Cropping Stigma!?

Kawhi2222

New Member
Hey guys! I wanted to ask you guys how to defend yourself against people that pass judgement about cropped ears. I live in southern Ontario and people tend to judge about ear cropping. I’ve used the floppy ears are a man made trait, and that people have zero issues about spaying or neutering their pets. Which to be clear I agree it can be necessary if you don’t intend on breeding. I’ve gotten to the point that I want to just say “I didn’t ask for your opinion.
 
i am a bit snotty to and about people who comment on what i do and how i do it.. so needless to say if its a comeback your looking for i always say what i do to my dogs ears is not different then you and your parents having circumcised and/or piercings in your ears. that was and is your/their choice and this was mine. dont like dont look at him and zip your lip you make your choices i will make mine.
now mind you a doberman looks beautiful cropped and docked or not.. its every persons choice what they prefer
 
This is about how it goes, it can go nicely or not so nice:

Nice them:
Oh you have a beautiful Doberman. Are his ears natural? Why did you do his ears like that? His tail?

Me:
I explain the original reasoning for crop/dock per Herr Doberman- difficulty for the criminal to grab a hold of them, discuss how it became the norm for some Doberman’s and how much I just like it. My Doberman is rough and rambunctious and he prob would have broken his tail based on what I understand on how brittle their tales are.

Snotty them:
Oh my you chopped up his ears. You are cruel and this is not necessary. Why did you do a thing like that?

Me:
Because I wanted too. If you think that is bad, wait until I cut off his balls.

Them:
Utter silence as I turn and walk away.
 
It's been my experience that you will (probably) get less questions about it when his ears aren't in their posts. Most of the general population doesn't even realize doberman ears are cropped until they see the posts and start asking questions.

Some people we encountered wanted to learn, some wanted to judge, and one lady wanted to have a full-on philosophical discussion (the circumcision point we brought up REEEEAAAAAAALLY gave her pause as did the spay and neuter). We have several instances of friends who've had their children go under 'cosmetic' surgery for one reason or another when they were basically toddlers (an odd looking belly button, a lump on the face, etc) without the toddlers 'consent,' if that's what someone is worried about.

I too use the argument @ddski mentioned, there's nothing for a 'bad guy' to grab onto, and actually demonstrate and ask if they want to try ;)

If someone wants to have a nice discussion on it, I have no problem engaging them. If they have an issue with it, it's their problem and we move on.
 
Them: Why would you mutilate their ears, that is so cruel.

Me: just to see how many stupid, judgmental people ask me that question.

OR

This concerns you how exactly?
(This must be said with a bored dismissive look on your face.)

OR:

I can’t believe you are Victim Shaming my dog, how dare you!!
(Said with irritated disbelief as you turn and walk away.)
 
Yes, I'm already thinking of answers to this. I'm agreeing with "if they are snotty, I can be snotty, If they are nice I can be nice" approach. 99% of these people who want to call you cruel are the same ones who scream spay & neuter from the rooftops. I'd like to make up a little hand-out of all the health issues caused to an animal that is spayed/neutered especially before 2 years of age. They think every intact animal is going around the neighborhood making unwanted puppies, because their own dog(s) probably run at large and they think that's normal. argh.
 
Hey guys! I wanted to ask you guys how to defend yourself against people that pass judgement about cropped ears. I live in southern Ontario and people tend to judge about ear cropping. I’ve used the floppy ears are a man made trait, and that people have zero issues about spaying or neutering their pets. Which to be clear I agree it can be necessary if you don’t intend on breeding. I’ve gotten to the point that I want to just say “I didn’t ask for your opinion.


"Sheriff, do the letters FO mean anything to you?" Burt Reynolds, 'Smokey and the Bandit'. That said I might add I'm ex spec ops and weigh 250lbs at 6' 4"......
 
I'm ex spec ops and weigh 250lbs at 6' 4"......
That alone should be a red flag to anyone with the tiniest inkling of wanting to approach you with any stupid critical comment. :D
I once made the mistake of saying; “the bigger you are the harder you fall.”
To which the response was; “the smaller you are, the further you fly.” :bag:
Enough said for me. :p
 
You've touched upon something there, @pitdoug1998 , and welcome!

I recall sharing here that I haven't gotten much flak from anyone either about owning a purebred when "rescues" are the socially acceptable option, or about having a cropped and docked one when that is increasingly unacceptable. I chalked it up to the fact that I don't think my appearance invites much foolery. I see by your profile that you're 62 years of age. Unlike for you, it seems father time has seen fit to strip size away from me as I age, so I'm not big like you; but physiognomy goes a long way... ...which, in a way, brings us back to the topic of C & D.

doberman-with-uncropped-ears.jpg
DobermanCropped.JPG
 
I really ticked a lady off at the vet office one day when Joker was just a pup.

Sitting in the waiting room the lady says: 'Awww, you had his ears chopped off? Poor baby'.

Reception calls out: Miss Edwards? Molly is here for her spay right?

I gasped real loud and said "OMG, you're getting her guts ripped out? They're so much sweeter with their ovaries."

She replied: Oh that's just ridiculous.

Me: Yeah, and so is your opinion about my decision to crop my pup's ears!

She moved to the other side of the room! :wacky:
 
I had my male Doberman cropped and my puppy that I have now she is posting right now. My thoughts are similar to other who have shared about how they have their own bodies cosmetically fixed and what parents do to cosmetically fix their children at a young age.

My thought more specifically though are that if they have a dog that is fixed they are a hypocrite I had my male fixed and I can tell you that was worse than his crop. It took longer for it heal I had him on antibiotics for 2 weeks cause his sack swole up. Cropping stitches out in 2 weeks no antibiotics other than the pain meds he slowly came down from for the first 3 days. And once the stitches are out posting is breeze and before you know it your done.
 
It's been my experience that you will (probably) get less questions about it when his ears aren't in their posts. Most of the general population doesn't even realize doberman ears are cropped until they see the posts and start asking questions.
This is very true! They see the post and they think, Awww, poor baby! When the posts are not in, they're stupid enough to not even realize they're cropped! LOL
That alone should be a red flag to anyone with the tiniest inkling of wanting to approach you with any stupid critical comment. :D
I once made the mistake of saying; “the bigger you are the harder you fall.”
To which the response was; “the smaller you are, the further you fly.” :bag:
Enough said for me. :p

:lmao:
 
I’ve had no one say anything to me which surprised me.

I did have some younger guy say “omg so cuteee I’m so glad you guys didn’t crop his ears I hate when people do that” ... I just smiled and kept walking. If he thinks that the look of straight up cropped ears is “not cropped” I really wanna know what he thinks cropped looks like lol.


But honestly if anyone were to say anything to me I could care less. Ignore and move on, unless it’s friends or family you won’t be seeing that person again (most likely), their opinion honestly is meaningless lol or be reallllyyyyy happy cause you not getting upset by their words seems to really make people mad
 
You've touched upon something there, @pitdoug1998 , and welcome!

I recall sharing here that I haven't gotten much flak from anyone either about owning a purebred when "rescues" are the socially acceptable option, or about having a cropped and docked one when that is increasingly unacceptable. I chalked it up to the fact that I don't think my appearance invites much foolery. I see by your profile that you're 62 years of age. Unlike for you, it seems father time has seen fit to strip size away from me as I age, so I'm not big like you; but physiognomy goes a long way... ...which, in a way, brings us back to the topic of C & D.

View attachment 99730
View attachment 99731
HAHA! Well, I'm 52, actually, and I don't look a damned day over 62! Folks one HUGE advantage over natural ears is that cropped ears help with ear maladies! Ear mites and infections from the ear canal not 'breathing' is epidemic with hounds and hound mixes which our Dobies are certainly a hound mix! Wow, their 'voice' ALL hound! I was neutered after my second child for health and economic reasons and I still remember how the creepy tuggy down yonder felt. Our dogs having their ears trimmed/cropped isn't even a remote memory to them. I LOATHE people who put human emotions on ANIMALS! Thank you for the venting therapy....
 
I’ve had no one say anything to me which surprised me.

I did have some younger guy say “omg so cuteee I’m so glad you guys didn’t crop his ears I hate when people do that” ... I just smiled and kept walking. If he thinks that the look of straight up cropped ears is “not cropped” I really wanna know what he thinks cropped looks like lol.


But honestly if anyone were to say anything to me I could care less. Ignore and move on, unless it’s friends or family you won’t be seeing that person again (most likely), their opinion honestly is meaningless lol or be reallllyyyyy happy cause you not getting upset by their words seems to really make people mad


HAHA! Can't fix dumba$$ary......
 
That alone should be a red flag to anyone with the tiniest inkling of wanting to approach you with any stupid critical comment. :D
I once made the mistake of saying; “the bigger you are the harder you fall.”
To which the response was; “the smaller you are, the further you fly.” :bag:
Enough said for me. :p
We had our red Euro Dobie, Trooper, at a Knoxville dog park one pretty East Tennessee afternoon and a girl playing with her phone was oblivous to her bulldog's aggressive behavior (I REFUSE to call the REAL bulldog a pitbull, Ii raised Old Family Reds for twenty years...). So Trooper being the biggest dog there for some reason made this rather large bulldog come after him. I ran him off twice, third time I told the gal 'if he attacks my dog again I'll kill him and throw him over the fence, darlin'. She got mad at us! But left, none the less... Some people shouldn't be allowed to own a car or firearms, either, get my drift...?
 
The most stressful thing about cropped ears for me is posting lmao. Although I’m sure he will settler down. He also didn’t like being house broken but he made It through it lol.
 
The most stressful thing about cropped ears for me is posting lmao. Although I’m sure he will settler down. He also didn’t like being house broken but he made It through it lol.

Congrats! And don’t worry after a month of consistent posting it will become second nature for you. Make sure you do it while they are sleepy and after exercise so they don’t have energy to fight back lol! Makes it easier
 

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