I was invited to a friend's house for dinner one night for a home cooked meal. When I entered the house, I was greeted by her dog. She was a beautiful dog that remind me of a Doberman Pinscher except for her ears. Her ears hung nicely against the side of her face giving her such a nice expression. So I made the mistake of asking what kind of mix she was. She's a purebred Doberman Pinscher but they got her as a puppy and refused to have her ears cut. I was shocked, I didn't even know that their ears were cut to stand up straight. I was horrified as she talked about it over dinner, the food was awesome but I was sympathetic over the pain.
So I was wonder what your thoughts were about cutting an animal's ears off for purely aesthetic reasons. The look is certainly famous and gives it a sharp alert expression to the dog breed but I can't help but think that it's cruel. What do you think?
It's the same way I view declawing cats; disgusting. I mean, how can one be so selfish as to actually change an animal's body (animals cannot give consent either) just because they want them to look "tough?" If you want to own an animal, you should treat it with respect, and not do things to it just to make it "look better" that would cause it pain, or isn't necessary.
The comparison between declawing cats and cutting a dog's ears is not apt since the dog's mobility, ability and purpose are not compromised when its ears are cut whereas a cat loses a significant portion of its hunting and survival ability when it is declawed. I am looking at getting a Doberman when our Whippet passes away and I am aware that Dobermans tend to have ear problems/infections if their ears are not cropped even with regular cleaning. Yes, it is a painful cosmetic surgery but so is circumcision and the benefits of the latter surgery outweigh the 'costs'. I am still weighing whether or not I'll get the ears cropped but it is not as 'slam-dunk' as the previous comments suggest.
My biggest dog has his ears cutted... and everyday me and my family regret that decision. He's a boxer, so it was a pure aesthetic thing... we did it when he was about four months I think, his healing was really fast and he didn't complained at all... but still, we think that it's stupid now, he looks more "scarier" and we made it happen to all of that just for this stupid reason. But sadly, it's something really common though.
My heart aches just to read that two words! I can't stand thinking about having ears cut, or tail docked at all, and I think it is really cruel to it to animals since they can't talk back.
I like long tail and flabby ears 🙂
There has been a recent movement against docking tails and clipping ears. I personally feel that dogs shouldn't be altered in this way. It does take a little getting used to but once you do they just look normal.
The human race has been known for torturing itself to acquire beauty through such things as tattoos which are done for aesthetic purposes and expect to implement the same to dogs. Unfortunately, the latter don't understand the reason for their redesign which wasn't intended by the creator.
I would never want to cut a dog's ears, however I can see that there may be a health benefit in some cases...though I don't see how it would be helpful for short haired dogs? Which are the ones that have the procedure done! Seeing my amstaff slap his tail into walls violently when he's happy lends me to think that if he didn't have that tail, he'd be more comfortable when wiggle butt syndrome attacks though.