Does It Hurt To Crop A Dog’s Ears? Risks – 2022
Though ear cropping is common practice in the dog breeding world, done for many reasons. But, there is a debate about, does it hurt to crop a dog’s ears?
So, Ear cropping is a surgery performed on puppies as well as adult dogs to remove part or all of their external earflaps, also known as pinnae.
Most often done for cosmetic reasons. Some people believe that cropped ears make a dog look more handsome or graceful, while others think it makes them look fierce or intimidating. Whatever the purpose whatever the reason, you can’t deny the fact that this is a painful process for dogs.
In this blog post, we’ll dive deep to know all about this question in detail.
Does It Hurt To Crop A Dog’s Ears And How To Do It?
Before having an idea about the pain involved, we should first study the methods. There are two common methods of ear cropping, which are either surgical or non-surgical.
Method 1.
Ear cropping surgery involves surgically removing part or all of the pinnae (ear flap) with stitches to help them stand up and stay in place. Surgical ear cropping can cause both temporary and long-term pain, as it is an invasive procedure that cuts into the body.
Method 2.
The non-surgical method uses pressure or taping techniques to make ears stand upright temporarily, which could be very painful for puppies. Though this process is not as harmful as the surgical method, it can still have a negative impact on a dog’s health.
So the fact is undeniable that cropping a dog’s ears is a painful process because it is an invasive procedure that cuts into the body. It creates pain for puppies, by the pressure or taping techniques. Because you can’t give anesthetics to a dog. The reason is that anesthesia does cost more for dogs and it can be dangerous too. So breeders opt for this surgery without general anesthesia.
What Is Cropping And Why Is It Done?
Cropping is a process that involves cutting off the top portion of a dog’s ears to achieve a certain look. In some cases, cropping is done to give dogs an alert appearance. Some people believe that cropped ears make them look more handsome or graceful, while others think it makes them look fierce or intimidating. There are many reasons why people crop dog ears.
The Different Types Of Cropping
The whole process lasts around 1-2 hours. And the different types of cropping are:
Show Cropping
In this process, the whole Earflap is removed and the ears are cropped low-slung and flat to the head.
Field Cropping
In this process, a strip of fur from behind a dog’s ear is removed so that both of the ears are held higher.
Partial Cropping
In this process, part of a dog’s earflap is removed so that the ears are made to stand erect and appear tall rather than low-slung on the head.
Puppy Cropping
This process involves clipping or bending the ear of a dog before the puppy’s ears have dropped down.
Home Cropping
In this process, a dog is made to go through the same surgical procedure in the comfort of his home.
What Are The Risks Associated With Cropping?
A list of risks associated with cropping is following:
- Pain
- Infection
- Scarring
- Re-growth of the ear’s natural shape, which looks different from the desired outcome
- Double ears if too much tissue is removed
- Appearance of pointed or elf-like ears due to unnatural growth patterns caused by taping or molding after cropping.
Conclusion
So if you want to know that does it hurt to crop a dog’s ears? Then Yes, Cropping a dog’s ears is a painful process and it can be dangerous too. It is an invasive procedure that cuts into the body. So before deciding to crop your dog’s ears make sure you are very well aware of the consequences of this process, which is discussed in the above article.