ears on catch dogs

[big D]

see i have a pit bull catch dog that is about a year and im thinking bout cutting his hears. Whats yall advice on this would it be bad or good?

[dabutcher]

i'd talk to your vet about it....get their opinion on it.   i've only seen em done when they're young.   i know Black Gold had to get a dog's ears cropped a little later than normal...  maybe he can tell you about his experience with it.

[justincorbell]

this is just honest advice nothing more and its based on 1 dog. I had a pit that i had the ears cropped on when he was a pup.......i brought him to the woods with me 3 times (east texas) and he had hell tryin to get back to me once he got into the woods a couple hundred yards.......i watched that poor dog run back and forth tryin to find me when i would call him and he couldn't pinpoint where i was at to save his life.......i had to wave my hat and make all kinds of commotion for him to see me so he could figgure out where i was and i honestly think it was because with his ears cut he couldnt make out the direction i was callin him from.......it may have just been that particular dog but because of that i never clipped ones ears again and never had problems with any other dogs.......he was a good dog but at the end of the day i want a dog that can go straight to a bay and come straight back when the job is done without having to worry about him not being able to find me

[big D]

i know what you mean if my dogs dont come back to me with in three times by calling them i leave them behind.

[justincorbell]

yeah i can't say that i've never left one behind....i always drop my shirt and come back the next day 9 times outta 10 the dog i left is layin on that shirt and more then happy to get in the truck haha

[kevin]

Justin, was your dog white?

[justincorbell]

haha thats a big 10-4........how did u know that?

[justincorbell]

well mostly white.....his head was entirely white and he had dark brown markings on his sides

[kevin]

I would bet he was deaf in one ear.  It is common in dogs that are white.  Lack of pigmentation in the ear canal.   Lots of dogos are that way.

[catchrcall]

 I like my dogs to have their whole ears, that flap keeps all the dust,cedar needles, rain, and who knows what else out of their ears.  plus they just look goofy with cut ears in my opinion. 

[3-Bdogs]

i get all my pits cropped unless their over 6 months then it gets alot riskier more drugs it is possible most vets won't do crops that old JMO

[goose]

the best cd ive owned and currently still use has his ears clipped and thats only cuz i bought him like that...i believe God put them there for a reason...im not saying that a dog cant course a sound w/o ears cuz mine will and ive alot with cropped ears hear perfectly fine...not saying that it doesnt affect cuz it possibly could...but with the ears left on it will deter most debris from getting into the ear canal and causing some sort of trouble...the down fall to ears is that they bleed like stuck hogs when they get torn or bitten....personally myself i wont say never but theres a good chance ill never have the ears cropped on one...and as far as them being being to old ive seen a man crop a 2yr old dog with a pair of regular handheld scissors... my buddy had a dog done this past summer and she woke upo from the anethsia and they are all messd up now and she to is an older dog...so i guess its all personal preference

[redcur]

It don't matter how old they are if you like it that way then make it that way. Friend of mine clipped his at 3 yrs old and turned out fine. I have never had a problem with one hearing me call it.

[Black Gold]

Had my dog get his ear tore up when he was 8 weeks old.  Had to cut them (very short) because the hurt ear was not savageable......I was mad at the time because I did not like the cropped look, but now that he is grown I really like the way it makes his big block head look.  I cannot tell a difference in his hearing.  His kennel is besides his sister's (she has full ears) and I can step out of the house about 100 yards away and make a small noise and both he and his sis come out of their dog houses to see what it was. 

Think the "keeping stuff out" would be the best benefit to not cropping, but I feel all other is just personal preference and cosmetic.

[thesquealisreal]

Most vets do them around 12 weeks old. They will not crop grown dog ears. The ones I know of anyway.

[sportsman]

i have 2 with the ears cropped and their ears get real dirty faster than the others, ive noticed before that it took one a min to pinpoint where sound was coming from