Doberman Ears
Doberman EARS
The Dobermans “look” is that of a compact, powerful, medium sized dog
that shows an attitude and temperament reflecting great nobility and
confidence. His short, tight coat and cropped ears and docked tail add
to his clean lines and effectiveness as an elite protection breed. But,
the docked tail and the cropped ears on the Doberman are historically
VERY FUNCTIONAL in origin and serve important purposes.
A docked tail was an important characteristic of the Doberman because
the tail represents a “body part” that can be easily and readily
injured. Injury can happen by accident, such as knocking it against
hard surfaces or getting it caught between surfaces (doors, windows, car
doors) which can cause bruising, hematomas (pockets of blood),
sloughing off of hair and tissue, gangrene and terrible fractures of the
vertebra requiring major reparative surgery to treat and even save the
tail. The tail also served as a handle that an attacker could grab and
injure which could cause the dog to experience pain and trauma and cause
him to abandon his job of protecting his owner. So docking was also a
functional part of the Dobermans effectiveness as a family protector.
Cropped ears, likewise, were the logical, functional addition to
complete the Dobermans physical equipment to make him the elite family
companion and protection dog that he was, even from the beginning. There
are two primary reasons that we desire cropped ears, and both have to
do with FUNCTION. The first is that a neatly cropped ear is less of a
“handle” for an attacker to hang on to. Since the Doberman has been
bred to be a personal protector, a cropped ear gives the dog a decided
advantage in a confrontation with a perpetrator. The second has to do
with sound “localization”. An erect earred dog can localize the source
of a sound to within a 5 degree cone, whereas a drop earred dog can only
localize a sound source to within a 20 degree cone. Since Dobermans do
SEARCH AND DETECTION as well as SEARCH AND RESCUE, cropped ears are a
decided advantage.
The DOBERMAN **STANDARD** asks for “ears, normally cropped”. This
simply implies that they are cropped in a normal manner. Many people
choose to leave their Doberman puppy uncropped. These are mostly people
who have a Doberman as a pet only and do not exhibit them in
competition in the various AKC events. There is no disqualification for
uncropped ears, and people can and do show Dobermans that are not
cropped, in the US. But, because the overwhelming majority of
exhibitors show their Dobermans cropped, perhaps it just looks like
there is no choice involved. It is a matter of personal preference as
to crop or not crop their puppy and likewise to show a cropped or
uncropped Doberman in AKC events.
If the ears are cropped they must be cut in a shapely manner when the
Doberman is a youngster, usually between 7 to 10 weeks. The ear must
be long enough to crop, and the puppy should not be too old that the
surgery becomes more difficult for the ears to successfully stand.
The Veterinarian puts the puppy under anesthesia and then proceeds to
remove the excess ear on the outside portion of the ear. It is cut in
a curving and graceful design and then the edges are stitched. The
ears are taped over the head and wrapped with gauze for protection or
they are glued with surgical glue to foam or a Styrofoam cup or other
material to keep the ears upright and the edges exposed to the air for
good healing. The stitches are removed after about 10 days, and the ears
must be kept from puckering—which is the edges pulling together and
causing the ear to shorten because of the scar tissue in areas along the
cut edge. The ears are examined everyday to make sure they are healing
well and when all edges are totally healed they are ready to be taped.
After the edges are fully healed, with NO SMALL OPEN WOUNDS the ears
can be rolled and TAPED. Below is a website that will show the usual
manner that ears are taped. The technique is demonstrated by Carol
Selzle Petruzzo, a very long time, successful breeder and Handler. The
site is invaluable for learning how to care for and tape the healed
cropped ears.
There are a variety of lengths and shapes of cropped ears. Cropping
is very artistic and each cropper has their own style. The show
conformation Dobermans are cropped longer and more stylish than most pet
crops that an average Veterinarian would do. The longer, more stylish
crops are beautiful, but they can take more time taping to get the ears
to finally stand. Success with ears standing has a great deal to do
with persistence of the person taping and the technique. Problems do
arise and it is best to seek the advice of an experienced Breeder or
very experienced Veterinarian that has cropped hundreds of ears.
Dog Ear Instruments – Dog Tools
submitted by
Theresa Mullen
DPCA Public Education Committee
Reference: dpca.org/BreedEd/ears11.htm
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