As a Doberman enthusiast, I absolutely love the elegant look of cropped ears. Although some people choose to keep the natural floppy ears, it is hard to dispute that the sight of a Doberman with erect ears is the signature feature of the breed.

I respect buyer’s option to have natural ears, but if a buyer prefers cropped ears, I do recommend the following veterinarians (below each veterinarian is a picture of a Doberman whose ears they cropped):

1) Grand Park Animal Clinic in Katy, TX 281-392-3127

As I am made aware of other veterinarians who do a great job cropping ears, I will add them to the list, including in other states, since I ship nationwide.

2) Dr. Mona Fasth, mobile vet working in Pueblo and Denver areas of CO. 303-981-4836.

3) www.advancedvetcomplex.com in Reisterstown, MD. (410)833-0500.

4) Dr. Anne Midgarden in Wopakaneta, OH. 419-753-3126.

5) Dr. Erin in Monument, CO. 719-481-3509.

Ear cropping is truly an art and not simply a medical procedure. I caution to not have ears cropped at a veterinarian that cannot produce pictures of past work. The veterinarians I have listed specialize in cropping ears and do outstanding work.

Most veterinarians crop ears at 7 - 13 weeks of age, and they can vary on their preferred age to crop ears within that time frame. Most vets will handle all of the tapings for you (which would be a weekly visit and would require an additional fee) or teach you how to tape them at home. If you decide to have your puppy’s ears cropped, you must be prepared to consistently tape the ears until they stand perfectly (for a medium cut, this may be 1 1/2 to 3 months or for a longer, show cut, this may be 3 - 8 months). These are just common estimates to give you an idea on how long it may take to train the ears to stand. There are several factors involved and the time frame to train the ears can vary from those estimates.

I like to have the ears taped for 6 days and rest one day. If the ears are not standing perfectly at the end of the one day rest, I tape them up again and continue the same process. Once the ears start to make progress, the rest period may extend from one day to two or three days. I only rest the ears past one day as long as they stand perfectly. As soon as they start to drop, I tape them back up. You only have a small window to train the ears and consistency is key.

When having your puppy’s ears cropped the two main decisions you have to make are the length and the shape. Look at pictures and be sure to convey to the veterinarian exactly what you would like and provide pictures to the veterinarian.