WHEW! Cropping Adventure

[Sue J]

Jett got her ears done yesterday morning. Surgery went well and she did well in recovery until...we picked her up. When she saw us she got excited peed all over the place in reception then just a few seconds later saw another dog started to bark and shook her head..oh no, blood all over the place. They sure can sling it. Now the mop tech gets the bucket out again and goes to cleaning. Our vet came out just as she shook her head and we were calming her down. He said to take her outside and let her relax a little and give the blood a minute clot. It didn't! She was so happy to be outside to smell everything she shook again. So back in the office we went. After the vet treated her ear and observed her about 45 min, he gave her a relaxant so we could at least get her home (she was wound up! and we're an hour and half from him). He said she'd sleep the rest of the evening on the meds. Guess what? Not to be. She was awake and restless until 2 a.m. We tried crating her and she kept banking her head on the sides, so I just held her on my lap which kept her a lot calmer. I guess she just wanted my comfort. So I got about 3 hours of sleep. Then this morning at 10:00 one of the braces in her right ear broke! She starts shaking again...no blood, but heck, I'm losing it by then so I called him. I told him about the lack of rest on her part and the broken brace. He told me to lift up her tape and take out the brace, which was just long QTips, then double her meds and she should rest today. Well we did. My husband was a nervous wreck. She finally settled down about 2 hrs after I worked on her ear. Tonight she's pretty calm and when I give her the nighty meds I think she'll go through the night. She isn't scratching them which is a blessing and the edges look nice and dry! I have to say the vet was very understanding and told me I could have called him last night when she wasn't resting that he would not have minded at all. Thank heavens this part will only last 10 days. If I make crazy posts over the next few just laugh, it's only sleep deprivation.:D

[fritz'mom]

I'm so sorry you had a rough night. Poor thing, I can only imagine what the little guys are thinking when they wake up with that pain in their ears! When I had my Fritz done he really did surprisingly well. They sent him home with this little crown thing on his head and the back side of his ears were kind of glued to it. It stayed on about a week or two and then fell off on its own. After that is when our trouble started...Oh, the joys of ear cropping!

However, the results are well worth it in my opinion. Keep your chin up Sue!

[Sue J]

Thanks, I'm hanging in there. She slept in her crate last night for about 6 hrs. We're all feeling better this morning. She's shaking her head some and I'm going to take the brace out of her other ear as the vet told me to if she stayed uncomfortable. Tomorrow I'm supposed to tape between the ears, I hope they will stay up there though without the braces. We'll see. The vet said he thought she would have beautiful ears when it's all finished. I don't remember our other puppies having much trouble at all but then she's her own little girl. One thing good is since I'm old as dirt (lol), this will be the last time we have to worry about ears. Guess that's part of why she's so special to us as we know she's likely our last wonderful Dobe! Thanks for the support.

[jelly8bean]

I have never had the experience of cropping and posting.. but it does sound like you have a loving girl there. I guess I think of it like a baby teething.. it hurts and they can't exactly tell why but it comforts them to be with you. Good luck, and age is just a number.. not any indication of how much more love you might have to give. Take care of you both. :)

[Sue J]

awww...thanks jelly8bean for your kind words. That made my day!!!

[Sue J]

Just got home from vet and Jett is settled back down. He said she just wasn't tolerating the tape in her ears and it was better to take it off than let her stay irritated and shaking her head. Said her shaking would cause scar tissue. Her ears will remain uncovered and down for 10-14 days more because some of the incision had bled from her shaking. Vet said they would stand once the sutures are out and she's fully posted. I think we can stop worrying so much about her now.

Thanks to each of you for allowing me to worry out loud with you. You'll never know how much it has meant to me. This is a great forum with wonderful people. I'm glad I joined this one :D:D:D

[magtie]

wow sounds like an ordeal! keep us updated

[fatwilly]

We cropped for the first 15 years but after several bad winters, we noticed a couple were having trouble. We lived in the country on a large farm/woods and our Dobes had the run of it. Running through the brush when its below zero is hard on those ear scars sometimes, and they developed big bags of blood in them, sensitivity from near frostbite , etc. I decided to not crop the next litter and I was pleased with the overall demeanor of the lot. I know there are two distinct camps on cropping ears here in the states, and the 'croppers' consider it sacrilege not to cut them, but I can't do it any more. My first Dobie had a fighting cut ( Which I did NOT do ) and he was always in pain from his scars.
I like the look of the cropped ear but since my dogs aren't trained for attack work ( that's what my CCW is for. LOL ), then they can hang with the best. Besides, they look great with their heads sticking out of my truck bed at 40 MPH !! Love those hound dog ears !!

[violator]

We cropped for the first 15 years but after several bad winters, we noticed a couple were having trouble. We lived in the country on a large farm/woods and our Dobes had the run of it. Running through the brush when its below zero is hard on those ear scars sometimes, and they developed big bags of blood in them, sensitivity from near frostbite , etc. I decided to not crop the next litter and I was pleased with the overall demeanor of the lot. I know there are two distinct camps on cropping ears here in the states, and the 'croppers' consider it sacrilege not to cut them, but I can't do it any more. My first Dobie had a fighting cut ( Which I did NOT do ) and he was always in pain from his scars.
I like the look of the cropped ear but since my dogs aren't trained for attack work ( that's what my CCW is for. LOL ), then they can hang with the best. Besides, they look great with their heads sticking out of my truck bed at 40 MPH !! Love those hound dog ears !!


exactly how i feel, hence why my doberman is all natural...i consider it unnecessary sufferring...ears and tails.

[tnsteelerfan]

We have taped ears brodys ears again! the one on the right will not stay up! The vet said all his adult teeth are in so have no clue why not standing.......gosh he hates getting them taped. After hubby finishes Brody will not go near him for a while!! lol

[Sue J]

Poor Brody. How long after removing post is it before his ear flops? Jett doesn't like having her ears fooled either, but she is tolerating it with us taping. Soooo much better that having to be sedated by the vet. Once we're finished she just looks up at us with that "where's my cookie?" look because she believes she is to get it immediately, which she always does (plus several in between). She's such a kook! Actually she's getting better each time we've worked with her ears. I think she just wishes we could do it faster so she can take off and zoomie play.

[tnsteelerfan]

hmm it is about two days later they go up though when he is paying attention to something, hubby is ocd with brodys ears! poor puppy. so we will take the posting off on sat and see how they look. It is only one ear though.

[Sue J]

Guess we both gotta just hang in there. Someday our lives won't revolve around tape and we'll be on to something else. Tell your hubby that that he doesn't have to obsess, Brody is already a pretty boy.