# Puppy Play Time!



## PatchworkRobot (Aug 24, 2010)

Yesterday we had my boy's sister, Aries, come over for their weekly play date and we also had an older dog (Zia) from the same breeder come too. It was really fun! They all had a great time.

Aries and Zia



























The Chase Begins









Dodge!









Break time!









Help! I'm stuck!


















Pretty Zia









Zia says, "Enough with the pictures nao!"


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## SydTheSpaniel (Feb 12, 2011)

Such gorgeous dogs! And really cute photos, the bandages on the ears remind me of some Egyptian dog or something, haha. Anubis, is it?


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## Labmom4 (Feb 1, 2011)

They're so beautiful! I dont know much about the breed, the bandages are to make their ears stand straight, right? Is the base of the bandage inside the ear canal? Do you just start bandaging them when they're young or is there a surgical procedure or? What would the ears look like without bandages? Just curious. I always see it, but dont really understand it. They're gorgeous dogs!


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## PatchworkRobot (Aug 24, 2010)

The bandages do look funny. And yes, they are to make the ears stand. Dobermans are born with a long tail and natural floppy ears, much like a lab. When left natural they look like this...








*Image found through Google search

The tails are docked within a matter of days after birth and the ears are cropped between 6 and 10 weeks of age (usually). It's a cosmetic surgery that involves cutting off a portion of the ear. After the surgery the ears are left, not unwrapped, but usually taped to a cup with the outside of the ear left exposed so that it can heal.








Once the stitches in the ear are removed and the cut is closed (this takes a week or two, I think) the ears get wrapped like my puppy's are now. How long they stay wrapped for depends on the dog and the crop, though it usually lasts until the puppy is between 5 and 7 months). The ears are wrapped until the cartilage hardens and the ears stand naturally on their own.

Ear cropping is done on a lot of dog breeds; dobermans, danes, boxers, min pins, pitts, schnauzers, etc. Also it is illegal in a lot of Europe and also Australia because of the fact that it is just done for cosmetic appeal and is viewed as cruel and inhumane. Its not illegal in the US and, for dobermans, it's breed standard so just about all reputable breeders here crop the ear of all their pups before they go to their new homes. If, for some reason, the breeder gets the dog back its MUCH harder to re home a natural-eared doberman. Although it's surgical it seems pretty painless for the puppies. After the surgery all the coneheads were out in the yard running around and butting heads with no signs of pain when they ran into each other.


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