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I'm against ear cropping. I'm against any procedure on a dog that is for cosmetic appearances only, and unless a dog is actually having problems with their ears, cropping is 100% because the owner just wants it (most of the time just because they like the "look").
I worked as a vet tech for years. We didn't do ear croppings, but we did deal with a number of them done by other vets and the dogs for the most part were miserable. Yes, there are some out there who have dogs who haven't had a problem - but there are a LOT who do. I wouldn't want to chance it just to have a certain "look" to my dog. To make my dog's ears pointy to satisfy my own ego would be completely wrong to me. Instead, I just get pointy-eared dogs to start with .. *L* .. I refused a show doberman once because they insisted I get the ears cropped (they wanted to give me pick of the litter).
I can't see how people can compare a spay or neuter to a cropping. Spays and neuters are for health reasons, or to keep their dogs from adding to the pet over-population problem. It's not a selfish reason. To me, cropping ears is completely selfish. Why create any unneccesary pain to your dog, even if it's just a little? That's why I don't tend to use punishment in training, too. I don't want to add pain to my dogs when it's not necessary.
Melanie and the gang in Alaska
I worked as a vet tech for years. We didn't do ear croppings, but we did deal with a number of them done by other vets and the dogs for the most part were miserable. Yes, there are some out there who have dogs who haven't had a problem - but there are a LOT who do. I wouldn't want to chance it just to have a certain "look" to my dog. To make my dog's ears pointy to satisfy my own ego would be completely wrong to me. Instead, I just get pointy-eared dogs to start with .. *L* .. I refused a show doberman once because they insisted I get the ears cropped (they wanted to give me pick of the litter).
I can't see how people can compare a spay or neuter to a cropping. Spays and neuters are for health reasons, or to keep their dogs from adding to the pet over-population problem. It's not a selfish reason. To me, cropping ears is completely selfish. Why create any unneccesary pain to your dog, even if it's just a little? That's why I don't tend to use punishment in training, too. I don't want to add pain to my dogs when it's not necessary.
Melanie and the gang in Alaska