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Ear Cropping

Brittnee

Member
I have a 8 week old Cane Corso and would like to have his ears cropped. Does anyone know of any vets in Orlando Florida who does this that’s trustworthy and does a good job?
 

Steven C

Well-Known Member
Hunters creek veterinary in Orlando does it but doesn't like to do it and its not cheap, ranging from 500 to 750. There is a very small window to do it between 8 and 11 weeks I beleive and it is a dangerous surgery for vets who do not know what they are doing. Many Corsos have died on the table during ear crop surgery with vets that don't do it often, sometimes they never wake up.

I learned that some of the breeders were to cheap to do it and after finding all this out, I opted to choose a breeder that does them on every CC as it is very important for this breed to get it done. Saves the dog a ton of pain as it grows and keep them resilient.
 

Boxergirl

Well-Known Member
Hunters creek veterinary in Orlando does it but doesn't like to do it and its not cheap, ranging from 500 to 750. There is a very small window to do it between 8 and 11 weeks I beleive and it is a dangerous surgery for vets who do not know what they are doing. Many Corsos have died on the table during ear crop surgery with vets that don't do it often, sometimes they never wake up.

I learned that some of the breeders were to cheap to do it and after finding all this out, I opted to choose a breeder that does them on every CC as it is very important for this breed to get it done. Saves the dog a ton of pain as it grows and keep them resilient.

I've never heard this before. Can you point me to some links of studies showing this? I try to keep up with health issues, so if I've missed something I'd like to know about it.

It's been my understanding that cropping is optional. Some people don't want a cropped dog, and in many countries it's illegal. I've had boxers my entire adult life, and they are often cropped as well. I've never found any evidence that cropping saves the dogs pain as they grow or keeps them resilient. Can you explain what you mean by that? I've had both cropped and natural eared dogs and have never noticed any increase in ear infections in my natural dogs. The biggest issue there seems to have come from allergies rather than cropping. I have also never heard that corsos (or any cropped breed) frequently die on the table frequently during a crop. I do know that most vets won't crop any later than 12 weeks. There's always a risk of death under anesthesia for any surgery, but I've never heard that it's greater for cropping.
 

Steven C

Well-Known Member
I've never heard this before. Can you point me to some links of studies showing this? I try to keep up with health issues, so if I've missed something I'd like to know about it.

It's been my understanding that cropping is optional. Some people don't want a cropped dog, and in many countries it's illegal. I've had boxers my entire adult life, and they are often cropped as well. I've never found any evidence that cropping saves the dogs pain as they grow or keeps them resilient. Can you explain what you mean by that? I've had both cropped and natural eared dogs and have never noticed any increase in ear infections in my natural dogs. The biggest issue there seems to have come from allergies rather than cropping. I have also never heard that corsos (or any cropped breed) frequently die on the table frequently during a crop. I do know that most vets won't crop any later than 12 weeks. There's always a risk of death under anesthesia for any surgery, but I've never heard that it's greater for cropping.

I will explain what I found out during my search and lots of research. There were plenty of Cane Corso dogs available with no ear crops and much cheaper in Florida and surrounding states we searched. I contacted my vet and found out the cost and the issues involved with the cropping surgery itself which worried me. Then I figured out that the better more professional breeders all did there own cropping having deals with a specific vet to get it done.

We knew ears would be a problem before hand having owned the Bordeaux, he constantly ruptured vessels in the thick heavy ears simply by shaking his head and hitting a wall with an ear. We had constant yeast infections which is arguable whether its from the long ears or not, our vet taught us how to fix those at home after a while anyway so no biggie. Then further research brought us to several articles which involve the sensitivity in Mastiff ears. Mastiffs are 95% resilient and the 5% that is not resilient is the ears. They easily get hurt, ruptured or become overly sensitive, they are huge, heavy and loaded with blood vessels as surely you know. The cuts that develop are hard to heal as they reopen often. But the most important factor is if the family has children in the household, the child could touch a sensitive ear and create a bad situation for the dog and or the child.

While some say it looks good and it is breed standard or that it makes the dog look more aggressive is true. But the real reason it is breed standard is because the ears actually cause the dogs great pain due to the obscene sensitivity of the ears. This is also why the operation is so deadly, the dogs can easily bleed out during surgery, not to mention mastiffs are sensitive to normal dose anesthesia which has killed many as well.

Our Bordeaux when young had his face bitten all the way threw with blood everywhere. I rushed him to the vet and the vet smiled at me saying, don't worry these dogs are resilient to pain. The only time I heard my Bordeaux cry in his 9 years was ear related so I guess this issue is all Mastiff dogs.

I have never seen a Boxer up close and I am not sure if the Boxer has such heavy ears as the Mastiffs do but with Mastiffs, it is clear immediately how thick and big the ears are.

This is not one of the articles that I researched with but the article pretty much says the same thing as above http://www.canecorso.org/ear-cropping.html

There are tons of articles that say its personal choice or talk about ear infections ect. But when digging deep, you find the true reasons behind the ears that are very real.
 

Brittnee

Member
Hunters creek veterinary in Orlando does it but doesn't like to do it and its not cheap, ranging from 500 to 750. There is a very small window to do it between 8 and 11 weeks I beleive and it is a dangerous surgery for vets who do not know what they are doing. Many Corsos have died on the table during ear crop surgery with vets that don't do it often, sometimes they never wake up.

I learned that some of the breeders were to cheap to do it and after finding all this out, I opted to choose a breeder that does them on every CC as it is very important for this breed to get it done. Saves the dog a ton of pain as it grows and keep them resilient.
I️ actually found a doctor in Orlando who crops ears after doing a little bit more research. Unfortunately the breeder we got him from only did the tail and not the ears.
 

Steven C

Well-Known Member
I️ actually found a doctor in Orlando who crops ears after doing a little bit more research. Unfortunately the breeder we got him from only did the tail and not the ears.
I'm curious if the vet is very expensive like my vet? Glad you found a vet that does it and glad all is going well for you.
 

BlackShadowCaneCorso

Super Moderator
Staff member
I will explain what I found out during my search and lots of research. There were plenty of Cane Corso dogs available with no ear crops and much cheaper in Florida and surrounding states we searched. I contacted my vet and found out the cost and the issues involved with the cropping surgery itself which worried me. Then I figured out that the better more professional breeders all did there own cropping having deals with a specific vet to get it done.

We knew ears would be a problem before hand having owned the Bordeaux, he constantly ruptured vessels in the thick heavy ears simply by shaking his head and hitting a wall with an ear. We had constant yeast infections which is arguable whether its from the long ears or not, our vet taught us how to fix those at home after a while anyway so no biggie. Then further research brought us to several articles which involve the sensitivity in Mastiff ears. Mastiffs are 95% resilient and the 5% that is not resilient is the ears. They easily get hurt, ruptured or become overly sensitive, they are huge, heavy and loaded with blood vessels as surely you know. The cuts that develop are hard to heal as they reopen often. But the most important factor is if the family has children in the household, the child could touch a sensitive ear and create a bad situation for the dog and or the child.

While some say it looks good and it is breed standard or that it makes the dog look more aggressive is true. But the real reason it is breed standard is because the ears actually cause the dogs great pain due to the obscene sensitivity of the ears. This is also why the operation is so deadly, the dogs can easily bleed out during surgery, not to mention mastiffs are sensitive to normal dose anesthesia which has killed many as well.

Our Bordeaux when young had his face bitten all the way threw with blood everywhere. I rushed him to the vet and the vet smiled at me saying, don't worry these dogs are resilient to pain. The only time I heard my Bordeaux cry in his 9 years was ear related so I guess this issue is all Mastiff dogs.

I have never seen a Boxer up close and I am not sure if the Boxer has such heavy ears as the Mastiffs do but with Mastiffs, it is clear immediately how thick and big the ears are.

This is not one of the articles that I researched with but the article pretty much says the same thing as above http://www.canecorso.org/ear-cropping.html

There are tons of articles that say its personal choice or talk about ear infections ect. But when digging deep, you find the true reasons behind the ears that are very real.

I am curious to see the articles that talk about the overt sensitivity of mastiff ears, as out of the litters I have had, both with young children helping to handle and take care of the pups after their crops without an issue. I have not found their ears to be any more sensitive than my Rottie's ears or previous labs and never had issues with heal, actually having them heal faster than anticipated which was great when performing our puppy assembly line for bathing and after care.
 

Boxergirl

Well-Known Member
Should we start another thread? I did read the one link posted and I suspected that was the one that would be referenced, but that seems to be more opinion based than factually based. In my opinion. I don't believe an English Mastiff's ears are any less thick or sensitive than a Corso's and they are never cropped. I'm also still a bit confused about the whole resiliency discussion. Not sure what you mean at all. I'm particularly interested in seeing some statistics on the danger of death during ear crop surgery.
 

Steven C

Well-Known Member
I am curious to see the articles that talk about the overt sensitivity of mastiff ears, as out of the litters I have had, both with young children helping to handle and take care of the pups after their crops without an issue. I have not found their ears to be any more sensitive than my Rottie's ears or previous labs and never had issues with heal, actually having them heal faster than anticipated which was great when performing our puppy assembly line for bathing and after care.

I agree with you, after the crop. I am 100% for cropping as per my research.
 

Steven C

Well-Known Member
Should we start another thread? I did read the one link posted and I suspected that was the one that would be referenced, but that seems to be more opinion based than factually based. In my opinion. I don't believe an English Mastiff's ears are any less thick or sensitive than a Corso's and they are never cropped. I'm also still a bit confused about the whole resiliency discussion. Not sure what you mean at all. I'm particularly interested in seeing some statistics on the danger of death during ear crop surgery.

No need, It will always be opinion based whether from vets or breeders. I chose to get a CC with cropped ears as I felt after my research that it was much better for the dog. Does your EM get cuts on his ears? Is he in pain when he does? My DDB did all his life and was in pain only with his ears.
 

Steven C

Well-Known Member
I agree with you, after the crop. I am 100% for cropping as per my research.

The whole reason for cropping is to make them less sensitive. There are tons of people that say its cruel to crop CC ears. I say its better for the dog to endure the 1 surgery to remove a lifetime of sensitive ears. So if you read what I wrote you will see that I am pro cropping, my dog is cropped so I agree with you that after the cropping the dog is now less sensitive.
 

Boxergirl

Well-Known Member
I just suggested a new thread because I didn't want to hijack this one. I'm not against cropping at all. Like I said, I've had both cropped and natural dogs. I am just not convinced that unless you have a dog performing a working task that puts them at risk (hog hunting, etc) that it's much more than cosmetic for pet dogs. My EM doesn't get cuts on her ears, nor or they sensitive. I've had a lot of dogs and I feel like sensitivity is more of an individual thing than a breed thing. I am still very interested in the statistics on death during cropping surgery. If you have time, I'd really appreciate if you could see if you could find it again.
 

Justin B.

Well-Known Member
I think when they say sensative ears they could mean sensative to or prone to ear infections.

This is why I crop when the option is available.

A long time ago I lost a very special dog to a misdiagnosed ear infection. Ear infections are one of the worst pains a dog can have.
After reading some studies and seeing evidence of ear cropping decreasing the likelihood of ear infections I wanted to do every preventive measure I could do. This was kind of common knowledge back then too.

So if a dog is young enough and the breed standard calls for It, I crop.
I have had 2 female Corsos I purchased as adolescents with natural ears. So far no infections though.

There is a lot of new B.S. propaganda out there that does a horrible job of trying to say this is a myth. I'm not buying that. Better to be safe than sorry. Even though bad ear infections are rare. They do happen!
 

BlackShadowCaneCorso

Super Moderator
Staff member
The whole reason for cropping is to make them less sensitive. There are tons of people that say its cruel to crop CC ears. I say its better for the dog to endure the 1 surgery to remove a lifetime of sensitive ears. So if you read what I wrote you will see that I am pro cropping, my dog is cropped so I agree with you that after the cropping the dog is now less sensitive.

sorry I didn't mean to come off like I wanted an argument, I just like to be up on all new research and understand pet owners when they ask about natural ears. Up here you have to drive several provinces over or into the US to have them done so we are facing more and more corso (and other docked/cropped breeds) left uncropped/ undocked.
 

Boxergirl

Well-Known Member
Yes, no argument here either. It's nice to be able to talk about cropping and not have it turn into a fight.

I've done an awful lot of research myself and I while I think that there's a possibility that cropping can help prevent ear infections, I haven't actually seen the numbers to back that up. And believe me, I've looked for the statistics when I was defending myself for having a cropped dog. I also haven't seen it in my own dogs. It seems to be more of an individual thing. I think if the actual proof in numbers was out there then it would be considered a medically necessary procedure and not against the law in so many countries. So many breeds have thick and heavy ears and they aren't cropped, nor do the majority of them suffer from debilitating ear infections. Then you have the few that do. And those dogs usually suffer their entire lives or have their ear canals removed. I've never seen a case where cropping was suggested after the age of 12 weeks for ear infections. Injury to the ear, yes. But not for ear infections. I do have contacts in the veterinary field, so I haven't just asked dog owners.

There is also the chance that a crop done by an inexperienced person or done incorrectly can make the ear more sensitive and painful. I had a long term foster dog with a terrible crop and he came to me with an uneven battle crop, which isn't even a boxer style, and his ears were severely infected. They healed poorly and there was a lot of sensitive scar tissue. It's definitely important to make sure that the person doing the procedure is skilled at it.

Anyway ... no argument, just discussion. I would love to see actual statistical proof of the issues we're talking about. I'm looking at another boxer in a few years and I'm weighing cropping vs natural. I just don't see the need to crop for cosmetic purposes at this point in my life, but I truly love the cropped look. So if anyone has actual statistics I'd love to see them. It might sway my decision.
 

Justin B.

Well-Known Member
I do remember finding studies and the numbers a long time ago when I first explored preventive measures for ear infections other than cleaning and inspecting.

The American Veterinary Medical Association has posted findings on their site with 2 studies citated that can be referenced.
https://www.avma.org/KB/Resources/F...t-ear-cropping-and-canine-otitis-externa.aspx

So a credible organization and 2 studies without a bias, agenda, or side have shown in pure bred dogs
That.....
When it comes to ear infections
Floppy ears are over twice as likely by percentage to have these ear problems.

So to me even though both percentages are small and not likely. There is validity and merit to cropping ears for health concerns.
Especially when I have lost a dog to this before.
Its called preventive measure.


PETA, ANIMAL RIGHTS PEOPLE, and a lot of armchair quarter backs have a clear bias, agenda, and side.
I don't feel you can be trusted or look at something truly objective if those things are present. No matter how much perceived good they may do.
As a dog man I also can not find validity in people who are against
Choke Chains
Prong Collars
Or
E Collars
These are the same people and organizations.