Blue Doberman puppy 12 weeks 2 days old need tips and advice.

[Duke Nuke Em]

Hi everyone! I’m a long time Doberman lover. I had one when I was younger. It’s been awhile, but now that my triplets are older (10) and they wanted a dog I decided to get another one. We ended up finding a local breeder on the AKC website and they had 2 pups left from recent litters. One was a blue male, and the other was a fawn male. I got the blue one and then I learned of all the skin issues they could face after. He went in for his ear crop today (he is 12 weeks and 2 days old) and I’m a bit nervous. I am feeding him Purina Pro Plan Puppy Sport 30/18, and adding an omega 3 salmon oil. His coat is very shiny. I also bought the 8 in one multivitamin by zesty paws, zesty paws hip and joint bites (vet strength), and Nutritiona Strength zinc complex for dogs that has biotin. I know I can’t prevent CDA but I’m doing all I can to maintain healthy skin. Any other recommendations? The puppy w the cropped ears is the picture I gave the vet to go off of on the crop. He said it’s a show crop (I thought it was a medium crop). He said he is still within the timeframe to do the ears like this and they should stand. He said I won’t have to post them until he is 6 months old like I keep reading after he is done teething. Any tips on helping the ears stand besides cropping consistent posting?

 

[Ddski5]

Welcome from Louisiana. Damn they are cute monsters when they are young.

Breeder called this a medium show crop.

 

[Ddski5]

Glad you found a vet that will do ears at 12 weeks, that’s kinda pushing the end time.

Dobermans generally teeth 4-6 months during which time you should be posting through that time.
When teething, the ear cartilage is going through changes which in the end of the process, it hardens. So you want to start at or around 4months and post through end of teething. This provides structure and shaping the ears for optimal success. I posted both mine 4 months- 7.5 months.

 

[JanS]

So you want to start at or around 4months and post through end of teething

Since our breeder crops by 7 weeks or so I think I started posting them at 10 weeks or as soon as they were completely healed.

 

[Kswoodssue]

So cute! Welcome!

 

[Ravenbird]

welcome from New Mexico!

For posting info, be sure to read through the many, many threads here on DCF - most are under the Puppy forum heading.

The puppy w the cropped ears is the picture I gave the vet to go off of on the crop. He said it’s a show crop (I thought it was a medium crop).

That photo looks more like a show crop to me.

He said he is still within the timeframe to do the ears like this and they should stand. He said I won’t have to post them until he is 6 months old

12 weeks old is pushing it, but I'm old and I worked for a vet back in the 1980's and 12 weeks was when we recommended cropping. But there were no long show crops back then, all the Dobermans had(true) medium crops and they left a lot of bell, and they never failed to stand. The longer the crop the longer it takes. You'll be fine and your puppy will be too - just asking questions at this stage shows you are wanting to succeed and will be dedicated.

Your new pup is a nice looking boy and I hope you stay around so we can watch him grow up!

 

[GennyB]

Any other recommendations?

Sunscreen! Sunburn as well as skin cancer are a much bigger problem than CDA. Dilute coats generally have a thinner coat so the sun is a real threat. I used California Baby because it was fairly gentle and had a high spf.
Do your research on CDA. There are actually several threads on the topic right here on DCF. Feel free to use the search button and find some threads that just might work for you. There literally 1000's of tips but not all will work for your pup. Try new things slowly and give it plenty of time because some can take a long time before you see results.
You are right when you say you can't stop CDA but you can make it a nonissue. I had a fawn girl that had CDA but I kept experimenting until she had a nice coat. Just remember skin issues in dilutes can simply mean he has a thin coat. It doesn't have mean the dog is miserable with itchy skin and sores like some like to say.