When it comes to cropping Doberman ears, there are a lot of myths and misconceptions floating around. Many people believe that this is a complicated procedure requiring a vet trip. But in reality, it’s a relatively simple process that you can do at home with just a few basic supplies.
Note that this is only for experienced pet owners – please consult with your veterinarian before attempting to do this yourself if you are not confident in your abilities.
Here is a helpful video on how to crop doberman ears at home?
Trying to find the best dog lover gifts for him? Check out our top five picks, perfect for any occasion!
Supplies Required for Doberman Ear Cropping
- Paper towels to clean ears.
- Wooden Tongue depressor.
- Tool to cut wood.
- Round-‐nosed scissors.
- J&J ZONAS Porous Cloth Tape.
- 4x Equate regular tampons, OR
- 2x Tampax regular tampons.
Preprations
- Wrap the plunger of one applicator tube around the tail of another, making a post for each ear equal to the length of the ears plus half an inch. Equating: Tampax: Extend plunger and applicator fully; Securing in position with tape is recommended.) (Wrap up inner pads).
- Make double-thick tape lengths 1x 12″, 2x 8″, 4x 2½”.
- Make six single-thickness strips for each ear, 2″, 3″, 4″, 5″, 6″, 7″ and 8″ long to fix tip to base.
- Make two more strips for each ear, 6″ and 7″ long to apply base upwards.
Let’s Tape It
- Firmly insert the Tampon Post into the rear pocket of your dog’s ear.
- Pull upwards on the ear to stretch it along its length and attach the tip to the Post with 1x 2½” strip tape.
- Wrap the dog’s ear around the applicator post.
- At the tip, begin wrapping smaller to greater tape strips from bottom to top, overlapping each wrap by 1/3″.
- Place two additional strips of double tape in the middle of the base. Then, working your way up the base, use 8″ lengthy tape strips and other 7″ and 6″ short strips to build up a strong foundation.
- Ensure that the strips are fitted but not overly tight; they should be looser near the bottom.
- Cut a piece of Tongue Depressor to the width of your dogs’ head, and attach it in the middle of the 12″ double strip.
- To keep the ears upright and parallel, bridge them.
- 2 1/2″ strips should be used to secure the bridge at both ends.
- To relieve ear tendon pressure, remove triangles from the front of the ear tape bases.
- If scabs or ulcers appear, open them up and let fresh air in by cutting the ear-tapes along the sides and gluing them in position with three ½” strips.
- To maintain the health of your ear skin, replace tapes every three days and immediately after they become wet, or infection may develop and damage the ear, making the puppy ill.
- Increase length of ear – posts and width of wooden bridge – piece to fit as your puppy grows.
- After four weeks, continue posting ears until the female pup is 6-9 months old, or the male pup is 9-12 months old.
Benefits of Doberman Ear Cropping
For people who like to spend their time training and exercising their show dogs, ear cropping is one of the best decisions they can make. Ear cropping makes your dog’s ears attractive and looks proportionate for its head size; this will help in making it more appealing when you’re showing it off at dog shows.
Ear cropping has many benefits. One of the obvious benefits is that it makes your dog look like a Doberman Pinscher!
The cropped ears give your pup that distinguished look that will have other owners envying you and people complimenting how adorable he is.
Ear cropping also has many health benefits, including preventing ear infections, flies bothering them, and the formation of granulomas.
This is especially helpful for dogs that play outside often and may track dirt into the ears.
To educate dog owners we recently added new resources like Doberman ear cropping, and the right age to crop ear as well as we discuss either dianthus is poisonous to dogs or not.
Doberman Ear Cropping by Professionals
When it comes to ear cropping at home, you can do it alone or with the help of an experienced veterinarian. But if you are not confident enough in your abilities, you can always go to an ear cropping vet to have the surgery done.
The cost of Doberman ear cropping may vary depending on location, surgeon, or veterinary clinic, and if complications occur or not. For some vets, proper anesthesia is included in the price so it will depend on how much your veterinarian charges for this. Generally, it can range from $200 to $500.
When looking for an experienced veterinarian, you should find one who has done ear cropping before so the dog will be comfortable while under anesthesia and during recovery.
The vet should also have experience in stitching ears so he does not leave too much scar tissue after surgery which may cause your pup problems when it’s older.
Ear cropping is not only done in Dobermans but can also be performed on other dogs that are considered to have large heads and long ears.
It should be noted that performing this surgery on breeds with short heads, like pugs or Boxers, is much more difficult than those with long heads.