[BackInBlack]

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.

I do the same with Rommel, I clean out everything with a q-tip, it doesnt seem clean if I dont. Just curious, but do you think that the GSD ear infections has to do with the amount of fur in the ear?

Oh, and I have to say... Honestly, Before I joined this forum and before I had Rommel, I dont think I would have wanted a natural dobe. Now, I could care less...I almost think it would be cool to have one with a tail and all. I was just used to seeing the cropped/docked doberman, so I wasnt really open to anything else. There are so many pretty natural dobes on here though! And, Now that I have Rommel, I appreciate him for his "doberman personality" and I dont think I would care one way or another...cropped/docked...or not.

 

[BackInBlack]

My aunt has poodles also (the little tiny ones) but still poodles, and that is what made me think of the fur in the ear thing. My aunt has to frequently get the hair out of their ears so that they dont get infections. Maybe it is just poodles, I dont know?? Maybe the texture of the hair???? Hmmm, something to think about.

 

[BackInBlack]

I do not think there should be a ban, I think the reprocussions of a ban could be disasterous AND a ban on cropping opens the doors to too many other things.

I agree 100% on that. I think we are starting to get a little "ban happy" if you know what I mean. I mean, whats next?