cropped or natural (Revised Poll)

[Jaime&Louie]

Um, help me here....

"LOL - well, if you choose not to crop that is perfectly fine with me, but remember that Mother Nature intended the ears to be erect - dropped/floppy ears are a human invention!"

Aren't boxers BORN with floppy ears? Wouldn't that mean that CROPPING was a "human invention", and mother nature intended them to be NATURAL? Was that quote intended to be flipped around the other way?

That just sounded funny to me... anyone else? I might be on my own here...

 

[Pierpoint]

Yeah, I wondered about that quote too. Mother Nature = floppy I always thought.

 

[rawnbinit]

Cuatro has floppy ears (we prefer floppy). However, as soon as we close on our new house we will be picking up a little brindle pup girl. She was rescued by some people who did not take good care of her (very sick and malnourished). Even sadder is they tried to crop her ears themselves (we fear it was very painful for her) and they came out very short.

Something good from something bad: she's very cute, healing - about 80% (and very scrappy for a 7 lb pup, and her little cropped ears make her like a little elf. We can't wait to get her...we have already fell in love with her.

So, to answer the question do we prefer floppy or cropped, the answer is YES. :p

 

[JulieM]

No, the sentence is not flipped. Mother Nature intended for dogs to have erect ears. Dogs in the wild do not have drop ears.

Yes, Boxers are born with floppy ears - but that is not what Mother Nature intended and, left to their own devices, the ears would return to an erect state. The Boxer is a man-made breed - Mother Nature also did not intend smushed faces or undershot bites.

You could say "the ears they are born with," as opposed to "the ears Mother Nature intended," and there'd be no confusion.

 

[boxermom5]

Stephanie - It is a fact that ear cropping is banned in Europe (on all breeds, I believe). I voted "natural" because both of my boxers are that way. I had 2 dobies before (now at the bridge, god rest their souls), and at the time I had a very strong opinion that a Doberman should be cropped (they just don't look good au naturale), and therefore had both of them done. What a nightmare!! It took almost 6 months to get our female's ears to really stand (had a long show crop), but she was truely beautiful once all was said and done. At any rate, when I decided to get a Boxer (never intending to show her) I was torn as to whether I would put myself and a dog thru that again. I looked at numerous adult Boxers in all their colors, plain and flashy, with and without cropped ears - to see if my opinion was unwaivering on one side or the other. I came to the conclusion that I really didn't have a one sided opinion on the "look" of the ears, and the breed has so many individual personality traits and expressions, that not cropping would make those expressions much more vivid, and I didn't feel it was worth the effort on my part or the discomfort on the dogs part to warrant the necessity of surgery. So both my girls are natural eared, but they do have docked tail (and given the amount of boundless energy they put in to play time, long tails would just be a disaster!)

I do agree, however, that it is a personal choice that each person has the right to make, and that choice should be respected by all regardless of whether they agree or disagree.

Jen - mom to Tess, 7 fawn (mohag) female, natural ears, and Tenaia 2 dark brindle female, natural ears

 

[rawnbinit]

Originally posted by JulieM
No, the sentence is not flipped. Mother Nature intended for dogs to have erect ears. Dogs in the wild do not have drop ears.

Yes, Boxers are born with floppy ears - but that is not what Mother Nature intended and, left to their own devices, the ears would return to an erect state. The Boxer is a man-made breed - Mother Nature also did not intend smushed faces or undershot bites.

You could say "the ears they are born with," as opposed to "the ears Mother Nature intended," and there'd be no confusion.

Interesting perspective. I never thought of it that way. Wolves ears are not floppy.

 

[doyle9732]

Originally posted by rawnbinit


So, to answer the question do we prefer floppy or cropped, the answer is YES. :p

Actually, the question is: Which do you HAVE? Natural or cropped ears

I know the subject can be a hot debate, and that wasn't my intent. The first boxer I knew was about 25 years ago - and it had cropped ears. I never really dealt with boxers until I took up with my BF - who did grow up with them, and as such, would never even consider owning another breed (which I also now agree wholeheartedly!! )

I started this post because I wanted to know the rough percentage of what was out there......25 years ago, predominantly all were cropped.....now, judging by this poll, most are natural.

 

[rawnbinit]

Actually, the question is: Which do you HAVE? Natural or cropped ears

Well, I was trying to be tongue-in-cheek. We have always preferred floppy. What I was trying to say is that we found this cute little pup with poorly-cropped ears and decided to save her. My remark was alluding to the fact that a boxer can change your mind.

But man, is this a hot issue!

 

[doyle9732]

:(

I'm sorry.....I re-read your post AFTER I replied....and thought 'doh!' *Stephanie smacks herself on the forehead*

But, it's probably not a bad idea to remind everyone, every few pages of this thread, what the original question was!

Indeed, it is a *sensitive* subject!

 

[rawnbinit]

True.

I enjoyed the topic.