[IloveMyDobie31]

Apollo gets his ears cropped Thursday! I'm excited...but at the same time, I'm really nervous. I found a really great vet that's experienced with Dobie ear cropping. She's very helpful, and has Dobermans herself. We were a little concerned that his age (now 14 weeks) might present a problem since she recommends not cropping after 12 weeks, but she examined his ears and said a medium length crop would be ok. So, I have to drop him off tomorrow morning, they're going to do the surgery on Thursday morning, and I'll be picking him up Friday. I contacted the breeder and let her know what's going on, and she gave me some advice and said I could call her with any questions and whatnot...but I guess I'm just worried that I'll somehow mess up his ears. I've heard so many stories about crops gone wrong, and about the ears just not wanting to stand on some dogs...I guess it just worries me. So...basically, any words of encouragement and reassurance would be great...thanks

 

[IloveMyDobie31]

thanks!...i hope it works with no major problems.

 

[IloveMyDobie31]

when i was checking out different breeders, i asked her why the ears weren't done before, and she said she allows the new owner to chose the ear cropping style because people have different preferences, so she only has the tails done. but she's been very helpful in answering all my questions and staying in touch. she is familiar with the aftercare, and said she'd help me as much as possible. so...i guess i shouldn't be worried, but i still am because i can't watch him 24/7, and i'm worried something will go wrong while i'm not there to watch :-/

 

[IloveMyDobie31]

well...for whatever reason, she does not crop the ears before the puppies go to their new homes. but, like I said, she has been really helpfull from day one, so the fact that she didn't do it doesn't really concern me all that much. now, if she just threw the puppy at me and said, "good luck!"....I'd be a little worried about her.

 

[IloveMyDobie31]

p.s. I was also given a full health guarentee, and a pedigree...so she can't be that horrible of a breeder right??

 

[IloveMyDobie31]

thanks! I just spoke to the vet, and since I dropped him off this morning, they decided to go ahead with the surger around noon. She said everything went great, and he's doing just fine I get to pick him up tomorrow morning.

 

[IloveMyDobie31]

wow...I wasn't saying that to make it seem like she's the perfect breeder, and I apologize if it sounded differently than it was intended (internet isn't very good at communicating tone of voice). I definitely didn't mean to start a huge debate. I was just told that those are good things to get from the breeder, and I remembered she had given me those after I did the previous post so i just wanted to add that she did provide those things. TracyJo is right...I was just looking for a little support since i'm new to the breed. When I joined this website, I was hoping it could be a place where I could feel comfortable asking questions without feeling like a complete idiot. But, I guess perhaps this isn't the right place for me...It's a good thing the internet is full of forums and helpful people. I thank everyone who gave positive comments.

 

[IloveMyDobie31]

There's no need for you to apologize. You aren't responsible for other people's actions. I'm sure people mean well...but you're right, I'm not sure how the focus shifted to the breeder. The fact is, people do have different opinions, and different ways of expressing them. I should also probably learn to take criticism better.

Either way, thanks for the apology.

 

[IloveMyDobie31]

thank you for clarifying...my previous dog was unfortunately from a mall pet store. I was 5 and I begged for a dog, and my parents really didn't know any better. Unfortunately, he died five months ago at the age of 15 from kidney failure, so when I decided to get another dog, I really wanted to try to do it "the right way". I did look up a lot of information about chosing a breeder, and chosing the right puppy, and one of the things that was common in all the resources was the irrelevance of AKC registration, and the importance of health screening, and pedigrees. I saw the health guarentee as a bonus I guess. So I guess what I'm trying to say is that I'm new to the whole breeder idea, so it's possible that though I had good intentions, I may have chosen a bad breeder....so I guess I should've been looking for a breeder that crops instead...

 

[IloveMyDobie31]

I had the thought of "WHY did I decide to do this??"...I feel horrible for him. At times he seems so uncomfortable, trying to get the tape off, shaking and scratching...If I ever get another Doberman, I wont crop.

 

[IloveMyDobie31]

Thanks! Hopefully I'll get to that point too where I'll think it has been worth it *hugs back*

 

[IloveMyDobie31]

thanks so much tracy!! many people told me that it's just not worth it (especially if he's just going to be a family pet)...but I guess it's something you have to decide on your own. It makes me sad looking back at his pictures when I first got him. I just can't wait until it's all over.