When to crop a great dane's ears?

Question

We have a great dane pup he is 6wks old from good champion lines and wanted to know when is the best age to crop his ears. I know most will disagree but he is going to be in the show ring and we hope to make him a champion also. He is a fawn and his dad is 34" and 210lbs and his mom is 32" and 185lbs. We can wait to have our baby out in the public eye. I know most say at 12wks old but I want to know from either Great dane breeders or owners that has had it done.

Answer 1

Some folks always feel they have to exagerate the size of their Danes. I am always amused by this. If the weights for those Danes are accurate, don't bother trying to show your puppy, the Dam and Sire are not Standard. Danes fall apart at that size. A 34" Male would be at a good weight at around 140-150 pounds, which is still plenty big and most importantly, healthy.



You have some good info here. Your breeder should be walking you through this if they didn't have the puppies cropped. That is a red flag that your breeder is not very good.



You don't need to crop a Dane to show them either. There are many Natural earred show Danes these days. I have a couple of retired non-cropped danes sleeping on my couch right now.



And I have 3 cropped ones with a puppy that we are showing.



Still, 8-10 weeks is ideal for cropping if you must. You should try and find a mentor and contact your local Dane club ASAP for help if the breeder is not helping. At least someone can help you find a vet that knows what they are doing and can teach you after care. The after care can last a year or more.



And a Dane Club can get you started in the direction for showing. I think it is great you would like to show. There is no other place better to learn the Standard then the show ring.



We were all new once. You can learn from the mistakes already made with this puppy. The next one, you will be all the wiser.

Answer 2

First of all... Champion lines do not make a Champion or a dog worthy of showing. Your breeder should have had the cropping taken care of before you got the puppy and 6 weeks was to young to get a puppy. Does your breeder show? Or just brag about Champions 3 or more generations back that have nothing to do with her efforts? A wrong choice in breeding can screw up a pedigree in one generation. 6 weeks is WAY to early to determine if a puppy has show potential.

Also 34 inches and 210 pounds?? This doesn't sound right for a lot of reasons. The female being 32" and weighing 185? Youv'e been lied to. I have females that are 34" and weight just under 150. I have had a male that was 36" and weighed a nice 172. These would be average Danes. NOT 210 pounds and 185 for a female.

You should not have to be asking on Y answers about ear cropping. Your breeder should be guiding you here. SInce they are not, I suspect this was just a back yard breeder with a good selling line to suck you in. Have you looked at the standard? Compared the pups parents to it? Do you even understand the standard of the breed? Does your breeder?

To answer your question, cropping is generally done prior to pups leaving a breeders home and is done around 8 weeks of age. Waiting until the pup is 12 weeks old is probably to late. You won't get them to stand. Call your breeder and get them to give you the name and number of a reputable vet that has experience cropping Dane ears. She/He 'should' have access to other reputable breeders in every state that can recommend a good vet for the job. Better yet, instead of calling 'YOUR' breeder, call one who knows what they are doing. A lot of vets will agree to do a crop and then you find out once it is to late that they were clueless on a good Dane crop and your pup looks like a butchered doberman or boxer or the flying nun.

Answer 3

I agree that the parents weights do seem quite high. Maybe you misunderstood the breeder?



My 7 month old dane pup had his ears done at 7 weeks. Most vets won't do it after 10-11 weeks. Call vets in your area to find out if they do it or not. Laser surgery gives much better results (I'm told) than normal cropping. We let Sampson's ears heal for a week without being taped, then started posting at 8.5 weeks old. By 13 weeks, his ears were completely done being posted, and he's a beautiful goof-ball. Some dogs ears may droop and need re-posted when they teethe at 5-6 months.



Other dane owners I know had to post a lot longer for the ears to stand (and you should have someone knowledgeable help you if you havent' done it before). My breeder lives just up the road so we went to see her every time they needed re-posted. He'd have them up for about a week, then I'd take them down when the tape got dirty and loose, and keep it off for 24 hours so his ears could dry out, then re-post.



For those who are indignant about cropping - get over it. It's a personal choice for the owner to make. It's a big challenge, and it's not always fun, but it's not your choice to make. My pup was not traumatized by it, and with good follow up care hers won't be either. It's illegal in the UK now. BooHooHoo. Go live there if you want to abide by their laws.

Answer 4

You should crop between 7 and 9 weeks ultimately but some vets will crop up until 12 weeks. The earlier the better. My pups have never shown any pain or discomfort and if you know what you are doing with taping it does not hurt.



Your puppy should have been cropped before leaving the breeder and should not have left its littermates and dam until it was at least 8 weeks old.



The weights for both sire and dam are excessive. I have heavily boned and much taller danes and I have never had a female over 140 or a male over 180.

Answer 5

Somewhere between 7 and 12 weeks. I posted a web page below that you may not have come across yet for some additional info. One thing that I should warn you of though is that whom ever does the cropping should be used to doing Danes for show. The pattern they use will make a huge difference in appearance and they hopefully will be familiar with your dog's lines and head development so that they can make the ears enhance the head as much as possible. If your breeder shows ask them who they think does the best job with their lines.

Answer 6

If you got a pup at 6 weeks, this was not a good breeder. The male and the female also sound way over sized. There is no need for a Dane to be well over 200 lbs at that height. You can show your Dane uncropped too and still be successful. All the taping, taping, and more taping plus the procedure is pretty intensive and costly. Just leave 'em like they are.

Answer 7

Not many vets will still do this but it can not be no older then 8 weeks but this is very painful on them and a lot of work for you caring for them till the ears heal talk with a vet and you may change your mind my daughter just got a boxer and is leaving it ears as they are

Answer 8

When they are pups, call our vet, he will advice just the right time when to get it done,. don't let go, the older they get, you cant do it without the dog having alot of pain...your vet will tell you when to bring the dog in to have the ears done, listen to your vet.....



I am breeder for 14 yrs of Miniature Schnauzers and they have to have their ears done also, and we do them at 7 wks old, they stand better, less pain on the puppy, and have never had any ears fall down yet in 14 yrs.......my vet does right on

7y w2ks of age, and they do great....



also, I called 2 Dane breeders in my dog club, they have them done at 14 wks, both said the same thing....the Danes ears are larger they said so need to be alittle more stable than a small dogs ears that have to be cropped, and these Dane breeders, one has shown and bred for 19 yrs,the other one for 15 yrs, so they would know....but again, as I said, they said the vet will tell you when to have them done.



congrats on new puppy and I hope he turns out to be a champion, not all do.......the dad sounds gorgeous, would love to see the dads picture, can you post one...

Answer 9

NEVER - This is a totally barbarous practice. Why put an animal through pain for cosmetic reasons? It is illegal in Australia and I think it should be illegal everywhere - would you like someone to cut your ear off because they thought it made you look better? Read the Breed Standard and see if they can be shown with uncropped ears.

Answer 10

I have dobermans all croped/docked. All of mine were done between 8wks and 12 weeks. My boy was actually done closer to 5 months but his dont stand quite as well, and I think it takes longer to heal if you wait that long.

Answer 11

I got my Great Danes ears cropped when he was five weeks old. He never screamed or tried to bite anyone or anything because they put something on his ears to numb them. I have had all together seven Great Danes and I always get their ears cropped between five and weeks old. It a lot easier when they're small.

Answer 12

Never. It's much too late to crop - any good vet will tell you this - and it's inhumane to perform a purely cosmetic surgery on a dog.

Answer 13

if it hasn't been done by now it shouldn't be done at all. it's cruel anyway.