[Alan]

If you want to show an APBT, you cant crop the tail and Im not positive but I think ear crops are out also. What about doing it for your pet? What are the pros and cons.

I dont know if this is true; I was told once that Pit Bulls have long tails because they can be bait for a trap. If one dog grabs another dogs tail, he can easily reach around and grab that dog who has his tail by the face.

Since we have been having so many questions about breeding and conformation, let me ask this. Some people who match dogs crop their ears. It makes sense. You wouldnt want your dogs ears to get ripped off in fight. The bigger the ears, the easier the target.

So if short ears are a good thing for dog fighting, could they have been bred to be shorter than they are?

[Patch O' Pits]

The dog can't show with a docked tail unless there is an injury and you have a vet's note but even then I think most judges would choose another dog JMO. There is no reason other than medical such as infected happy tail or such to dock a tail in this breed. It goes against the standard

I show and do not crop ears

I UKC there are many more cropped eared dogs in the ring than natural though there are many more natural eared dogs showing now in UKC than when I first started at least in this neck of the woods LOL

In ADBA I've seen a lot of both

I prefer natural ears but am not against cropping, it is a personal choice issue. I find it unnecessary surgery.


My pet peeve on ears....
I think it is disappointing that less than perfect ears are penalized when crappy crops aren't and also you can't know what the dogs' ears were like before cropping so technically to me that is unfair since a cropped eared dog may have had bat ears or full drop prior to the crop and the judge would never know.
Ears also don't affect performance. See my point

[Alan]

You just opened my eyse to something I never realized. When showing you are picking the best of the best to breed to. However, with cropped ears, you may be hideing an undesirable trait which could come out durring bredding. That makes a lot of sense!

[Miakoda]

Without getting into the cropping debate, the answer is short and to the point:

No.

[screamin'eagle]

short and sweet...no

[fearlessknight]

NO, NO, NO and NO...why...because!

[reynrock]

It's personal preference,I think it makes them look meaner and it intimidates more people.I don't have my dogs ears cropped i thought about it but decided against it but i dont oppose it.

[Patch O' Pits]

Originally Posted by Alan You just opened my eyes to something I never realized. When showing you are picking the best of the best to breed to. However, with cropped ears, you may be hiding an undesirable trait which could come out during breeding. That makes a lot of sense!

Most breeders don't really consider the ear set so much when planning a breeding because there are so many more important parts of the dog and like I said ears don't affect the performance aspect of a dog.

[Patch O' Pits]

Originally Posted by reynrock It's personal preference,I think it makes them look meaner and it intimidates more people.

From a therapy dog stand point, having natural ears definitely makes them appear more approachable to clients they visit IMO

[monkeys23]

Originally Posted by screamin'eagle short and sweet...no

I second that no.

[Patch O' Pits]

Originally Posted by fearlessknight NO, NO, NO and NO...why...because!

LOL

[DivineOblivion19]

I didn't know that people actually docked APBT tails...

I don't mind cropped ears on Pitties, but I prefer the floppy ears. So much cuter!

[airwalk]

Emphatically No.

[amy]

No No No No No No No No No No No No No No Not On My Dogs

[crimsonghost]

i have dogs with and without cropped ears its all a preference if i dont like how a pups ears look i have them cropped plain and simple but not every dog

[Anthony]

I actually like the look of a Pit Bull with cropped ears. Actually, my parents' dog has cropped ears, but it was done long before they got him.

For my dog however, it's a big NO. Mostly for the "public image" thing. A Pit Bull with natural ears really looks MUCH friendlier than a cropped-ear dog.

[Shes Got Heart]

I like cropped and natural. But I preferred to stay natural on my girl and made a great choice. She is very expressive with her ears. And she looks cute. There are other dogs that I can't imagine them without cropped ears.

[Alyssa]

Originally Posted by Patch O' Pits The dog can't show with a docked tail unless there is an injury and you have a vet's note but even then I think most judges would choose another dog JMO. There is no reason other than medical such as infected happy tail or such to dock a tail in this breed. It goes against the standard I show and do not crop ears I UKC there are many more cropped eared dogs in the ring than natural though there are many more natural eared dogs showing now in UKC than when I first started at least in this neck of the woods LOL In ADBA I've seen a lot of both I prefer natural ears but am not against cropping, it is a personal choice issue. I find it unnecessary surgery. My pet peeve on ears.... I think it is disappointing that less than perfect ears are penalized when crappy crops aren't and also you can't know what the dogs' ears were like before cropping so technically to me that is unfair since a cropped eared dog may have had bat ears or full drop prior to the crop and the judge would never know. Ears also don't affect performance. See my point

Have I told you recently that you are my HERO????

You so ROCK!!! And yes I fully agree - cropping allows you to hide a flaw, how can you tell if the dog has GREAT ears, unless they have their ears??

[luvapit]

They look so much more cuter with natural ears, although some don't look bad with cropped, I wouldn't do it, and the only way I would have a pit with cropped ears is if I adoped one that was done. Pits aren't supposed to have docked tails, although my weimaraner had a docked tail, she didn't knock everything off the coffee table when it wagged.....

[screamin'eagle]

Originally Posted by luvapit Pits aren't supposed to have docked tails, although my weimaraner had a docked tail, she didn't knock everything off the coffee table when it wagged.....

I assume that "pits" is referring to an American Pitbull Terrier, American Staffordshire Terrier, or Staffordshire Bull Terrier in this post and not a place to cook meat, a humans underarm, or a hole in the ground.

That being said I agree with the rest. Of the above mentioned breeds the tail is not supposed to be docked. Its fine for a boxer, or rottweiler, but a no go for the American Pitbull Terrier. The only guy that I know of that did it though docked tails for a very good reason. He docked his dogs tails as pups so he could always identified which ones he bred. He would immediately know if someone stole his dogs, or were breeding off of that said stolen stock because amongst other traits...stories of dock tailed dogs would pop up. I don't know of any other good reason other than from an injury to dock a tail.