What is the best age to have a great danes ears cropped?

Question

It is a surgery. The dog is asleep. Who cares if I like the cropped ear look? It's more important that I am kind to my dog. We had a pet rat who had 5 tumors. We had every one removed with surgery. Should we not have had the surgery because it "hurt the poor little thing"?

Answer 1

Never. But if you want it get it done it has to be before 12 weeks.  

Answer 2

Unless your showing your great dane you should never do it. Poor puppies. That hurts. My great dane looks great with his ears hanging low. The historical reason for cropping the great danes ears was so when they were hunting wild boars they wouldn't get hurt.  

Answer 3

The younger the better and make sure the vet who does it has a ton of experience. I know many vets in my area will not do it any longer.Same vets who don't perform declawing any more for cats.I personally love a floppy eared Dane, but that's just me.

Answer 4

They need to be cropped before 16 weeks of age...no later then 10 weeks is preferable. Simply having them cropped won't make them stand..it takes a lot of after care...taping, posting etc and it MUST be done correctly...it can take from a few weeks to months and then there is no guarantee that they will stand or stand correctly.Some never stand no matter how diligent the owner. It is also very hard to find a vet that knows how to correctly crop a Danes ears. There are many very poor, botched crop jobs. Cropping is not taught in vet schools and is begining to be a lost art. Cropping is also very expensive. It is very important to find an experienced vet, one who has references and can show his work.

Cropping is a purely cosmetic surgery and has no benefit to the Dane what so ever...it's only benefit is to the vanity of the owner.

Even if you are showing you do not need to crop ears. Natural ear Danes can be shown and do very well in the ring. I'm currently showing my natural ear boy and he's been doing awesome in the ring. There are many natural ear Dane champions as well.

I own both cropped & natural Danes and have for many years.

*****Danes are no more prone to aural hematomas then any other breed/mix of dog and there ears are NOT made in such a way to cause hematomas!!!!!************

Answer 5

Never! When's the best time for me to come and cut off part of your ears, just because I like the look? That's sick.  

Answer 6

why you would want to have them cropped is beyond me, but it must be done BEFORE they are 12 weeks of age.

add- its not just the surgery that hurts, it is the long recovery process and constant taping and re taping the ears.  have you ever seen this done?  skin will actually peel from the ears because of the constant changing of the tape.  it is a horrible, cruel, and completely unnecessary surgery with no health benefits.

Answer 7

before 6 months.  

Answer 8

Aww, poor dogs! Please do not crop their ears! It must hurt sooo much!

Answer 9

I think you should go first and then see if you want to do your dogs.

Answer 10

Even NEVER would be too early!!!!!!!!! It´s cruel and completely stupid.

THANK GOD that it is ILLEGAL to do it here in Germany!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Answer 11

Ideally the breeder should start the process before the dog comes home. If not get it started right away. the process takes about 4 - 6 months to complete.

Despite all bleeding hearts squawking about "unneccisary surgery" the Great Dane is one of the few breeds whose ears are shaped in such a way that when it shakes its head the blood vessels at the tips mat actually rupture and cause hemotoma. This is painful to the dogs. Cropping will prevent this.

Answer 12

wow. tumors are way different than cutting off something's ears just because you like the look of it. tumors are life and death, ears are just your preference.

you are cruel. the recovery process hurts, even though they're asleep when the procedure is going on. you're sick.

Answer 13

The younger the better.  But NEVER would be my honest answer.  It is very painful, and does nothing for their well-being.  

Answer 14

Why on earth would you want to do that?!. It will cause pain, look ugly and make other great danes laugh. How mean are you!