Ear Cropping
Not many people know, but Doberman’s are born with floppy ears. Ear cropping, is one confrontational subject. Let’s face it, it is cutting a part of the dog’s ear off, so it will stand. This is considered a cosmetic procedure, followed by a lot of work and patients. Just like any surgery, there is a healing and a training process. The choice is up to you and whether you go through with it. But, let’s talk about, if you decide on cropping.
First, is that the Doberman Pinscher does not look like a Doberman Pinscher, compared to what the image that everyone sees, unless it’s ears are cropped. So, most people may decide they want the ideal Doberman look and others may want it for show dog reasons. The age for getting ears’ cropped is typically between 7-9 weeks. So, when the ears are cropped, it can take a few weeks for the stitches to heal. It can take months of wrapping and re-racking until the puppies ears have been trained to hold and stand on their own.
There are things that you have to do, in order to find some success on this topic. For starters, make sure to find a good surgeon. Bad jobs can be traumatic for you, as well as your Dobie. Having a good surgeon is key. Your surgeon, may want to test your Dobie’s blood. This is to see if its blood does clot, so your Dobie doesn’t have a bleeding issue during surgery. Every surgery has precautions; you need to be aware of all the risk.
Since your Dobie’s ears are wrapped, there can be a risk of ear infections and yeast infection. It’s not that uncommon and has happened in many cases. What is something to be worried about, is puss, oozing, swelling, and bleeding. That is something to be concerned about and should be followed up right away. Mostly likely, your Dr. will be giving you antibiotic, to prevent an infection from the surgery.
In some other cases, some antibiotics can kill the good bacteria and therefore, be a cause of yeast growth. Another thing that can cause bacteria or yeast growth is the fact the ears are tied up, with no air to breath. This tends to leave a bad odor behind. My Dobie had an ear infection. The way the vet tech knew was the odor and that my puppy kept shaking its head. So, my Dobie was given antibiotic ear drops.  My advice is to get some live culture probiotics, to help prevent yeast growth in your puppy. You can get it from a pet store, and put the probiotics into your puppy’s diet. It not only helps a little for a yeast problem, but also can help with any digestive problems.
The hard part is watching your puppy and stopping it before it removes its wrapping. And believe me, for weeks to months that will be your puppy’s priority. The beginning you may be given medication for pain and anxiety to relax the puppy. Then the puppy will not need pain meds, so finding other alternate distraction would be ideal, such as toys or games. Avoid dog parks and going to daycare’s with other canines’. Puppies play rough and you don’t want anything happening or scratching its ears or removing the racks. I personally had to avoid the grass, since my puppy learned to scratch its ears against the grass. So, you have watch and learn from watching your puppy and its smart ways to work on its ears. If all goes well, ending result can come out beautifully.
Related articles
Ear Infections in Dogs and Cats – PetCareRX (petcarerx.com)
The Bay Area Ear Cropping St. Louis Veterinary Clinic Announces Expansion in the South Bay Area (prweb.com)
Posted on October 25, 2012, in Doberman, ear cropping and tagged Cropping (animal), Doberman Pinscher, Dobie, Ear, Infection, Puppy, Yeast, Your Puppy (Complete Pet Owner’s Manual). Bookmark the permalink. Leave a Comment.
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