That’s basically the only way to describe our past week.
Last Tuesday, we got Hadley’s ears cropped.
Now, I know there are a ton of different opinions on this subject, and I know it can be quite controversial. Please just know that Corey and I did a ton of research before choosing to crop, and it was recommended by our vet. Many Dobermans with un-cropped ears struggle with ear infections or have hearing problems. In addition to this, her ears were already trying to stand up on their own, and our vet told us that while he doesn’t recommend cropping for everyone (some dogs just have floppy ears!), Hadley was a perfect candidate and he thought it would be a good idea.
So, yeah. We got her ears cropped. And oh my goodness. The chaos. She feels totally fine – hasn’t had any pain or anything since the very first day…but um, feeling totally fine is a problem when you have a crazy crown that has to stay on and an e-collar to ensure that you don’t scratch at your ears.
She may look lethargic and pathetic in these photos…but trust me, she’s been completely insane for the last week (well, she’s had normal levels of puppy energy, but that feels insane when you’re constantly worried about her ears!) and we’ve had such a rough time keeping her from playing or wrestling with the other dogs. It didn’t help that this weekend we dog-sat for our friends Audrey and Kyle so we had FIVE DOGS in our house all at once. Insanity.
Thankfully, we’ve officially made it one week without having the crown fall of or get destroyed, and our vet said he’d like it to stay on for 10-14 days. We’re almost there!
She’s also finally getting closer to the normal weight for her age – she’s gained 6 pounds since we got her three weeks ago, which is pretty good – she’s still got a ways to go, though!
Have you ever dealt with a crazy puppy with an e-collar? It’s not something I want to experience again anytime soon!
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Comments on this post
When we got our aussie spayed, she had an e-collar and no decrease in energy. She kept jumping on us and stabbing the collar into our legs, arms, etc. I was so glad when we could finally take it off!
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25. September - 7:10 amPoor Hadley!! She’ll get through it though and be just fine. She’s just so freakin’ cute.
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25. September - 7:34 amHope your little one can get that crown off soon! I can only imagine she’s restless, LOL.
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25. September - 7:44 amThat’s the snazziest “cone of shame” I’ve ever seen
My boss and his wife used to have Dobies, several generations of them, and when they had their ears cropped they trained them up by wrapping the ears around (still-in-the-wrapper) tampons. Oddest thing I’ve ever seen, but it made sense to them. I don’t know if that was post-crown stage or just instead of.
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Amanda Reply:
September 25th, 2012 at 11:33 am
Yeah, I’ve learned that’s called “posting” and it’s the next phase we’ll go through! I don’t know if our vet uses tampons, though, haha! Some people use Popsicle sticks…we’ll find out next week I guess!
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I’m glad you did the research on cropped ears before making a decision. I was a little sad my Boxer had her tail docked when I got her, until I read that the reason they’re docked is because the natural tail is curly like a Pomeranian and they easily break. Yeowch! Now I understand that docking tails actually prevents future pain and suffering as well as giving these dogs a better quality of life. Conversely we did decide to leave her ears floppy, as she’s 100% a floppy-eared dog
Glad Hadly is thriving under your care! I can only imagine the stress of maniacal energy while trying to keep her safe…
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Amanda Reply:
September 25th, 2012 at 11:34 am
Yeah, her tail is docked too (it was already done when we got her) – I’ve heard the same thing about some tails being easily broken, which is why they dock!
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Aw, little Hadley! She looks adorable in her crown and collar, though!
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25. September - 6:03 pmChloe had surgery on her paw in early June and I was told that she wasn’t allowed to use the stairs, jump on anything, chase the cats, and basically do anything that was considered fun. She had a giant bandage wrapped around her paw that made her look like she was going to beat you to death in an instant. The first day after surgery was easy, but the second day and beyond, I wanted to kill her because she would sneak up the stairs or jump off the couch before I could grab her!
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26. September - 4:01 pmI was going to ask about her tail but see you already answered that in the comments
so true that most of these traditions are done for a reason. Glad your vet is rightly considering what is right for HER, that’s good! My neighbor growing up did Great Dane rescue, and got one as a puppy too. Holy crap, a HUGE (large for his size) dane with cropped ears bandaged? My sister (who was REALLY little) said it was a horse with rabbit ears hahahaha. Raleigh (his name) just looked hilarious. Hadley looks like she doesn’t mind the crown at all!!! SO cute!
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27. September - 8:37 am