Crop Gone Real Bad

[Cane Corso King]

Hello. I have my first Cane Corso that I bought this year after my previous dog passed away. This dog is an amazing dog. Tons of energy and a good listener. Very Smart. I was thinking about breeding him and showing him. He is just that smart and structurally sound. Sadly enough to say his ear crop has gone horribly wrong. 1 ear stands perfectly and looks perfect ever since 1 week after the surgery. The other ear has developed a VERY stubborn fold at the base of his ear. It is folded over the top of his head. My beautiful Cane Corso is cursed with one ear up and the other folded over the top. My vet that did the crop told me he would not give up if I did not give up. We took him back 3 times for postings that we kept on him for weeks at a time. The postings did nothing since the fold is so low on the ear. I took him yesterday and my vet tried breath right strips and they just fell off and did not hold properly. My vet said we could try a stitch in his ear that is supposed to pull the fold out. Has anyone ever tried this stitch? I feel so terrible about this entire deal. If anyone is contemplating cropping or not and read this post I hope you think twice about it. I just may have ruined this beautiful dogs appearance by trying to stick with tradition. If anyone has had a similar experience or any info on this stitch your help and comments are greatly appreciated. ray:

 

[season]

I understand you are upset etc.....but is your dog happy/healthy? Does it bother your dog? I'm sure he is happy (since you describe him as a great dog) and I'm sure he isn't bothered by it. It's nice of your vet to continue to try to fix it but at the end of the day if your dog is healthy/happy then I (I'm not speaking for you wouldn't worry about it. That's my two cents. I wouldn't call him "cursed" or think his appearance is "ruined".

 

[Cane Corso King]

I thank you for your reply and input Season. You are right.The dog being happy is most important. It may just be me, but I get the sense that he feels out of balance with one ear standing and the other folded over all the time. I think he can tell that something is off with that.

I did not intend to imply that his life is cursed or anything. I meant that he is unfortunate to have one ear like that because of something I did. If I would have left him alone and left his ears natural he would not have this problem. When I look at him I see a dog with great potential. He will simply not be able to reach his true full potential with this encumbrance. That is all I am trying to say. At the end of the day the fact of the matter is I can get over this ear. Judges and people wanting a sharp stud dog will not.

 

[season]

I feel you....sure, he may not be "show" material due to their judging standards but honestly, who cares. That stuff is not for the dogs anyway....that "show" stuff was created by humans in order to meet their needs not the dog's. I haven't seen your dog but I bet it's a beauty that loves you to death and that's the most important thing. Ok, so you might not win a blue ribbon and a competition but dogs don't care about that stuff. It's a human thing. We are the one's that use our emotions to rationalize things. Dog's don't.

I thank you for your reply and input Season. You are right.The dog being happy is most important. It may just be me, but I get the sense that he feels out of balance with one ear standing and the other folded over all the time. I think he can tell that something is off with that.

I did not intend to imply that his life is cursed or anything. I meant that he is unfortunate to have one ear like that because of something I did. If I would have left him alone and left his ears natural he would not have this problem. When I look at him I see a dog with great potential. He will simply not be able to reach his true full potential with this encumbrance. That is all I am trying to say. At the end of the day the fact of the matter is I can get over this ear. Judges and people wanting a sharp stud dog will not.

 

[Cody]

how old is he now?

 

[kguitarchic18]

How were they posting the ears? Did you try taping them up for 7 days at a time? we had to go through 3 tapings at 7 days each before the ears stopped folding over, and magically they stayed after the last taping, so it might just take a little longer.

 

[Cane Corso King]

How were they posting the ears? Did you try taping them up for 7 days at a time? we had to go through 3 tapings at 7 days each before the ears stopped folding over, and magically they stayed after the last taping, so it might just take a little longer.

He will be 18 weeks old this friday. He was in the original post after surgery for 2 weeks. When that came off they stood pretty much perfect for about 3 days then the one started to fold over the top of his head so I took him back. They posted that ear and I kept it on for 7 days. Took it off for 3 days and had no results so took him back again. They posted again and I left it on for 10 days that time and it didnt get any better. Then we tried the breath right strips which looked like they worked well when they were on but the trouble was they fell off in a day. Now I just keep putting new strips on when he takes them off. Seems to hold it in the righ place. Hopefully it will fix it permanantly if I keep doing it. My vet said he thought that regular posts would not help anymore. I wish there was some type of ear cast I could put on there to get that fold out.

How were they posting the ears? Did you try taping them up for 7 days at a time? we had to go through 3 tapings at 7 days each before the ears stopped folding over, and magically they stayed after the last taping, so it might just take a little longer.

Were his ears folding over the top of the head or down over the sides?

 

[Victoria93]

I really do feel for you. Our boy kato had perfect ears until about 8 months when his left ear had a crease. We did posting and it would stand for a day then flop over. He is a year old now and is still flopped over. Our vet said she could put the stitch in but wouldn't guarantee that it would stand. We love him regardless of his ears but it's more annoying then anything. So we are caught in the dilemma of trying to get the stitch or a shorter crop. I wish you luck and I'm sure you will love him regardless

 

[DDSK]

This is one reason I never had either of my dogs cropped.
My 8 month old pup Abby would look so good with cropped ears, but I was worried about issues so I did not have them cropped.

 

[Cane Corso King]

UPDATE:

Needed to update this thread. When I started this I was losing hope that it was going to stand correctly. I gotta say it is looking really good at this point. I have been sticking with the breath right strips on the outside of his ear and the ear is starting to lose the fold. Very pleased with the results at this point. Anyone that is reading this with the same problem shave the outside of your dogs ear with electric trimmers and try breath right strips. If it worked for me it could work for you too. I couldnt be happier at this point. Vet did a great cut on these and was outstanding to continue to work with me to get these ears right!

 

[Jem]

My Corso's ears were all whacky til she was about 6 months old. They eventually evened out. Don't panic just yet.