[jinglejang]

Hello. I have read through lots of posts on DT, but am new to posting

We are getting our new puppy in 2 weeks. We are so excited!! We had to put our 8 year old dobie down in January. She had cancer in her sinus. We miss her so much and are excited to have another one in our family.

We left our last dobie's ears natural, but have decided to have our new puppies ears cropped. I am having a really difficult time finding a local vet that does a good job.

We are in Boise, ID. One vet that we are considering using is Dr. Segnar in Homedale, ID. I wonder if anyone on the forum has experience with him. The receptionist said he's been cropping dobermans for 20+ years, but they have no pics of his work. I have looked into a handful of other vets in the area, but have not been impressed with the pictures I have seen of their work.

I have heard great things about Dr. Pew in Orem, UT and Dr. Smith in Sherwood, OR (that's who my breeder recommends), but they are both 7-8 hours away.

I would love to hear about any experiences others have had with vets in my area. I am willing to travel a few hours away if necessary, just hoping to find someone closer than 7-8 hours away.

Here is a pic of our little girl at 5 weeks old.

Thanks in advance!

 

[PatchworkRobot]

I have no recommendations but I wanted to say welcome :]

 

[sam&macksmom]

private message member: Marieldobes

She lives in Idaho and might be able to provide a recommendation.

 

[Marieldobes]

I've not heard anything about Dr. Segnar or Dr. Smith, but then I'm up in the panhandle of Idaho. However, I wouldn't hesitate to take my pup to Dr. Pew. He does a very nice job and I think you'd be pleased. I've referred him to a number of people from southern Idaho who have contacted me for ear crops. In my opinion, the drive would be worth it!

Jan

 

[Wylde]

Ok, I am in Northern Idaho/Washington. My breeder sends all of her pups to the Lewiston/clarkston area. He does an amazing job !! Med crop/ laser . My girl came home a few hours after the crop, playing rough housing. he leaves them down for 7-10 days to heal and then posts em. None of the pups had swelling/redness with their crops, no open sores, it was like they were born with little cropped ears LOL Not sore for the pups at all, I was amazed with his "artwork"

Let me see if I can upload a couple pics

Although I am unsure of the name of the vet, I think the clinic is River City Animal or something of that nature Just across the state line from Lewiston. In Clarkston I am pretty sure. I will have to do some digging

Here is a photo just a few hours after the crop and another all grown up

 

[Wylde]

oops sorry here is her grown up picture

 

[jinglejang]

Thanks for the info Wylde! Do you recall how much the vet charges?

 

[jinglejang]

Thanks for the pics too, BTW Her ears look great!

 

[Wylde]

I dont, it was included in the price of the pup

 

[o0 sHaDoWoLf 0o]

I live in Seattle Wa and my breeder did the ears for me. I had the same question when I first became a member here. From what I learned from this forum and a lot of research, an ethical breeder will do the ears for you.

I am just going off the info that you provided, not knowing where you are getting your pup from I am just trying to pay it forward with the information that helped me pick a healthy puppy that was thoroughly health tested and saved me the burden of finding a vet that can artistically crop.

My experience was that I thought that I was buying from a good breeder, she advertised AKC and champion blood lines but I learned that the term "AKC" doesn't mean healthy puppies. I found out that you can simply take a any full breed dog and AKC register them, regardless where they came from.

Champion blood lines did not guarantee that the parents were health tested for diseases that could be passed to the puppies. A ethical breeder should be able to provide all the tests from the Sire and the Dam proving they will not pass on any hereditary diseases,

An ethical breeder will also crop the ears for you with a trusted, artistic vet. So that you don't have to worry about it. They breeder will also help you with the posting and any after care with life time support if anything were to happen.

Say something really bad happened like for an example in a worst case scenario you lost your home and you had to move into an apartment that didn't accept Dobermans. Your breeder would be there for you to help you out with your situation my taking back the dog so that you don't have to worry about re homing them and not knowing whether your dog was going to the right home. The breeder will do that for you.

When I found out that the breeder I was getting my puppy from didn't provide any of those things I realized that I was getting my puppy from a backyard breeder. I did not want that, I wanted a healthy Doberman. I wanted a Doberman that would live a long happy life.

Backyard breeders do not test for and genetic diseases and there are many diseases like Cancer
Dilated Cardiomyopathy (DCM)
Cervical Vertebral Instability (Wabbler Syndrome)
Hypothyroidism
von Willebrand’s
Hip Dysplasia

these diseases can kill your beloved Doberman at an early age, so this was something that I did not want. So I asked for my deposit back, made up some excuse to the BYB that I couldn't get the puppy and surprisingly she gave me my money back. Even if I didn't receive my money back I was willing to walk, actually run away and find myself a reputable breeder that did health test.

I love this breed so much I wanted to represent the breed in the best way possible. Yes buying a dog from a reputable breeder can be pricey but I know that all that money went into raising the puppies with the up most best veterinary care and great socialization.

I also will not be paying thousands of dollars in vet bills along the way. A reputable breeder dedicates their time in money into raising a healthy great tempered dog, bettering the breed. Not breeding them for a quick buck.

Again I don't want to assume that you are getting you new puppy from a byb I am just throwing this information out there in case you did not know.

Because I for one did not and was happy that this forum was here to lead me to on of the BEST DECISION I ever made.

By listening to these wonderful people on this forum the lead me to this Handsome Dobe named Odin.

I of all people didn't think I would be able to walk away from a puppy I had already picked out. I was raised by 8 different dogs and I am a huge dog lover, but I knew that if I was to put more money into a byb's pockets I knew I would be encouraging them to breed more puppies that were not health tested and more dogs would end up homeless or in shelters.

My Doberman came from Ravensown Dobermans in Granite Falls Washington. There are many more local reputable Doberman breeders here in Washington. The Northwest has some of the best Doberman breeders

 

[jinglejang]

Thanks for the info and concern ShadoWolf. I really do appreciate it!

I fully admit that we did not do our homework when we purchased our first doberman 8 years ago. We did a ton of research deciding what breed we wanted. But since we had no interest in showing her, we didn't think titles and health testing were that important. We purchased her from a BYB that was on his way out the door with the entire litter (minus the one we picked) to sell the rest of the puppies to a pet shop. My heart sank when he told us that's what he was doing with the rest of the litter. Our puppy ended up being a wonderful pet, but I can't help but wonder if her genetics played a role in her dying of cancer at a fairly young age. Either way, I would not change a thing about our experience with her. We have so many wonderful memories with her . HOWEVER, I will not make the same mistake twice. And I will not do anything to further condone the practice of BYBing.

With this puppy, I did not want to make the same mistake twice, so we have done our research and picked a breeder that I consider to be ethical and reputable. I am frustrated and disappointed though that she is not doing the ears before the puppy comes home. I agree 100% that this should be offered and taken care of. She had originally planned on taking the entire litter to her preferred vet in Oregon at 8 weeks old (for those that wanted it done), but has had some unforeseen things come up that are now preventing her from being able to do so. She has taken her other litters there and they do a great job. We just found out a couple of weeks ago that she will not be able to do it with this litter.

I have spent so much time trying to find a vet that really knows how to do ear cropping. I am so worried and paranoid about having a botched crop job. I have found a handful in my area that do it, and charge a pretty penny for it, but they do an awful job in my opinion. If I were a breeder and it were my puppies, I would not want to risk any of them ending up with ugly crop jobs. Especially seeing now for myself all the awful jobs that some of these vets so proudly do! So, again, I disagree with her decision to not get the ears done, but aside from that, she has been great to work with.

Both the dam and the sire come from European bloodlines and are AKC registered. They have both been health tested and are certified clear of hip and elbow displaysia by OFA, certified clear of hereditary eye disease, clear of hypothyroidism and clear of vWD. And I have seen all the documentation to prove it. Puppy comes with a 1 year health guarantee against hereditary defects/illnesses.

It is also included in the puppy contract that they will take the puppy back if for any reason we are unable to keep her and will find her a new home. The contract also states that the puppy is not to be bred until at least 2 yrs of age and not until all above mentioned health testing is completed, and even then, only bred to a dog that has all the same health testing completed. So, again, I feel she is very ethical. Just had some things come up that are preventing her from making the several hour trip to a reputable vet to have ears done.

BTW ShadoWolf...your dog is gorgeous!! Thanks for sharing the pic.

Thanks again to everyone for all the input! I truly do appreciate it. I am hoping to find a vet closer to home, but if that is not possible, we will be making a trip to wherever is necessary to get the job done right

 

[o0 sHaDoWoLf 0o]

well if you can not find a vet in Idaho there are a couple of vets here in the Seattle area that do crop. The vet that did my boy's ears is located in the Seattle area Home Page I know of another vet but I do not know his information. He used to practice at the Northgate Veterinary Clinic, he has retired now but he still crops. I do not know where. I recently saw a boxer puppy with one of his crop jobs and it looked really nice. Maybe if you contact the clinic he used to own maybe they can give you his information Northgate Veterinary Clinic

The other breeders that I know around here have their litters done by vets in Canada and sometimes fly people in to do their litters ears.

Please if you have any questions about your breeder post your questions, there is a lot of well educated people here on the forum that can help answer your question about red flags on a breeder. Some breeders do everything they can to make themselves look legit but in the end are not and once the pup is out the door you never hear from them again.

I am not saying yours is one of those, like I said in my other post I am just providing as much information as possible. When I was doing my research I came across a breeder that did some health testing but not all of what is needed. They also had a 1 year health guarantee, and talked about champion blood lines. A reputable breeder will not breed a dog unless they have some titles in things like Show, agility, obedience etc.

I was almost fooled twice about breeders that I thought were ethical but turned out to be over glorified byb's. I know what you are talking about with your previous dog, all of my dogs except for my current one were shelter dogs or were homeless and we were extremely lucky that they had not health problems.

 

[ShelianDobe]

Welcome to DT!

You will find loads of helpful information here. Two things that would worry me about your breeder, besides the fact that your puppy's ears won't be cropped. A one year health guarantee is pretty much worthless, since many of the issues Dobermans are plagued with cannot really be tested for until 2 years of age. I also don't see anything in your post regarding annual cardio testing (holter & echo) on the parents. Secondly, and a huge "red flag" is that the pup is sold with full registration rather than limited and that you *can* breed him/her. A pet puppy should be sold on limited registration with a spay or neuter requirement.

As Shadowolf said, there are some excellent breeders in the PNW. This is in no way meant to rain on your parade, but rather meant to help fill in the blanks and plug the holes.

Once again, welcome to DT and best of luck to you!

 

[Marieldobes]

I have spent so much time trying to find a vet that really knows how to do ear cropping. I am so worried and paranoid about having a botched crop job. I have found a handful in my area that do it, and charge a pretty penny for it, but they do an awful job in my opinion. If I were a breeder and it were my puppies, I would not want to risk any of them ending up with ugly crop jobs. Especially seeing now for myself all the awful jobs that some of these vets so proudly do! So, again, I disagree with her decision to not get the ears done, but aside from that, she has been great to work with.

You've received plenty of good advice with respect to buying a puppy from a reputable breeder who crops their puppies thus taking away the stress of the new owner of having to find a good vet to crop the ears so I won't go there. Obviously, you are concerned about getting a botched job and rightfully so. Many vets can do an ear crop but few can produce a quality crop. Dr. Pew has been in Dobermans since 1968 and has judged and exhibited Dobermans so believe me he knows the importance of a good crop and that is what you would get with him, again well worth the 7 hour drive.

Jan

 

[newdobeowner]

I was wondering who you decided to have crop your pups ears? We also live in Idaho and are picking up our puppy in one week and I have yet to find a local vet who does this. Any help would be greatly appreciated!