To Crop and Clip or Not To Crop and Clip that is the question..........

[Ciscobxr]

IMO, i would never want a strong, powerful tail on my dogs, besides injury to themselves, just having friends over w/ dogs w/ tails, stuff gets knocked off tables, drinks spilled and etc.. has made me so relieved that my 2 do not have long tails.
-Kat

I 100% agree!!! I had a dalmation and his tail drove me crazy, for all the reasons above.

I am also just as strong of a floppy ear lover! There are very few boxers with cropped ears that I like. I went to a show once and I did not like the way any of the boxers ears looked. It's just what you like I guess.
I heard that California is trying to ban the croppping and docking, now I don't agree with that, it should be the owners choice.

 

[Gus's Teah]

Docked and floppy here

Gus's tail is docked and he has the cutest floppy ears ever I don't know that they are the most properly laying ears, but I think it's cute when they do their flying all crazy on top of his head thing! I like cropped ears too, although I don't think I'll ever do it unless I decide to show one day with a future boxer... I can't even imagine having time to - and props to those of you that do (and thank you for the quality pups you provide to the rest of us)

 

[Kerry Jane]

I agree that i would not want a long tail on my boxer - too many problems caused by a long tail.

I have a 6 year old boy with natural ears and an almost 2 year old girl with cropped ears. I love both. For me though, I would only crop ears for a show dog - I don't see any reason otherwise. The only reason we were diligent about posting her ears so that they would stand correctly was because we knew we had too - she hated every minute of it.

 

[rdldbb]

As is probably the case w/ 99% of people in U.S. our dogs came w/ cropped tails and we kept their ears natural. I personally think that natural ears look so much cuter than cropped.

 

[mancin]

Tail was docked before I got Tyson, and I decided not to crop his ears even though I love the look because:
1. I didn't have the desire or patience to tape them to get them to stand
2. I knew I would never show him
3. His cute little face looks adorable w/ floppy ears

:D

 

[crashsmom]

Crash's tail was docked before we got him. Whoever did it got a little carried and he has the shortest little nub. We call it a "nublett". His ears are natural. I think that natural ears give their faces more expression. I haven't seen many white boxers with cropped ears.

 

[Brittain]

When we saw Brittain for the first time her tail was already docked, and the breeder told us it was our choice to crop her ears. We were told that ear cropping is banned in Ontario (true or not, I'm not sure) so we would have to go into Quebec, but to be honest we didn't want to do that to her. As much as I love cropped ears, that initial pain is something I wouldn't be able to justify to myself. Just because they forget about it quickly, I still don't feel that it's ok to do it. It's not like it's in their best interests, or to prevent disease or something! Unless I'm way off base (because I have never had a dog with cropped ears), that's how I feel. Besides, floppy is cute too, and people find her less scary that way .
rachel.

 

[Jazz461]

Jazz came with a natural tail (cropping ears illegal in Britain). She is our first dog with a long tail (previous 2 boxers had docked tails) it was quite an experience the first time we got whipped behind the back of the legs with it but now we're used to it and have learnt to get out of the way of it . I think its great and it only becomes a bit of a weapon when she really pleased to see us or is playing, the rest of the time its just like having a short tail. we've had no problem with it breaking or anything.

 

[robinette]

Vegas was docked at 2 days old. He has floppy ears, just cause i like them that way and we were not going to show him.

Our vet told us about the tail being of more importance to Dock because it is an extension of their spinal column. Because they get so excited and their tail are boney they can break easily. If they break when they are an adult (depending on the severity) it could be a major operation to fix because of the spine. It makes sense. Although we didn't have a choice in the matter, if we did, I would still dock.

 

[beausmommy]

Beau knocks enough stuff over without having a whopper of a tail. He was 9 months when I got him, but I'd never crop a dog's ears. I don't want them to have to go through the pain or the taping. I love watching his ears flop when he runs!