Crop Ears or Natural Ears ???

[OurBoyHemi]

I'm hoping I can get some imput/info on boxer ears. Our baby boy is 8 wks old and we're debating the ear issue. My fiance wants to crop his ears but I don't think I do. Hoping to hear from people on both sides of the issue, then maybe we can decide depending on what kind of info we get. I don't want to put him thru alot of pain and suffering.
Thanks for helping us out.

 

[jlynnholt]

We had pimp's ear cropped and I lopve them however I probably woul dnot do it again only because it is ALOT of after care. 5% surgery 95% aftercare. We had to put ointment on his ears 3 times a day until healed and he would whine and cry when we did this. They the posting stage which we are still going through with the tips of his ears. If you are planning on doing it just make sure your fiance helps with it. Myfiance wanted his ears cropped more than I did and I didn't get any help really from him. When the tips of his ears would curl my fiance said just leave them and that they would stand on there own. NO THEY WON"t. I takes A:LOT of time and patience. I feel that it is the owners decision I am just letting you know it is ALOT of work because you don't want to go through all of that and have them look like crap.

 

[boxerchick12]

Of course, the ear debate is only individual opinions. That said - my opinion is natural ears. I just love the way the natural ears look. I feel like it makes their faces more expressive. And, jlynnholt is right, I have had boxers with cropped ears in the past and in order to make them stand up "pretty", you have to really work with them. You have to rub and massage them daily and it takes a long time to heal after the cropping surgery. There is also the expense. I don't know if you've checked into it yet, but my vet charges over $300.00 to crop. Of course, I think money is not an option when it comes to our babies and what makes them and us happy, but if you're on the bubble, consider the money as well. Good luck in your decision.

 

[bucca]

it is ALOT of after care. 5% surgery 95% aftercare.

i left chloes ear alone because i like the natural look but my dane had his ears cropped and it was alot of work, im going back and they used popsicle sticks to stand them up well he hated them and would run into the closets and walls and the sticks would break and have to do it all again, what a pain.

 

[MayKay&SaJo]

Sammy & I debated quite a bit over the crop issue. In the end, we decided that we would leave Rolen natural because he is so expressive with his ears. Rolen talks with his ears & we were afraid he would lose some of his expressions and "speaking" ability if we cropped his ears.

 

[elbykitty]

I went through this debate with my BF. He wanted to crop I didn't. And I won, and I love his floppy ears. For a little while there I thought I made a mistake because one of ears seem to become in a constant fly away state, which looked silly. But now his ears sit well and i just love when he makes expressions his whole head is involved including his floppy ears. Now I have seen several pics of boxer with cropped ears and I think they look adorable too. good luck with your decision.
Elbykitty
Mom of Lilly and Oscar

 

[JulieM]

One of the most important factors in the decision is the availability (or not) of a skilled ear crop vet and an experienced taper. Each vet seems to handle things differently, and some pups have a long, slow recovery period. My pups are up and playing the same day, we don't put anything on the ears except occasionally Neopredef powder (which doesn't hurt them, we don't even touch the ears to put it on) until the stitches come out and the cut edges are healed. Then we start taping, and if you have someone who knows what they're doing this is generally fairly uneventful, as well. You do have to be consistent with your taping, but IMO 10 minutes once a week isn't really that big of a deal, even if you have to do it for 9 months.

 

[Mama_Zookeeper]

My Rocky had his ears cropped at 13 weeks and we had very little problems. Our vet is very skilled and did all the post op taping & posting himself. We did not get a show crop as we are not showing (these are also more time consuming & require a lot more attention to taping). Rocky did not have a lot of pain, he did very well when we put neosporin on his ears and only needed 2 posting before his ears were standing on their own. Call your local boxer club and find out what vets in your area crop, you can alo contact your breeder as most have regular vets who do cropping. It really is just personal taste, I personally love both. The more flashy the dog the more I like natural, classic (plain) boxers look great cropped. It really should be something you & your husband are completely committed to especially considering the amount of after care. Good Luck & keep us posted!

Dora

 

[LuvmyGrlSage]

I too wanted to keep Sage's ears natural for I did not want her to be in any pain. Well my hubby insisted on wanting her ears cropped. See, Sage was his present, but now she is mine! LOL So we talked to our vet and got them done. We did not have any trouble with hers at all. She stayed overnight, came home with them taped. The vet told me if she gets them undone to just bring her back in and he will retape them. We had to bring her back twice in two weeks. They look great! She came home with the same disposition she went in with, like nothing had even happened.

Good Luck in what you decide.

 

[darlenejs]

I agree with one of the other posts; I could never crop Jazmyn's ears because she is so expressive with them! I couldn't imagine my greeting from her without the little "hook/fling thing" she does with them. Not that boxers are beautiful with cropped ears, I just love what my baby can "tell" me with hers.

Jazmyn's mommy

Jazmyn - fawn with black mask
dob 1-6-05