ear carriage for natural

[JennaP]

Whenever Lily is running I think of her ears as her flowing tresses. They lay back against her neck and look so cute. Which is a plus when I've caught her counter surfing again and I want to skin her!



J~

 

[Nedra's_momma]

LOL, I know what you mean! They have a way of looking at you like, "Who, me???" that makes it impossible for you not to love!

 

[PawPrintBoxers]

Show Breeder - Natural Ears

Originally posted by blueskies
Sadie was just purchased as a show prospect on Friday (12/14/01) with natural ears and at this age she is too old to have them cropped without inserts

Mel,

While most all AKC show Boxer breeders do crop, those that do not I know personally will supply 100% support towards getting a natural ear to lay right. The lay of a natural ear is very much as much a part of other country standards as the set of cropped ears.

In the world of conformation competition, so much goes into a show prospect Boxer and the ears are one of the more obvious things

 

[Tam319]

Hi!

I know I'm coming to this thread a bit late, but it has been very helpful as I am getting a natural eared show potential bitch in 3 weeks.

One question I do have...why is it that some breeders who claim to raise "natural boxers" (ie raw diet, minimal vaccinations) still push for cropping? It seems sort of contradictory to me. The breeders want to raise boxers "the way nature intended", yet still crop, dock and do dewclaws.

I'm not trying to start the "to crop or not to crop" discussion - just wondering

Also, Luke will be 2 in April but his cartilage is still fairly soft in his ears. Would there be any harm/pain involved in massaging his ears to get them to lay flat at his age?

Thanks everybody, your awesome!

Tamara

 

[PawPrintBoxers]

Originally posted by Tam319
The breeders want to raise boxers "the way nature intended", yet still crop, dock and do dewclaws.

To be politically correct, nature did not create the Boxer: Man did. Nature intended its canines to have prick ears. Man domesticated wild dogs and started playing around with their genetics in order to fulfil certain duties. The Boxer is not a true breed in the sense of "Nature"

 

[JulieM]

Tamara, you have a point, and Christina, nice answer I am trying to raise my dogs naturally, yet I still crop my show puppies. Why? Well, basically, because I prefer the look. Also, cropped ears are called for by the Standard - rightly or wrongly. Natural ears are not a fault or a disqualification, but they are a deviation. I am not at the stage where I am willing to openly defy the standard just to make a point. If I had a stellar natural-eared dog that I decided to show later in life, sure. When the standard is changed to include both styles, maybe. But right now my (show) goal is to breed Boxers that meet the standard, and right now that includes cropped ears. (Probably the chicken way out, but I'm controversial enough on other issues! :D )

 

[Tam319]

Thanks for the replies. I guess my question is more applicable to Canada where breeders and owners have the choice to crop or leave the ears natural for show. A lot of the breeders I've encountered as rearing the "natural boxer" still choose to crop.

I understand your valid point on genetics PawPrint, but I feel cropping is unnatural in the sense that we are physically modifying the ears dog was born with. Ear cropping is not going to change the dog's genetics at all. And as JulieM said earlier :"US breeders have never had to worry about breeding for correct natural ears - and I dare say most US breeders would not even know what a correct natural ear was. When the Standard is changed to allow natural ears, breeders will be scrambling to find good ones to breed to!"

What I mean is that it seems unnatural to me to alter what the dog was born with (it's natural parts) for esthetic reasons. Therefore, how can "natural" breeders claim to be natural in this respect? Would it be fair to say that the breed standard (in the US) is basing it's standard for ears on tradition rather than what the breed is inherently born with?

Again, I am not trying to take sides on the cropping issue - just trying to make sense of the reasoning behind natural breeders still altering their dog's natural ears.

Tamara

 

[PawPrintBoxers]

Tamara,

Does your Boxer have a docked tail?

 

[Tam319]

No, Luke does not. He has natural ears, tail and dewclaws.

Our new little girl will have a docked tail and dew claws removed as the breeder had that done a few days after birth. But her ears will be au natural as that is my decision.

Tamara

 

[sugerray50]

re: taping ears

Jessica:

I was trying to find this link (in your reply to the post re: natural ear taping) and it doesn't appear to be working. Can you send a working one to me? I tried to e'mail you via your website, but you don't have an e'mail icon there....

I taped Nedra's ears because she had one ear that "flew" much like you described with your pup. I taped her for three or four months and her ear still "flies" occasionally. If I were to show her, I would just have had to tape them the night before a show. I began taping her at the age of 6 months because a puppy's ears tend to do funny things when they are teething anyway. Someone else was asking about how I did it, so I set up a quick webpage to better describe it. You can find it here, and this is what worked for me: http://216.201.21.117/boxer/natear.html

Thanks!

Tammy Chamberlain
Tamgar Boxers (CKC reg pending)
www.members.shaw.ca/tamgarboxers