Fall Hollow Great Danes

Should I have my puppy's ears cropped?

Natural ears are becoming more and more popular in the United States, especially for pets. There have even been a few natural eared Danes to finish their AKC Championships. We love the look of both and feel that cropping should be a personal, educated decision.

There are many draw backs to cropping your Great Dane's ears, such as:
* The risk of death due to putting the pup to sleep at such an incredibly young age for the procedure.
* Cropped ears can be very difficult to make stand correctly for the first-timer.
* Many vets are unfamiliar with Great Dane cropping, and we have seen a lot of short crops on Great Danes, which in not attractive.
* It is also very expensive to have a vet who is notable for doing a good job on Dane ears perform the procedure, and you will often times have to travel long distances for the surgery and weekly check-ups for 6-8 weeks! For example: We have to travel 3 1/2 hours to the closest notable Vet and the procedure costs about $300.

On the flip side, a good show crop looks great!!! There is also the point of breed recognition; most people think of a Great Dane as being cropped!