Elaine
08-10-2009, 08:23 AM
Someone from overseas approached us recently with this request, which I have edited so as to obscure his/her identity:
Dr. and Mrs. G
I need a favor, can you help me acquire the clamps that are needed for cropping the ears beautifully. Since you are very close to Patty Edwards, I hope this won't be a big problem for you to send me a clamp. Also, please let me know what other equipment is required for cropping the ears perfectly.
I will bear all the expenses and I have a veterinarian who has asked me to help him out ---so that we can develop the art of cropping in this part of the world.
My response, also edited:
You are very VERY mis-informed if you think we are close to Patty Edwards. [omitted] But for the purposes of your request, what Arthur and I believe is irrelevant.
Neither Edwards nor any vet we’ve known has any interest in sharing what they do. Quite the opposite really, and they would never help someone from overseas. NEVER!!! [omitted] Far as we can tell, Patty Edwards, like Sophia Koster and Sam Grant [omitted] would never share any part of their ear cropping techniques with you or anyone. Not a chance in hell... [omitted] it would be more likely that a pig would sprout wings and fly, than that these vets would share with you or anyone.
I have no idea where you’d get the device you seek. It may be available through a medical supply company to a licensed veterinarian. Arthur is not a licensed Veterinarian and has no more ability to get the device than you or I (which is to say, none at all). And Arthur would be the first to say, the device (the metal bracket/template) alone will not help you do good ears. A skilled, licensed, medical professional/surgeon would need years of experience in how to shape and contour the ear, including the base of the ear. The surgeon would also need to understand about anesthesia, and proper monitoring of the puppy during surgery, and about palliative after-care and taping the ear for months until it stands properly. The surgeon would also have to understand about the effects of certain pain meds used for the puppies, and about treating the cut edges until they are properly healed. This knowledge can only come from years of hands-on experience. And even then, mistakes here and there can have life-altering consequences for the puppy (and that is under the best of circumstances). Ear cropping done without proper anesthesia and/or proper monitoring and paliative after care is nothing short of cruel and barbaric. It is and should be illegal.
I seriously doubt that a good ear crop is as simple as acquiring and using a certain template, there is so much more to it. If you think that there is some magic template that will give you good ears, and safe healthy puppies, all I can say is "Good Luck."
My advice to you is to seek out someone who does their own crops, someone like Sylvia Hammerstrom of Skansen Kennels in Sebastopol California. Over the past 50 plus years, Sylvia has bred and cropped thousands of Giant Schnauzers. Sylvia was a flight attendant for TWA, with no formal medical education or training. She learned to crop on her own. Her ears used to be pretty short and coarse, and the bases were awful, but over the decades she has improved. I am not saying that she is good enough to do Dobe ears, but she may tell you where she gets her supplies. We are not friends of Sylvia, I have no contact info for her, so you would be on your own… but that is the only advice I have. Google Skansen Kennel.
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This letter brought up several issues that we've been ignoring. If/when Arthur and I breed again we will seek out a licensed veterinary medical professional who runs a clean organized practice and treats each client (and each puppy) equally, and as though each was deserving of the very best medical care possible, regardless of pedigree or who the breeder is.
One reason we hesitate to breed again is that when all is said and done, if you do things correctly, breeding Dobermans is a huge amount of work and it is very expensive. Doberman breeders are fighting an uphill battle on almost every front. There is so much that veterinary medical science does not know about “genetic disorders” … and so much mis-information floating around disseminated by vets, it’s a wonder any of us would risk putting a puppy on the ground. For example, we have no credible science to avoid transmitting disorders like DCM. In fact, we have a parent club that is pushing for us to include the results of health testing (Holter testing) that gives a false impression about what a Doberman will not transmit (which sets us all up for getting sued). And, we have DPCA Board members who use illegal ear croppers, a former DPCA President who is an illegal ear cropper, a DPCA Board that openly sided with a convicted felon, and has a history of one hideous petty policy decision after another... so we have no real credibility with our parent club...
In addition to that, breeders have show expenses, and health testing, and the HUGE expense of time, energy and money to properly dock and crop the puppies. Breeders are tired of the neurotic games many ear cropping vets play. To properly crop and dock a puppy can cost as much as $1,000 (one thousand dollars) per puppy when all is said and done (or require days of travel with a litter of puppies), and then there are months of after care of the ears. When you realize that the vet has screwed up the ear crop, well, it is a sickening feeling.
Then there are the politics of the show ring… which is where we're suppossed to be able to showcase breeding stock... yet we have top winnings dogs, like the current number one bitch in the country, who will likely never be bred... because of the DCM in her pedigree... and Egawds… why would any of us do this? We can keep our money in the bank.
Dr. and Mrs. G
I need a favor, can you help me acquire the clamps that are needed for cropping the ears beautifully. Since you are very close to Patty Edwards, I hope this won't be a big problem for you to send me a clamp. Also, please let me know what other equipment is required for cropping the ears perfectly.
I will bear all the expenses and I have a veterinarian who has asked me to help him out ---so that we can develop the art of cropping in this part of the world.
My response, also edited:
You are very VERY mis-informed if you think we are close to Patty Edwards. [omitted] But for the purposes of your request, what Arthur and I believe is irrelevant.
Neither Edwards nor any vet we’ve known has any interest in sharing what they do. Quite the opposite really, and they would never help someone from overseas. NEVER!!! [omitted] Far as we can tell, Patty Edwards, like Sophia Koster and Sam Grant [omitted] would never share any part of their ear cropping techniques with you or anyone. Not a chance in hell... [omitted] it would be more likely that a pig would sprout wings and fly, than that these vets would share with you or anyone.
I have no idea where you’d get the device you seek. It may be available through a medical supply company to a licensed veterinarian. Arthur is not a licensed Veterinarian and has no more ability to get the device than you or I (which is to say, none at all). And Arthur would be the first to say, the device (the metal bracket/template) alone will not help you do good ears. A skilled, licensed, medical professional/surgeon would need years of experience in how to shape and contour the ear, including the base of the ear. The surgeon would also need to understand about anesthesia, and proper monitoring of the puppy during surgery, and about palliative after-care and taping the ear for months until it stands properly. The surgeon would also have to understand about the effects of certain pain meds used for the puppies, and about treating the cut edges until they are properly healed. This knowledge can only come from years of hands-on experience. And even then, mistakes here and there can have life-altering consequences for the puppy (and that is under the best of circumstances). Ear cropping done without proper anesthesia and/or proper monitoring and paliative after care is nothing short of cruel and barbaric. It is and should be illegal.
I seriously doubt that a good ear crop is as simple as acquiring and using a certain template, there is so much more to it. If you think that there is some magic template that will give you good ears, and safe healthy puppies, all I can say is "Good Luck."
My advice to you is to seek out someone who does their own crops, someone like Sylvia Hammerstrom of Skansen Kennels in Sebastopol California. Over the past 50 plus years, Sylvia has bred and cropped thousands of Giant Schnauzers. Sylvia was a flight attendant for TWA, with no formal medical education or training. She learned to crop on her own. Her ears used to be pretty short and coarse, and the bases were awful, but over the decades she has improved. I am not saying that she is good enough to do Dobe ears, but she may tell you where she gets her supplies. We are not friends of Sylvia, I have no contact info for her, so you would be on your own… but that is the only advice I have. Google Skansen Kennel.
================================================== ====
This letter brought up several issues that we've been ignoring. If/when Arthur and I breed again we will seek out a licensed veterinary medical professional who runs a clean organized practice and treats each client (and each puppy) equally, and as though each was deserving of the very best medical care possible, regardless of pedigree or who the breeder is.
One reason we hesitate to breed again is that when all is said and done, if you do things correctly, breeding Dobermans is a huge amount of work and it is very expensive. Doberman breeders are fighting an uphill battle on almost every front. There is so much that veterinary medical science does not know about “genetic disorders” … and so much mis-information floating around disseminated by vets, it’s a wonder any of us would risk putting a puppy on the ground. For example, we have no credible science to avoid transmitting disorders like DCM. In fact, we have a parent club that is pushing for us to include the results of health testing (Holter testing) that gives a false impression about what a Doberman will not transmit (which sets us all up for getting sued). And, we have DPCA Board members who use illegal ear croppers, a former DPCA President who is an illegal ear cropper, a DPCA Board that openly sided with a convicted felon, and has a history of one hideous petty policy decision after another... so we have no real credibility with our parent club...
In addition to that, breeders have show expenses, and health testing, and the HUGE expense of time, energy and money to properly dock and crop the puppies. Breeders are tired of the neurotic games many ear cropping vets play. To properly crop and dock a puppy can cost as much as $1,000 (one thousand dollars) per puppy when all is said and done (or require days of travel with a litter of puppies), and then there are months of after care of the ears. When you realize that the vet has screwed up the ear crop, well, it is a sickening feeling.
Then there are the politics of the show ring… which is where we're suppossed to be able to showcase breeding stock... yet we have top winnings dogs, like the current number one bitch in the country, who will likely never be bred... because of the DCM in her pedigree... and Egawds… why would any of us do this? We can keep our money in the bank.