Well, I prefer natural ears too. So I would suggest not to crop them to though he's allowed to

Pros:

- You'll look like a tough yuppie. If you wear the right cloths, you might even look GANGSTA.

Cons:

- It serves no functional purpose. People who work or game their dogs do not crop their ears. You are putting your puppy out of commission for a month. During this month it can not socialize with other dogs. Notice the same people telling me to mind my own business are the same ones that swear by the mantra "pit bulls can not be around other dogs, they are too dog aggressive; NEVER trust your pit around another dog."

Your puppy will aggressively defend its head during this period, a period of intense learning. This means it will bite you, your family and other people's kids if they try to pat its head. This behavior will be ingrained and follow the dog for life. It will forever be weary of people touching its head because of how sore its ears were for a months after you mutilated it. This can create huge behavioral problems.

Your dog suffers physically, mentally and socially because you like the aesthetics of body mutilation.

Notice that none of the proponents of cropping work their dogs. They couldn't afford to forfeit that much training time.

Wow, funny how my dane never aggressively defended his head. He came how from the vet and immediately went back to playing with my other dogs and he had 6" of exposed stitched ear edge. Funny how breeders will crop entire litters of pups and they are playing within the day, bumping ears, biting ears, and they don't turn around and bite their owners. Come on now.

Wow. I don't like cropping (I don't care about others that do it, I just won't with my guys. I usually get them too old to do it anyways), but even to someone against cropping that's a little over the top. People might listen to you if you actually put up a good argument, instead of tossing in what "might happen" as "This WILL HAPPEN". I've met plenty of dogs with crops that have no problems with people touching their heads.

Wow that was just a waste of space post full of BS. My dogs are both cropped and i am FAR from a tough yuppie and definitely NOT " gangsta" lol.

Why would the dog not be allowed to socialize when it gets it's ears done? that makes NO sense. My dog goes to work with me everyday and socialized just fine with 30 - 40 different dogs a week and I cant even count how many people after she got cropped. She never bit or defended her head. She actually could have cared less. She constantly banged her ears on stuff and never even cared. I think I cared more than she did.

My dog would actually come over and rub hers on my hand so I would massage them while they were still stitched because they ITCHED more than they hurt.

My dog is also FAR from mentally or socially damaged. It's ridiculous to even suggest that that will happen just because they got cropped. My dog Starr is a demo dog at work for dog training and she also goes to schools and does seminars at work for kids to teach them how to PROPERLY interact with and meet new dogs. She is definitely NOT socially damaged.

It's annoying when people that have never had a dog cropped and know jack about it try and tell people it's horrible and wrong. If you don't like cropping why even open a thread about cropping.

WRONG. And, that's what I'll leave it at.

So Kano you agree with the other poster that you can let a puppy with freshly cropped ears wrestle and play with other puppies?

Agreed, there are TONS of good dogs with cropped ears, but the notion that there are no behavioral consequences, not to mention that puppies who play rough with stitches in their ears are just fine, is silly.

And how many pups, litter or single, have you raised that you cropped?

None. And to be fair, if I had a show pit, I would crop its ears with a show crop and if I had a game dog with long ears, I would give it a battle crop, but I don't and neither do most people.

As such, with work dogs or pets, I don't think it serves any purpose. In addition to the precautions that must be taken so the ears don't break or end up looking like hamburger, I think it makes dogs look mean which is the last perception we need to be giving of pits right now.

If your pit is well liked in the community -- good with children and other dogs -- and it has cropped ears, your dog is probably helping the cause more than a natural pit with the same disposition. However, if your dog is an out of control nuisance that is borderline risky, cropped ears only make matters worse and increase the negative perception.

Cropped ears make even the friendliest pit face look edgy.

when i see cropped ears i usually assume the dog had rabbit ears. crops look good but i want the dog as is.

http://www.pitbull-chat.com/images/smilies/no2.gif You spay and spray and they just keep coming back.

I've seen pictures of litters of dane pups a day or two after being cropped, and they're playing like puppies, rough and all. Mine was rolling around on his back, bumping the block that his ears were glued to off the floor and walls within hours of coming home, with no negative effects. He was wrestling with my lab with stitches in his ears, and I never heard as much as a yelp. He screamed bloody murder when he was micro chipped, much much worse than anything post-ear crop, and guess what? He never aggressively defended the area where he was chipped either, nor did he develop any negative association with the vet.

This and like others have said it really is a matter of personal preference. I prefer the ears left natural but if I were to crop I like the show crop best. I've seen several very nice show crops. However That doesn't mean that is the right crop for you and your dog though.

---------- Post added at 03:17 PM ---------- Previous post was at 03:03 PM ----------

On the contrary if you look around even here on our website you will see several APBT's and AMstaffs with good crops that look stunning. It doesn't make them look mean. For example Kady's Sako has a crop and its looks really good and he is just a stunning animal. There is nothing mean looking about that dog. Honestly I wasn't a fan of cropping at all until I saw saw Sako with his crop.

Honestly I still prefer the natural ears but if I were showing an APBT or Amstaff I might actually consider cropping. It would just depend on how I felt at the time.

oh wow...maybe my pup is a freak because she didn't bite me....oh wait, maybe ALL of the litters my breeder friends had where the pups were cropped were freaks as well....that about 50+ freaks that I know of O.O

---------- Post added at 11:29 AM ---------- Previous post was at 11:28 AM ----------

and I thought hotchkiss was banned...

its a pity that he's back. I really enjoyed his time away

kinda been glancing at this thread for a while, casual reads not really paying much attention...but I felt I needed to post this time hehe

there are functions to crops (if hotchkiss is not banned again yet...) I mean if I woulda gotten Goren's ears cropped he would not be dealing with the battle of ear issues he has when it rains, his ear is damaged and was when I got him, it is in a spot where it could be cropped but I did not do it because of cost and I really should have...he runs when he sees me with a cotton ball, his kinda cowers when I look in that ear after it rains, if its really bad he will yelp when I clean it, This is a dog that can deal with me cutting his quick because he busted a nail, was going full tilt after his neuter, lets puppies make him bleed without a peep. so yea there is a function for ear cropping in Goren's case! But I would not put him through that now unless a vet said it was worth it (my vet does not do them so I wouldn't be at one that would anyhow)

Personally I prefer natural ears on a pit bull, and I agree cropped ears tend to make the dog look meaner or more aggressive than natural ears. It is personal preference though. I am not saying it is cruel to crop a dogs ears but it seems to me it is something I wouldn't want to subject a dog to, for merely cosmetic purposes.

I am firmly in the "they don't look mean" group. I like the look of a well done crop. It is distinguished and tidy. I didn't crop Rita because she was too old when I got her and I didn't crop Renee because my husband A) refused to pay for it and B) practically threw himself over her ears whenever I mentioned it.

hehe Mjjean that is how Lee has been when I have mentioned it about Logan, he likes his ears, not that we have the cash for it but I was tempted, now that they are getting all perked I am glad I didn't, I am so tempted to tape them though to give him a full perk >.<

It simply comes down to this: do you give a shit about the breed or not? Are you a first time, one-time owner that will simply dump the carcass when your dog is done. or do you actually care about your dog and the breed?

No one that fight pits or works pits crops ears. Yuppies and gangsters crop ears. Why don't owners crop a game dog's ears? Tell me you people that know.

Why don't people that work pits crop ears, tell me.

If you aren't a wanna-be yuppie or a mean-as-shit gangsta, why crop your pit's ears?