[doberkim]

What's there to wonder? Flaccid, cute ears remind people of puppies and harmless bunny rabbits.

Personally, I prefer the cropped ears. It makes them look more sophisticated and vicious. When I'm walking in the park at night, I want any would-be mugger to know that I don't have a Weimaraner on the end of that leash, but a bloodthirsty, 80 lbs of relentless man-killing potential. You know, but that's just me talking.

i think youve made yourself clear what you think about the breed and i dont think theres a single person on this board that thinks you are fit to own one.



that being said, i used to think i wouldnt own one with a tail, but 2 of my three dobes have been natural eared and i prefer it in many ways. this is my first dobe iwth dew claws and he uses them CONSTANTLY, so in the future i wouldnt necessarily remove them if they had them. i also never thought i would ever own a dilute, and now i do, so...

so now, id have to say - yes, if a dog came to me with a tail, i would definitely keep the tail unless it hurt it in some way. i love my dogs because they are dobermans, and they are all stunningly beautiful in their own way. most of the time

=kim (whose natural eared doberman was more of a danger to people that pretty much any cropped dog on this board - they are ears, not weapons).

 

[doberkim]

darn you quoted my old post before i edited it

well, to start - rah has very nice feet. he has awesome cat feet, wonderful arch to the toes. his declaws are very tight to the leg and they ARE attached by bone (some dogs just have skin but no bone connecting the toe to the leg.

rah uses his very often - so much so i dont have to trim them. whenever he runs, they grip the ground when turning - so much so they get run down and bleed occassionally.

he also does a LOT of chewing and he uses them to hold his bones, toys, and anything else he plays with.

ive had other dogs with dewclaws that havent used them, but rah uses them all the time. so in the future, for an adult dog i received, i would evaluate teh dog before i necessarily just removed them. im glad i didnt take rah's off - i almost did when he was neutered.

 

[doberkim]

One thing that *is* a plus for cropping a dog's ears (whether it be pitbull, boxer, dobe...you name it) is simply for cleaner ears-any dog with large, droppy ears are constantly suceptible to yeast infections as well as other bacterial infections in their ears. Cropping, however, drastically reduces the problem to be minimal.

theres no real truth to this statement - some dogs are infection prone and others are not - my cropped doberman and MUCH dirtier ears than both of my natural eared dobermans , for the record. when i "clean" rah's ears or when i did bowie's - i take q-tips and clean out the little nooks and crannies that have the teensiest bit of healthy wax in the ear - they NEVER have build ups, and bowie never had an ear infection in his life with me.

some dogs have poor immune systems, food allergies, and eat crappy food - id say that has a lot more to do with the condition of their ears than if they are cropped/erect ears, or have floppy ears. GSDs get ear infections all the time and their ears are almost all erect.

 

[doberkim]

truth be told most of my dobes will be rescues, and i wont have much of a say in the issue - the right one that fits into my life is the right one, irregardless of looks! i of course have preferences, but cant ignore fate.

 

[doberkim]

well, a few months have gone by and my opinion hasn't changed. I respect anyone's right to choose and hope they get what they want. Me? I'll take a dobe in any form, tail and all.

 

[doberkim]

I'm a glutton for punishment - part of me has been wondering if I should try out a tail sometime soon... of course I am full up on pup, so it would have to be a senior if I take anything in, and only after Tyler is gone...