Ear cropping is a surgical procedure that involves removing part of a dog’s ears, causing the cartilage to stand erect. It is popular for numerous breeds of dogs, including pit bulls. Owners might decide to crop their pit bulls’ ears to give them their signature appearance, which was established centuries ago when pit bulls were primarily used as fighting dogs. Ear cropping also is referred to as docking, elastoplast and ear trimming.

History

Originally bred for bull-baiting, pit bulls historically had their ears cropped to prevent damage to them during a fight. Nowadays, ear cropping is mostly cosmetic, carrying on the tradition of the “alert-eared” pit bull.

Battle Crop

Battle crop is the shortest ear crop available. However, because this type of crop cuts the dog’s ears really low, it does not allow much protection from insects or debris.

Short Crop

Short crop is the second type of ear crop. It is a little bit longer than the battle crop. This crop leaves about two-thirds of the original ear.

Show Crop

The show crop is one of the most requested ear crops for pit bulls. It is a medium crop and gives the dog an overall alert look.

Long Crop

This is the longest ear crop available for pit bulls. This type of ear cropping leaves about three-fourths of the original length of the ear.

Before you get your ear cropping!

Please do some research before you get your puppy’s ears cropped. Find an experienced veterinarian that has done ear crops. When done properly, the ear cropping procedure is relatively safe and trauma free. However, there have been cases where our new puppy owners had horrible cuts done due to an inexperienced vet or even worse even loss their pups. We have our puppies ears cropped by the same vet for many years and have never had any problems. If you decide to crop your puppy’s ears please spend the time to research the veterinarians first. Please make sure your puppy is healthy prior to ear cropping procedure.

Best Age for Ear Cropping:

The optimal time for cropping a puppies ears is between 8-12 weeks old. When they are done sooner they heal better and have less difficulty standing erect. However, ears can be clipped at other ages as well. Older dogs can be cropped on a case to case basis.