The real truth about Doberman ear cropping

Here is the “REAL” truth about Doberman ear copping, the international research, reading forums, and about what you can and can’t do is all BS! Now, let’s start with some back story; I’m from Orlando, Fl, living in Medellin, Colombia. I live here to learn Spanish. About a year ago, my beautiful American Pitbull died, and I wanted another dog, so I looked into different breeds and what would match my lifestyle. Living in Medellin, I had a few friends with Dobermans, but I never thought to look into owning a dog from this breed. Well, I found the Doberman and liked the traits and look. I loved how aggressive the Doberman looked. I asked people about the ear cropping process, but I got general answers. That wasn’t enough for me, so I started my research. That research rabbit hole that I always seem to fall into, but I digress. Let me explain what most of the world thinks, what some others think, what I learned, and the truth about the process my little guy Blaze went through.

Artboard 1 3 — Blaze is my one-year-old American Doberman at 8-weeks-old. He’s the star of the show, fun, crazy, brave, and “chimba,” as they say in Colombia. He’s outgoing and fearless, no really, he once jumped off a cliff while we were hiking.

What I learned from the USA
There are many opinions when talking about Doberman ear cropping. The USA’s most common point of opinion is that you should cut the ears before three months of age. The reason for cutting the ears before three months of age is that there is an understanding that the ear cartilage will harden around three months, and the ears won’t stand if cut after that age. Few people think otherwise, but soon as they post their opinions or experience in forums, it gets shut down.

What I’ve learned in Latin America
First off, let me start by saying it is not legal to crop Dobermans’ ears in Colombia, where I live. When I was asking around and looking for an ear cropper, people would look at me crazy. “why would you do that?”, “you’re a bad person.” “Well, that’s what I want to do. It’s my dog.” Needless to say, it was not an easy task finding someone qualified to crop the ears. I was referred to many pitbull ear croppers, and I knew that wasn’t the same type of cropping, I digress. In Latin America, they want to make sure the puppy has all the first three vaccinations and is at least three months old. At that point, you can crop the ears because the puppy should be healthy and strong enough for the operation.

DAY 0-10
The first ten days, Blaze had stitches in his ears, and his ears were glued to a piece of foam. This would prevent the ears from moving, causing him pain while healing without creases.

DAY 10-20
Once the foam was removed from his head, his cropped ears flopped freely for the next ten days. During this time, his ears healed to about 85 percent.

DAY 20
First Posting
I have to be honest; I tried to post his ears the first time. I watched a ton of videos, and I could explain exactly how and the posting process. Well, it was a complete fail, and at this point, Blaze was four months old, and I remembered everything I read from the states online said if his ears are not posted by three months old, his ears WILL NOT STAND. I called and texted the ear cropper, and he told me to bring the dog next week; he would post the ears. That felt like the longest week of my life, and I had created worry about not being on time with the cropping process. The cropper told me not to worry; the ears will stand.

DAY 25
Finally, it was time to post the ears. I took Blaze thinking he would teach me the process of posting the ear. Nope, I would have to thank the pandemic because they would only let me drop Blaze off and not let me into the building. They told me to come back in two hours, welp.

After the initial posting
After the initial posting, the ears would stay posted for two weeks, then remove the tape and post, leaving his ears free to breathe for a week. But, there was so much tape that it would take two days to remove the paste from the fur on his ears. Every three weeks for the next four months, I would repost his ears.

Let’s talk about the difference again with the states and what you read online in the USA. They say you should remove and clean the tape from the ears, then let the ears breathe for about two hours, then repost the ears. Not at all what I did! But I will add when I removed the post from the ears the first time, the left ear fell after the 3rd day, I’m pretty sure Blaze slept on his ear. I was worried so I call the cropper and again he told me not the worry.

Results
Blaze is a year old, and I’ll let the pictures speak for themselves. The truth is, it’s not an easy process. I hope you can find someone who knows how to post the ears, they should also teach you how to post the ears. Knowing how to post will save you a lot of time and money. Trust me, I watched all the youtube videos, and I could explain in detail how to post the ears but doing it was another story. Remember, the most crucial part of this process is ear posting, not the cutting.