Dobermann Pinscher from 1915 (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Fair warning: most of my posts I at least try to keep civil and positive. No guarantees today.
As regular readers will know, I have a breed which is in this country normally cropped and docked. Yes, that’s the actual AKC standard: “ears normally cropped.” There is some debate over whether that line should be interpreted “are usually cropped but not always,” or “are cropped in a normal manner.” And when I say “some debate,” I mean wars have been fought over this ground.
When I first got into the breed, I did so because I met a Doberman I liked. I suspect that’s how most people are seduced into a breed. I didn’t think much about cropping or docking, and my first Doberman was a rescue who came with natural ears and a docked tail, so I didn’t have to make any decisions. For a long time, I held that people who wished to crop and dock could, but people who didn’t want to shouldn’t. It seemed simple enough.
A Doberman puppy with its ears taped after being cropped. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Silly me. It’s much, much bigger than that. And over the last decade or so, I’ve heard a lot of vitriol and seen a lot of mud thrown, and that has influenced my opinion fully as much as any arguments on the dogs’ welfare.
My Puppy
I purchased puppy Laev from a country where cropping and docking are not done. I knew she would be an active dog in physically-demanding sports, and I knew many Dobermans have thin, whippy tails which break easily. I decided that if she had a fragile tail I would have it docked — a clean, controlled injury to prevent a messy, uncontrolled one later — but then she arrived with a sturdy terrier tail, the kind a breed developed from terriers should have, and it wasn’t a concern. (Kind of makes sense, actually, that dogs from a non-docking country have healthy tails.)
I collected a photo file of ear crops I liked, but I decided against it. I didn’t care enough to put the dog and myself through weeks of cropping aftercare. Natural ears are fine, and correct natural ears (neat little terrier ears, again difficult to find in this country) are adorable, I think. (Laev’s ears are too big, but don’t tell her I said so.)
So I took my 8-week-old puppy to Nationals and got out of my car on the first day, holding her as I walked to the first event. “Oh, you have a puppy!” people said. “What’s her name? Where’s she from? Oh, I would never have a Doberman with ears and tail.”
Breeds like this Doberman were specifically bred for guard duty. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
No, seriously, that was one of the very first things said to me, by a woman I didn’t even know. Really? I would never appear in public in those pants you’re wearing, either, but you don’t hear me saying that out loud.
And that’s pretty much the tone of the crop/dock argument, from what I can tell. Those opposed to cropping and docking argue unnecessary surgery, fear periods, potential nerve damage, and other topics. Those in favor cite breed history and aesthetics — and while they often claim to be “pro-choice,” they are in fact often violently opposed to unchanged dogs.
Civil Discourse is for Other People
I’m sure there are probably nasty, name-calling people opposed to cropping and docking; I can imagine someone typing “dog mutilator!” to a frenzied email list. But I have to imagine it, because I can’t actually remember anyone opposed to cropping and docking who was nasty about it. Adamant, yes, but civilized. But even as I actively seek to avoid crop/dock discussion — a trait I learned very early in my ownership of an all-natural Doberman — I regularly encounter bitter diatribe from crop/dock supporters. It’s pretty rare that any hot topic is this one-sided, but that’s been my experience. No one opposed has ever made a public issue of Shakespeare’s docked tail or Tempest’s cropped ears.
And the arguments can get pretty far out pretty quickly. This appeared in my inbox today:
I find uncropped dogs to be more offensive than a faulty conformation. Why? Due to the fact that not cropping and docking a dog is an intentional act against the American Doberman standard. IT DID NOT JUST HAPPEN! These people purposefully chose to ignore the standard for their own notoriety. It is a slap in the face of every breeder who has ever cropped puppies in order to maintain standards and preserve our breed. No one should be more upset than the breeders themselves, as these people parade themselves as the new, feel-good generation while destroying a century of selective breeding.
Now it appears this breeder may have been quoted without permission, copied from her statement to like-minded enthusiasts and reprinted to a wider audience, and possibly she might have stated her view more diplomatically otherwise. Still, the sentiment and meaning are clear. And it astounds me.
- An uncropped dog, not artificially styled beyond his genes, is more offensive than a dog with faulty conformation, with known undesirable genes?
- Not cropping or docking my dog was to promote my own notoriety? Really? (I thought I was just taking the lazy way out….)
- Not performing elective aesthetic surgery is the destruction of selective breeding? How does an uncropped ear affect the dog’s DNA, exactly? Couldn’t you just, you know, crop the next generation if you really wanted?
Tempest: “Has the conformation of an unhealthy giraffe, carries the albino gene, and was euthanized for human aggression — but at least she’s cropped and docked.”
(I’m sorry, Tempest. You came a long, long way from where you started before we had to let you go.)
Artificial aesthetics being more important than faulty breeding is actively dangerous, and I find the concept of failing to surgically change the dog’s appearance is destroying selective breeding just hilarious. And of course, that’s not even addressing that the cropping/docking country has a breed with long ears and whippy tails, while breeders without the option of aesthetic surgery produce more of the smaller ears and sturdier tails which were prevalent in the early days of the breed, so exactly who is destroying the breed?
And of course not all crop/dock supporters are rude or hateful or crazy. I have to say I know several adamant crop/dock advocates have been very deliberately neutral on the subject while around my dogs, and I do appreciate their civility. I didn’t bring ears and tail just to peeve people or make a statement, either. I can think of one breeder in particular who even kindly went over Laevatein after a UDC conformation critique and explained why my bitch had placed above hers that day (she beat Laev the next). Super-nice, super-helpful, and I’m in no way trying to paint her with the same brush. But others have gone out of their way to snark, even when they knew I didn’t have a choice in my rescue’s ears. And you know, that doesn’t really win me over to your way of thinking.
Historical Reasons
(Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Now, there were good reasons historically for cropping and docking; cropping can make care-taking of hunting dogs, sheep, and other animals easier in some environments and prevent injury in others. The Doberman, designed specifically to take on humans, was generally sheared of convenient handholds which one criminal might use to pull the dog off another.
But the long, long show crops of the conformation ring today have nothing to do with this history; if anything they are better handlebars than ever to use against the dog. And most dogs are not in danger of breaking their tails during everyday work, so preemptive docking is no longer an advantage.
So if you want to crop and dock, fine, but be honest — it’s about the look you prefer. It is not about preserving genetics, preserving history, or quashing personal aggrandizement by those who opt for simpler puppy-rearing. And it’s not about choice, either, because most arguments I hear are pretty actively opposed to anyone having the choice of a “natural” dog (see above re an uncropped dog being “a slap in the face”).
If you’re opposed to cropping and docking, present your evidence in an academic fashion, detailing why you believe it’s harmful to the dog. I’ve read some very good arguments, and I’ve read some with which I disagree, but at least they were presented. If you’re in favor, present your evidence on why it’s beneficial — except I have never seen a crop/dock advocate put forward any medical information on the subject (other than, “I think cropped dogs get fewer ear infections,” without supporting data). It’s always been “keep the look of eagles” and “#*@&! tree-huggers want to ignore the breed standard.”
Look, the grammarist in me is not buying the “cropped in a normal manner” line, and surely if it’s vital to the standard then there’s a reason, form following function and all. Meanwhile, my uncropped Doberman is 13 and counting in a breed which normally lives to 8 or so, and I’m thinking maybe his ears aren’t what we should be concentrating on.
The Decision
Present a functional reason why cropping and docking are beneficial to the dog today, and I’m happy to listen, honest. But saying I’m destroying a century of genetic selection if I don’t opt for an aesthetic surgery which has no bearing on the dog’s DNA or reproduction? Ridiculous.
As for me? I’m not going to crop my next puppy, and I’ll be glad to take one which hasn’t been docked, either. (Docking is typically done shortly after birth, while cropping is done later when the puppy has usually already gone to its new home.) I have seen good arguments presented regarding locomotion and balance, pain, effects on nerves, fear periods and more, and while I’m not wholly convinced of all these, many do make sense, and I lean heavily toward the “do no harm” camp, and I’ll choose to err on the side of safety. The half-dozen down-eared dogs in my family had not a single ear infection among them, so I can’t really think of a downside.
All of my Dobes have been rescues, so I never had a choice in whether or not they were cropped/docked. I’ll admit I prefer the look of a good ear crop, but after adopting a number of cropped/docked dogs, I’m starting to lean against the procedures just from personal experience with it going wrong. One of my dogs seemed to have phantom limb syndrome with her tail — for years, she would suddenly turn around and snap or chew at the stump. Another had a truly *awful* ear crop that didn’t post properly and left her ears in bent, jagged triangles. I’m sure there are many good vets and breeders who do an excellent job with the surgery and aftercare, but apparently they didn’t work on my dogs.
Yours is the second “phantom tail” response to this post (the first was mentioned on Facebook) and while I haven’t seen it in my own dogs, I have heard it described often in others.
And I agree that a good crop can be gorgeous — there’s a reason I did collect that file of crop examples! And a lot of c/d proponents say that enough is reason for the surgery, that a good crop looks better than natural ears. And while I agree a good crop is sexy, I have to add that even the most natural of ears look a whole lot better than a bad crop! 😉
Honestly, why do we dog lovers always fight each other over this? I personally have a cropped and docked dobie since my family shows her, but I certainly don’t have anything against people like you who choose NOT to do it…honestly don’t understand why anyone would attack someone for something like that! I just personally believe that they SHOULD have it done since that is what Louis Dobermann “invented” this breed to be, but I’ll respect your right to choose if you respect mine! 😀
You’ll note that nowhere did I suggest that people who owned c/d dogs are evil or want to hurt puppies; most I believe are just continuing a tradition. Perhaps that tradition should be reexamined for its modern utility, but generally that tradition started for a reason and I don’t necessarily blame people for continuing it if they haven’t considered the alternative.
I was honestly fairly neutral about the c/d thing before years of attack on the subject. My basic thought now is Do No Harm, and surgery which doesn’t repair or prevent injury is probably unwarranted. Will the dog be working where it’s pretty likely to break a thin tail? Consider docking. If not? For crying out loud, don’t attack people who opt out of unnecessary surgery! They’re just thinking of their dogs, and no lover of the breed can condemn that.
(And yes, I recognize that this same argument can be made over spaying and neutering, too! As the owner of a formerly-intact bitch diagnosed with both pyo and mammary cancer, I do think spaying can be considered preventative, probably more so than docking; I also think spaying needs to be approached rationally, considered carefully, and done for cause rather than tradition.)
And even when we disagree, try to think the best of each other. I bumped into a cropped Dobe last week and didn’t decide his owner was a monster; I honestly don’t even know her opinion on the topic. He could have been a rescue, same as mine. Make ear rubs, not war. 🙂
Oh, I know you didn’t. Probably should have worded my post better…sorry! ^^; But anyway…it just annoys me when I see arguments about this on forums and whatnot, not to mention the personal attacks from both sides. Does it REALLY affect a pet owner that some random show/working person that they don’t even know has chosen to get a dog c/d? This is why I’m glad to see rational people like us, who can not totally agree but still not be militant about it. 😛 I just don’t understand why countries have actually banned it though; they could have made it a win-win for everyone by making people who want c/d done to pay a reasonable fine (say, $75-150?) that goes towards a shelter or rescue of the owners choice! Most show and working people are already pretty damn active in rescue, so this really would be a happy medium should this ever be an issue in our country. 🙂
On an unrelated side note though, we SHOULDN’T be letting the AR wackos be telling our government to legislate this kind of stuff. Their agenda is the total liberation of animals with nobody allowed to have pets or working animals, and I HOPE we can all agree that we should not let the peta types have their way with this! Just look @ NY for example: these crazies have convinced them to attempt to ban not only docking, but crating your dog at night! These people will not stop at banning cosmetic procedures…giving them one inch will mean losing the whole highway.
Oh Laura, here you go promoting your own notoriety again. (That was some very confusing reasoning to me. I wonder if the poster truly doesn’t understand that body modification does not affect breed traits in the next generation?)
I remember the first time I saw a Dobe with natural ears and tail — I didn’t know what breed it was! I just thought it was an adorable, happy dog of some mysterious breed. That’s when I learned that they actually have very long ears.
I have Bouviers, who have historically been cropped and docked in the US, too. My first Bouv was a rehome from a breeder (she had some health/genetic issues), and she was cropped and docked. My next was a rescue who was docked, with natural ears. Once I got my hands on those ears, I knew I was never going back. I just loved Gadget’s ears. They flopped up and down when he ran — like wings! And they were so silky. Also, Jersey (cropped) was always getting black flies in her ears, which Gadget (natural) didn’t. So, when I got my first puppy, I was determined it would not have its ears cropped. Fortunately now a lot of Bouv breeders are leaning toward natural ears.
I asked Barnum’s breeder if she might consider leaving the tails natural, but she was not willing, although I think she might be heading in that direction eventually. Maybe next time around… If I’d wanted a natural tailed Bouv, I knew some breeders who don’t dock, but my biggest concern was physical health and temperament, and I chose the breeder on that basis. (With great results! Barnum is the first truly healthy Bouv I’ve had.)
I have seen pictures of Bouvs with natural tails, and they certainly are sturdy! I admit that there is a lot of convenience in having a service dog without a tail — nothing to worry about rolling over, getting caught in a door, knocking groceries off the shelves, etc. — but all of my Bouvs have periodically had a sudden fierce itch at the end of their stubs — trying very hard to get at them and chew — and I wonder if this is phantom pain. I don’t know. Given the choice, I would opt not to dock for the mental and physical health of the dog, and to be able to see the full range of dog body language that a tail contributes to, but so far it hasn’t been much of an option.
Yes, Bouvs are another one! And yes, Laev’s tail can be a fierce menace in knocking stuff over, but that’s not reason enough to cut it off (or no Labrador would ever have a tail!).
Lots of people don’t realize Laevatein is a Dobe, because she’s natural; I get a lot of “I didn’t know greyhounds came in that color!” 🙂 Dobermans actually should not have “very long ears,” as you saw, but folded terrier ears. And they should look adorable and happy!
I wrote a post like this once. Despite the anti-cropping content of that post, I’ve had at least one person every week, none of whom bothered to actually read the post, call me to schedule an ear crop because they “saw it on my website”. Sigh.
Regarding phantom pain… that’s a good argument right there. Obviously I’ve treated dogs with injured tails, some of whom required amputation, and who, in hindsight, would have been better off cropped two days after birth. On the other hand, if x dogs out of every 100 need tail amputation, should 100-x dogs who do not, suffer needlessly from phantom pain?
The breeding argument is most ridiculous. Clearly one does not encourage the inheritance of a particular conformation through surgery.
Unfortunately, as you well know, there will always be ignorance, there will always be zealots, there will always be cruelty, there will always be unnecessary suffering.
I have not seen phantom limb or phantom pain issues in my own dogs, but I’ve certainly heard enough other people describe it. And as you well ask, why risk it?
I catch so much flack when I say I plan to keep natural tails on my next Central Asian Shepherd litter. I will still be cropping ears (we do them at 3 days of age, as it’s a shepherd’s crop meant to reduce the risk of ear rips later in the field, & I primarily sell pups to working livestock guardian homes where they will tangle with predators. We actually DO see a lot of nasty ear injuries in our guardian dogs with natural ears so I do feel the ear cropping is worth doing, since the natural ear is a drop ear similar to that of a Great Pyrenees.) but I prefer natural tails & don’t personally feel it’s justified. EVERY SINGLE TIME the subject comes up I am informed that it is apparently “impossible” for a judge to properly evaluate movement on a dog with a tail (if a judge is that incompetent, perhaps s/he should not be taking money to evaluate canine structure & movement, eh?), dogs with tails are more prone to broken legs because they’re more agile (what?), no one is going to want to buy a pup from me if I keep tails (would you like to see my waiting list?), & so on & so forth. It’s like people are personally offended that I am choosing to keep tails on my litter. Why do they care so much? If they don’t like it, no one is holding a gun to their head & forcing them to buy a natural-tailed pup from me. There are plenty of other litters being born this year which will have docked tails. But it seems that my choice to keep natural tails on my pups is a personal attack against those who prefer docked tails.
….Dogs with tails are more prone to broken legs because they’re more agile?
….
Sorry, be back in a bit, still trying to wrap my head around that…..!
I’m with you, Laura! It is impossible to find American field-bred English Springer Spaniels with full tails, though some breeders are leaving more and more tail on their dogs. (My own ESS Finch has more than 3/4 of his tail left, and I LOVE it!) And dewclaws? Gasp! Anything but leaving on front declaws! (Despite the fact that on every backyard-bred/rescue ESS I’ve met, the declaws have been small and tight to the leg, much like what Shelties have.) It frustrates me because these things affect a dog’s ability to turn tightly in agility and other canine sports – it’s not just aesthetics; this stuff *matters*. Sigh. 🙁