on the ears. If they started to fall, they went back up. Do not confuse me saying letting the ears be unposted for a day or two with me saying let a droopy ear be unposted for a day or two. Either way probably wouldn't make a huge difference, but I wanted to give my little guy a break.

-I realize that having your own opinion is blasphemy here, but I care very little about what others think about my opinion. The vet who did my pup told me to leave the ears unposted for a day or two between posting, and this coming from his 30 years of experience.

-My pups ears are done. I had no problems.

Actually most vets have little to no expertise on the subject of ear taping. I did find this definition of expert on the interent - person who has a comprehensive and authoritative knowledge of or skill in a particular area.

Again statistically it would seem leaving tghe ears down does, in fact, lengthen the taping process. Who knows maybe if you hadn't left the ears down they would haev been done sooner? People who have literally been doing this for years have seen that leaving them down does statistically lengthen the taping process.

There is absolutely nothing wrong with having your own opinion but I think some clarification helps. My first 2 males were human aggressive and put down. I could, therefore, condlude that all red and behold this was not the norm.

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Whiskey

· #18 · Sep 27, 2011

/facepalm @ thestig.

@ OP: Keep on posting!

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KevinK

· #19 · Sep 27, 2011

TheStig said:
The cliffs notes version:

-Unless you have a doctorate in veterinary medicine, specifically animal anatomy, you are not an expert. Simple as that.

-Unless you have done extensive testing with control groups...dogs being posted 24/7 with minimal time lapse between posting, and dogs being posted with a full 1-2 days between posting...you are only guessing. This is not opinion, this is fact. Fact, of this nature is scientific, and cannot be considered a fact unless tested.

-Ear cartilage is slow to form, slow to heal (if at all). A drooping ear just means the cartilage is not fully set. If a person were to let weeks pass by, then they will probably have a problem. 1 or 2 days in the scope of the thousands of hours some dogs need for the ears to set...I believe Jamie and Adam would bust that myth.

For whom asked:

-This is my first time posting ears (it's not rocket surgery). The cut is medium length. I posted for around 6-10 days each time, with 1-2 full days between, depending on the ears. If they started to fall, they went back up. Do not confuse me saying letting the ears be unposted for a day or two with me saying let a droopy ear be unposted for a day or two. Either way probably wouldn't make a huge difference, but I wanted to give my little guy a break.

-I realize that having your own opinion is blasphemy here, but I care very little about what others think about my opinion. The vet who did my pup told me to leave the ears unposted for a day or two between posting, and this coming from his 30 years of experience.

-My pups ears are done. I had no problems.

You are allowed to post any opinion you want. Nobody cares if you have an opinion. When what you're saying is not only wrong, but outright dangerous in many cases, then you are going to get called on it. You not only don't know much about posting ears, but about dobermans in general. Yet, you give some pretty strong sounding advice, which is based on nothing but an opinion. You are arguing with people who have been posting ears for decades... You have posted 4 times. Somehow, this makes you more qualified than people who have posted too many ears to count over decades? You argue about same sex aggression, based on what, your 5 month old puppy? Again, your talking to people with decades of experience. Handlers, trainers, judges, rescue workers, rehabbers, behaviorists, real people in the dog world who have seen it all. You have what, 2 or 3 months experience? Like I mentioned above, I would recommend sitting back and reading some more. Get some experience under your belt. I could care less about having a degree, a degree by no means makes someone an expert, and not having one most certainly does not mean they are not an expert.

I don't think anyone is out to get you or anything like that, but when someone posts bad advice, like I said, they will get called on it. You just happen to do it very often...

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sam&macksmom

· #20 · Sep 27, 2011

nope, no experts here...

http://www.dobermantalk.com/puppy-corner/58133-taping-natural-fold.html

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