Questions about non cropped ears

[Oliver's Dad]

Before I send my question out to the dobernet, I want to explain my reasoning, and my views on why I didn't crop my dobe's ears. I have no personal, ethical or moral issues with cropping ears or docking tails. I believe it is breed standard, and personal preference. When we picked ollie up he was docked and I had every intention to crop him. I had already purchased what I estimated to be 7 months worth of pads, tape, cleaner, backers etc. I also had an appointment for a consultation with a vet in the valley that specialized in crops. I had all of this in place the day I paid my deposit, he was 4 weeks old at that time( he's 13.5 weeks now). Over the next ew weeks before I picked him up I continued reading up on the medical issues. I felt like there was no positive information out there, just bad news. I ran across a few stats about the longevity of the breed today that terrified me. It seems life expectancy is averaging out to 6 years???. (that's so depressing) Not to mention I have always been under the impression that everyone has irrational fears about this breed. Considering l live in suburbia I can imagine someone alarmed in my neighborhood. After a bit of deep thought I decided ill leave the ears, in an attempt to (camouflage) win him more friends and save him from 7 months of posting for what could only be 5 or 6 years of life. Just thinking about that as I write this is making me sad. ( if that is true). I am not looking to debate the ethical ramifications or the legal issues on the topic, I am just looking for mentorship for uncropped ears.

OK now that that is out of the way, Does anyone here have uncropped ears? I cant seem to find a lot about the subject on the internet. Fro a while I was assuming that they would just sit there and h would grow up. Im noticing with Ollie that the cartilage is starting to set but it is creasing and folding unevenly between both of the ears. The right ear is sitting very high it seems it wants to stand up. The other one wants to stay flipped inside out Both ears are constantly flipped inside out but one is hard to get to sit properly and has a large fold running down the center. Its almost impossible to get his ears down if he is lying down. Will this work itself out? Will the ears end up laying naturally or is there some action I need to take. I can post pics if anyone would like to see

 

[Oliver's Dad]

here are a few pics

 

[remy]

Personally I would tape down his ears so they set properly. I believe the tape goes from the tip of the ear, under the chin, to the tip of the other ear. I don’t have experience doing that though so hopefully someone here can provide some more help!

 

[JanS]

It looks like you're going to have to tape them to get them to lay flat, and that's something you usually can't get away from, whether they're cropped or not. Here's a thread on it. Taping natural ears

It seems life expectancy is averaging out to 6 years???.

No, it should be 10+ years but heart issues and cancer do claim quite a few earlier than that. It definitely helps if the breeder has the parents health tested before breeding a pair, even though it's not a guarantee. Unfortunately there are too many back yard breeders who toss two together just because they're purebred and that's where many of the problems you hear about start.

 

[Oliver's Dad]

OK thank you, Natural is the keyword. I was getting the same results with uncropped non cropped etc.

 

[Oliver's Dad]

It looks like you're going to have to tape them to get them to lay flat, and that's something you usually can't get away from, whether they're cropped or not. Here's a thread on it. Taping natural ears

No, it should be 10+ years but heart issues and cancer do claim quite a few earlier than that. It definitely helps if the breeder has the parents health tested before breeding a pair, even though it's not a guarantee. Unfortunately there are too many back yard breeders who toss two together just because they're purebred and that's where many of the problems you hear about start.

Oh I hope so

 

[JanS]

Oh I hope so

Me too. Our last two were 10.5 and 11 when we lost them.

 

[Kswoodssue]

We did not crop and did not tape. This is her at about 1.5 yrs old in what I believe would be an erect ear pose. Her ears are thick and soft as velvet, and I adore them. THAT SAID, those involved in the preservation of the breed and its standard characteristics strongly feel that the crop should happen. Yet, every single time we are out in public, people tell us she is beautiful. No one mistakes her for anything but a Doberman. Many thank us for not cropping. I guess what I am getting at is we might have more strongly leaned toward cropping had we been better educated about the preservation of breed standard practices…but I do love her ears

 

[Oliver's Dad]

View attachment 143563We did not crop and did not tape. This is her at about 1.5 yrs old in what I believe would be an erect ear pose. Her ears are thick and soft as velvet, and I adore them. THAT SAID, those involved in the preservation of the breed and its standard characteristics strongly feel that the crop should happen. Yet, every single time we are out in public, people tell us she is beautiful. No one mistakes her for anything but a Doberman. Many thank us for not cropping. I guess what I am getting at is we might have more strongly leaned toward cropping had we been better educated about the preservation of breed standard practices…but I do love her ears

View attachment 143563We did not crop and did not tape. This is her at about 1.5 yrs old in what I believe would be an erect ear pose. Her ears are thick and soft as velvet, and I adore them. THAT SAID, those involved in the preservation of the breed and its standard characteristics strongly feel that the crop should happen. Yet, every single time we are out in public, people tell us she is beautiful. No one mistakes her for anything but a Doberman. Many thank us for not cropping. I guess what I am getting at is we might have more strongly leaned toward cropping had we been better educated about the preservation of breed standard practices…but I do love her ears

As a puppy did your girls ears look like a winkled floppy flying nun hat ? I am curious if the taping is actually necessary or if they will just naturally flatten out as the cartilage continues to harden. Do some dobes just have crazy ears and some have ears that will lay flat naturally.
Just want to say your girl is beautiful.

 

[Kswoodssue]

As a puppy did your girls ears look like a winkled floppy flying nun hat ? I am curious if the taping is actually necessary or if they will just naturally flatten out as the cartilage continues to harden. Do some dobes just have crazy ears and some have ears that will lay flat naturally.
Just want to say your girl is beautiful.

Thank you. I can only guess. My guess is that with age, cartilage thickens and they lay flatter, but she never held still long enough to think about it much. I follow a woman who competes in Europe a lot, so she complies to they rules of not cropping, and dies the under the chin taping method. I am certainly not the expert and only telay our experience.

 

[Kswoodssue]

Thank you. I can only guess. My guess is that with age, cartilage thickens and they lay flatter, but she never held still long enough to think about it much. I follow a woman who competes in Europe a lot, so she complies to they rules of not cropping, and dies the under the chin taping method. I am certainly not the expert and only telay our experience.

I should check my typing before posting lol!

 

[MichiH]

View attachment 143563We did not crop and did not tape. This is her at about 1.5 yrs old in what I believe would be an erect ear pose. Her ears are thick and soft as velvet, and I adore them. THAT SAID, those involved in the preservation of the breed and its standard characteristics strongly feel that the crop should happen. Yet, every single time we are out in public, people tell us she is beautiful. No one mistakes her for anything but a Doberman. Many thank us for not cropping. I guess what I am getting at is we might have more strongly leaned toward cropping had we been better educated about the preservation of breed standard practices…but I do love her ears

She’s so pretty love her

 

[jazzies mum]

Looking at your pup I would say you will get a nicer even result if you do tape the ears. I have seen some Dobes here in Australia where cropping is illegal with one ear higher than the other so if left they don't always come right. It depends on if it bothers you as he will be his beautiful happy self either way!

 

[Macha]

 

[Rits]

As a puppy did your girls ears look like a winkled floppy flying nun hat ? I am curious if the taping is actually necessary or if they will just naturally flatten out as the cartilage continues to harden. Do some dobes just have crazy ears and some have ears that will lay flat naturally.
Just want to say your girl is beautiful.

No they will not naturally flatten out. Because cropping is a part of the standard, the type of ear leather and ear hasn't been bred for. You will have to tape your girls ears to get them to lay flat. Sue's girl's ears are a different ear type than your girl's. You will want to do that ASAP as the cartilage is already starting to harden by 12 weeks.

 

[Oh Little Oji]

Many thank us for not cropping.

Those people are idiots, quite frankly.

@Oliver's Dad , yes, you'll want to tape down the ears in the proper way. With our current young dog (not a Dobe this time) I was quite concerned we would have to tape the ears down so they didn't stand out away from the head, or worse, do different things on each side. He has heavy ear leather. I just did periodic massaging of the ears down and against the head, and I think we may be okay. Sometimes he holds the ears a certain way and both, or one, ear stands away from the head like 1/3 of and inch and I worry.

When uncropped ears (notice I did not say "natural," as animals in natural world – canine and other – do not have floppy ears.) lay flat and hug the sides of the head, they look their best.

 

[MichiH]

View attachment 143569

Gorgeous dobie

 

[Kswoodssue]

Those people are idiots, quite frankly.

@Oliver's Dad , yes, you'll want to tape down the ears in the proper way. With our current young dog (not a Dobe this time) I was quite concerned we would have to tape the ears down so they didn't stand out away from the head, or worse, do different things on each side. He has heavy ear leather. I just did periodic massaging of the ears down and against the head, and I think we may be okay. Sometimes he holds the ears a certain way and both, or one, ear stands away from the head like 1/3 of and inch and I worry.

When uncropped ears (notice I did not say "natural," as animals in natural world – canine and other – do not have floppy ears.) lay flat and hug the sides of the head, they look their best.

Thank you. As I said, if better educated earlier in our journey, we might have made another decision. We always try to respond in those instances in a way that provides support to those who have cropped ears.

 

[Kaiser2016]

Found a link that sort of describes the type of ear you’re looking at: Dog Ear Types, Common Issues, & How to Clean | Four Paws

They call it “Rose ears” but it looks very much like a flying nun ear to me. Depending on whether you’re into the ‘wild’ look - definitely too wild for my taste lol, no offence, he is still a cute pup - you could do nothing and just see how they turn out, or if you want a more controlled look like Sasha and Macha, then I’d tape them down. My concern would be if they’re half way up and it would look a bit too…cartoonish…like this. If that suits your dogs personality, that could be fine. But I prefer a more serious look whether cropped or not.

 

[JanS]

I came across this one from an acquaintance the other day of her un-cropped MinPin. If it's a breed that's supposed to be cropped, they do want to come up.