Cropping Question

[MonaC]

I have owned two Boxers in my life....... My Delilah and my childhood-long baby, Sister. I was at the dog park today and a lab owner asked me a question and I wasn't sure of the answer. Are Boxers' ears and tails cropped because it is "the fashion" (for lack of a better way to put it) or is there a practical reason for cropping the tail and/or ears? I found out from Boxerworld that dew claws are removed for a practical reason and I'm hoping someone can help me answer this lady's question.

;-) Mo

 

[Scorpio]

Its a personal preference but not a necessity!

You can also use the search button and find out a lot about cropping.

 

[Roxymyboxy]

Since I am a fairly new boxer mama......I might not be exactly right however, this is what I have read. Boxers were used in Germany during the war and they started cropping ears to avoid injury, or the ears getting ripped or torn.
Now, the tail? Well, my vet told me (when I was making the decision about Roxy) that this breed of dog whips the tail and sometimes will cause it to split open especially if the dog is indoors alot. Walking past furniture, door jams and such....He has had to do repairs and amputations on tails that have not been docked. We made the decision to dock her tail, and we left her ears alone (love her ears)......
Trish

 

[Zoey's Mom]

I have read that getting their ears cropped helps with not getting ear infections, which boxers do get. I am sure there were other reasons back in the early days of the breed, but I don't know what they are.
But in my opinion it is a personal preference. I have read and even heard some people say that the boxer must have their ears cropped to be true to the boxer breed. Let me be perfectly clear that I AM NOT ONE OF THOSE PEOPLE. I do prefer my boxer's ears cropped, but I also see how beautiful some of these dogs on B/W are with natural ears. I am blown away by some of them with their big beautiful heads and the natural ears just look so perfect on them!

 

[Zoey's Mom]

Ok, I looked up on ************** and it says that in Germany, in the early years of the breed, boxers were used to hunt boar. Their ears were cropped to prevent any injuries or tears from encounters with the boars.
But I also know it does help with ear infections as well....I am pretty sure I read that here.

 

[Zoey's Mom]

I have deleted this post because I included a link to a different boxer related website. I was just trying to post my source.

 

[Faughtey]

Rules

Most likely it's because the rules say you are not supposed to post other Boxer related web sites. :rolleyes:

 

[Zoey's Mom]

OOPS. I am so used to seeing so many other posts with links to other sites. But you are right. None of them were other boxer sites. Sorry.

 

[kathyw]

I'm certainly not an expert, but I've picked up on a few things off an on regarding tail docking and ear cropping. I am told that ear cropping is a matter of personal preference if you are not going to "show" your furbaby. I personally like the look of cropped ears, but that probably stems from the fact that my parents always had boxers, and back in th 50's and 60's ear cropping was almost automatic. It is not something that has to be done, and my vet has told me that ears are ears and cropping or not cropping is not a factor in ear health.
But tail docking is another story. Boxer tails are very, well for want of a better term, stout and not very flexible. And we all can agree that bum wiggles are a wonderful trait of our babies. When those tails wag, they can be nearly lethal. We had Great Danes in our pre-boxer years, and they always had their tails bandaged because they would wag them so much and hit them on anything within reach. We had one lovely lady whose tail was always a bloodied mess because she was such a sweet girl and whipped her tail into everything, causing it to bleed frequently. Our vet told us that boxers are the same, and that tail docking is actually the kindest thing to do for our babies.
Like I said, I'm not an expert, just another furbaby lover.

 

[Lael]

Check out this website for some good articles on this very subject:

EBZ Ears'n'Tails