To crop or not to crop-please keep your opinions to yourself!!

[gmacleod]

Strangely though most aren't "pro-natural tail" or "pro dewclaws". I guess it's cool to remove them because...I don't know, it just is, right?

I think you might find that that depends a great deal on where people live. And this is an international community

The breed was created as a working dog - cropped ears were part of their "uniform". Now that they are family dogs natural ears are acceptable, but if not for their original purpose there would be no boxer for you to have.

Actually, it wasn't. The boxer is descended from bullbaiting dogs (it was never used for this purpose itself, just descended from dogs that were) and the "original purpose" as stated by the standard was as a "companion dog, for horse, bycycle or carriage". It was only later that the breed found use as a working dog.

Ear cropping is almost certainly the result of prevailing fashion at the time of the breed's emergence, and a factor of having been bred from hunting/bullbaiting dogs for whom there was good reason to remove extremities like ears and tails.

 

[Tango's Mama]

My vet dosn't do ear crops. He also owns boxers himself. I prefer to leave all my boxer's(ive had them for over 20 years) natural. I like the look and to me ear cropping was only cosmetic. The tail I do have done simply because of the lovely kidney bean action boxers are famous for. Imagine the damage a long tail could do to you and not to mention the dog! I have a freind with a all natural boxer and he has had his tail broken twice now. All he was doing was waggin :( The dew claws, I only had one Boxer with these removed and I think its also a good safe thing for the dog. No chance of them ripping off or getting caught in something. Normal toes nails are bad enough if they arent kept nice and short.

I do however think boxers are beautiful either way and I'd never say something to anyone for their preference. I've also never had anyone say anything to me about any of my boxers ears or question them being boxers. Altho when I got Tango his color does throw alot of people off. I get told Ohhh what a pretty pitbull all the time

 

[Princess3604]

i have had people ask me why i didnt get Princess' ears done.. and i simply tell them that shes a rescue pup and got her at 11 months old and shes too old to get her ears done and i like the natural look but might in future get a show and possibly crop the ears and show him and also get another and leave the ears natural.. i'd like to see which one does better then the other in the show ring.. but this will be years from now.. but i do think people should leave their thoughts to themselves unless asked.. my friend absolutely loves Princess' natural ears but also tells me how beautiful she is and how beautiful her coat is (thanks to Canidae )

 

[Taren]

we decided to get mavericks cropped. whether people know it or not this is a vrey touchy subject to people. some get very upset when asked about their pups ears and i do to it makes me mad when people express there opinions about there ears but i do agree with alll of you its not any of there business. its a prefernce thing. they are beautiful either way cropped or not. we did plenty of research even before we got maverick on cropping his ears. so if anyone's going to cropped the ears i would do research onit first. its your choice.

 

[l8krgirl08]

Amen Taren! It all boils down to personal preference period. Remember if you can't say anything nice say nothing at all.

 

[beausmommy]

When I picked up Beau at 9 months, I told the breeder how happy I was that he had natural ears. She doesn't crop any of her boxers' ears. I don't see any reason to crop the ears on a pet quality boxer (especially a white one that can't be shown anyway). I would never criticize anyone who did because that's his/her choice. There is something very regal about a cropped boxer, but I love Beau's floppy ears. I think they make him look a lot less severe and they are one of his favorite places to be rubbed. No one has the right to tell you that your dog should or should not have cropped ears.

 

[1FlashyFan]

Before I ever had a boxer I had my first daughter. We had her ears pierced as a baby (after her first set of immunizations as approved by my pediatrician). I know it's not a traditional part of everyone's upbringing, but my husband and I agreed that we wanted to do this and made sure it was done safely by a licensed professional. I can assure you, there were people who thought we were cruel and crazy... cropping ears is very similar. It's cosmetic and there's no proven "benefit" but as long as it's legal where you live than it's a personal preference either way. No one should expect that because you have a boxer you should crop and you shouldn't catch flack because you had them cropped either!

 

[rrrmarie]

As most of you already know, Tre's ears are cropped. Look in my gallery.

We were at the ballpark last night. A little boy yells out "A devil dog". rrrrrrrrrr We always get smart remarks everywhere we go. It doesn't bother me.

Over the weekend, we went to a Dog park... a lady says "does he get good reception"... I don't even look at anyone that makes comments on Tre's ears.

I guess I've gotten use to it.

Two each its own. (whatever that saying is)

 

[abbey_eisma]

We decided to keep Duchess's ears natural. One reason was that she was so sick when she was a puppy and the second being that she is so rough with the other dog in the house it wouldnt have worked to try to keep her ears out of the way! She is still cute as ever!

 

[samsonite]

enjoying this thread

I just visited a friend with a boxer, Lucy. She is almost 2 yrs old and I used to hate her ears. I thought she was a perfect example of why Boxers should have their ears cropped because her ears just looked too far back and little. But, I guess I've just grown to love boxers in general, and now realize how beautiful she is - her ears are perfect for her sweet personality. And my goofy Samson with his goofy crop just got a "beautiful boxer" comment while we were out walking. So, people can change, and there is always someone out there that will make your day!

BTW: Of all the comments that people can make, I find that I'm most sensitive when other Boxer owners make mean comments about my dog's ears. I've had a couple of boxer owners treat me like a psycho mutilator and took a holier-than-thou attitude. (as far as I know, they are not members here, YEA).