Bad Crop

[Dobie Wan Knobie]

I've been somewhat slow to admit it, but it looks like her right ear is cut a bit shorter than her other one. When I pulled them up and stretched them into her newest posting, I could tell that the ears are different lengths. You can see this in the last photo of her. We are making the best of all this, and hopefully when this is all over it will be difficult to tell, but I will know, and will be able to tell, and it will always bother me to some extent. It is really depressing to spend so much on a great pup just to have the vet whack her ears. And we spent some serious time consulting with the vet prior to her crop.

If you see some of my photos of Caesar, you will see another bad crop. His were to short and to wide at the bell. We still loved him the same, but it always bothered me that the vet did that to him without our consent.

 

[Dobie Wan Knobie]

Well, after lot of stretching and posting designed to get that one pocket out, I think we ate making good progress. I will continue to post for a while to keep her structure in tact, but she has no problems keeping her ears up. Even the short ear is looking longer now that the pocked is pulled out, so that must have had a lot to do with it. I'll post another at a later date when she is 6 months or so - as I think she will be done by then.
Thanks for all the advise!

 

[JanS]

They look great and I can't tell a difference in length at all. I know they can sometimes look different lengths before they're standing really well so maybe that was the case here?

What a pretty little head she has!

 

[shadash]

Wow, your dogs ears are going to look really good as she gets older.

Cropping is such a critical thing for Dobermans it makes sense that Drs/Vets spend the time to do it correctly. If they do a poor job word will travel fast and nobody will bring them their business. If you do good work people will travel 1000s of miles to work with you and your calendar will be full.

It just seems odd that anyone would half ass a Doberman crop and not offer free follow up to make sure business keeps flowing in.

 

[Rits]

They look awesome now! I am glad that you are happy with them. She's a cute little girl

 

[Dobie Wan Knobie]

They look great and I can't tell a difference in length at all. I know they can sometimes look different lengths before they're standing really well so maybe that was the case here?

What a pretty little head she has!

Actually, when I measured them from inside the ear they are about an 1/8 of an inch different, and then you add in the deep pocket she had and they were really off. Now with the stretching it is difficult to tell. So yes, I am much happier than I was before. But this ordeal ending up costing me twice what I should have paid - but she is worth it!

The worst thing about all this was the attitude of the first vet after the crop. He was such a jerk to my wife - we really couldn't believe it. This is one reason why a good breeder will have the ears cropped before you pick up your dog - but she was only 8 weeks old when we got her, which is a good age to pick them up if you can.

 

[Caloni]

Look on the bright side. At least she is healthy. I have spent countless dollars on sick dogs before. At least you have that!

 

[Dobie Wan Knobie]

Look on the bright side. At least she is healthy. I have spent countless dollars on sick dogs before. At least you have that!

I am!!!! Why do you think otherwise? But this could have, and should have, been been avoided. Having to spend money on a healthy dog because of someone else (a vet no less) lack of attention, or quality workmanship, is not the same thing as spending money on an unhealthy sick dog. I am just posting my experience, and it is what it is.

 

[Caloni]

sorry, I guess that came off wrong.....I was just trying to say "you're blessed" I, personally like the crop. I did not mean hard feelings. I have had vets make mistakes with my dogs health before.....nothing makes me more mad. Worst part is that they have no one to be accountable to.

 

[JanS]

Having to spend money on a healthy dog because of someone else (a vet no less) lack of attention,

I know this first hand and it's annoying. This case wasn't a Doberman, but we thought the best place to board our young dog (a GSP) was with our vet so there was medical care there for him if necessary and they should know what they're doing. Well we went on a trip to the Boundary Waters which out of reach of anything so we couldn't get updates on him while we were gone. I called the minute we got back to see how he was doing and the receptionist said "um I'm going to let you talk to the doc". Of course I panicked and when the vet came on to talk to me he said that one of the weekend helpers accidentally slammed his leg in the kennel door and it was broke so he had a cast on. I was upset but tried to understand since accidents can happen, but when I went to pick him up and got an extra bill for the x-rays, treatment and cast for something that was their fault I was livid.
So yes I do understand what you're saying.

 

[Rits]

one of the weekend helpers accidentally slammed his leg in the kennel door and it was broke so he had a cast on. I was upset but tried to understand since accidents can happen, but when I went to pick him up and got an extra bill for the x-rays, treatment and cast for something that was their fault I was livid.

That's just wrong! At any normal vet, it should have come out of the weekend helper's paycheck!

 

[Caloni]

The last vet we used almost killed our 14 year old dog. She decided to go play tennis all weekend and leave his care, or lack there of, to the office staff. We picked him up on Sunday (he was there for 2 days) he was never given his meds for 3 days, never given an IV or sub-q fluids and I was never called when he wasn't eating or drinking. Three days prior he had had a stroke and was in and out of it, but was improving quite well Friday morning. I brought him in for a weekend stay on her suggestion because he was still having issues. Never again will I leave a dog with a vet, only an emergency center.

 

[JanS]

The last vet we used almost killed our 14 year old dog. She decided to go play tennis all weekend and leave his care, or lack there of, to the office staff. We picked him up on Sunday (he was there for 2 days) he was never given his meds for 3 days, never given an IV or sub-q fluids and I was never called when he wasn't eating or drinking. Three days prior he had had a stroke and was in and out of it, but was improving quite well Friday morning. I brought him in for a weekend stay on her suggestion because he was still having issues. Never again will I leave a dog with a vet, only an emergency center.

That's just terrible! Ugh... Poor guy and I'm glad he made it.

I bitched up and down about the extra charges for something that was their fault but of course I signed the agreement that I admittedly didn't read all the way through. Even then it's just wrong on their part no matter what was signed.

 

[Dobie Wan Knobie]

My previous Dobe was a fawn and we kenneled him at a vet, thinking he was in good hands. Boy were we wrong. He kept him in an outside kennel on the hottest day of the year, with just a small amount of shade, and when I brought him home his face swelled up something terrible, and he was deliriously out of it. He had a heat stroke, and a sunburn, and I thought he was going to die. We got him through it, but he could never be out in the sun for any length of time, and he could not take the heat, or the cold for that matter, after that. We learned our lesson on that one. My track record with Vets has not good!

 

[JanS]

My previous Dobe was a fawn and we kenneled him at a vet, thinking he was in good hands. Boy were we wrong. He kept him in an outside kennel on the hottest day of the year, with just a small amount of shade, and when I brought him home his face swelled up something terrible, and he was deliriously out of it. He had a heat stroke, and a sunburn, and I thought he was going to die. We got him through it, but he could never be out in the sun for any length of time, and he could not take the heat, or the cold for that matter, after that. We learned our lesson on that one. My track record with Vets has not good!

Oh man that's terrible too! Poor baby. I agree that some vets are good and others can be iffy at best. I love our vet who took over the place I go to now and that's extremely important to me since there's no compromising our dogs care when they need it.

 

[Dobie Wan Knobie]

There was a time, several times really, when I thought her ears were not going to look good - but all the hard work and patience paid off and she turned out good. There is more bell than what I was hoping for, but all in all she looks good.
The moral of the story: Buy from a breeder that has the ears done, or if you have to do it yourself make sure to really take your time in deciding which vet you use, as even ones with lots of experience will not always be what you are looking for. Not all vets are created equal! Some just want to take the easy way out and do what they want in the hope of a standing ear crop. And neither of the vets I used really understood the whole posting phase.

 

[Doberman Gang]

Looking good!!!!

 

[Asteria]

Glad to see an updated picture of her. Looks good.

 

[JanS]

Very nice and I did think they'd straighten out for you.

Not all vets are created equal! Some just want to take the easy way out and do what they want in the hope of a standing ear crop. And neither of the vets I used really understood the whole posting phase.

This is such a true statement! I was told to have our Boxer cropped short so the ears would stand, but damn that was a short crop that I shudder at when I look back at pics.

As for the posting phase, it's so true. I've seen so many new Doberman owners over the years telling us what their vets said to do for posting and that could just destroy the stance so it's best to do it yourself the right way.

 

[MyBuddy]

She's beautiful!! :wub: