battle |

There are several dog breeds that regularly are seen with cropped ears; including Boxers, Schnauzers, Great Danes, and others. Thousands of young puppies are forced to endure surgery which is expensive, uncomfortable, relatively dangerous, and can be painful in the recovery phases. The amazing part is this surgery is totally unnecessary.

This practice was started centuries ago when dog fighting sports were legal and popular. The idea was that it was more humane to crop the dogs’ ears rather than have them shredded during a battle, which of course, would be more painful and have potentially worse complications. But the point is that because we no longer allow our dogs to fight for sport there is no humane and practical purpose of cropping ears. But the expensive and needless surgery continues.

We have become accustomed to seeing certain breeds with cropped ears and if we saw one with natural ears he would stand out. Even though AKC does not require cropped ears, a dog with natural ears in a ring full of crop-eared animals would most likely not stand a chance of winning. We simply expect a breed to look a certain way and when a dog doesn’t we question his bloodline and basically think he looks funny or out of place. Breeders and dog owners alike have complied with this expectation of society and therefore it is perpetuated – the cycle continues.

There are obviously numerous reasons not to crop a dog’s ears. Please see the list below:

– The surgery is unnecessary and all surgeries come with a certain amount of risk. Ear cropping is no exception to that. It simply is not justifiable.

– The surgery is usually done when the puppy is between six and ten weeks old. This is a time when the pup is emotionally fragile. Permanent damage to the puppy’s disposition can result as a reaction to the trauma of the surgery, the pain and frustration of post-operative bandaging, racking and taping.

– There can be quite a loss of blood during this surgery. The physical effect on the puppy can be very damaging.

– Ear-cropping happens about the same time that the puppy is ready to be sold. In many states the surgery must be performed by a veterinarian. This adds to the cost the breeder must incur which means he/she will take a large cut from the profits or have to pass the cropping costs along to the buyer. And most buyers do not find puppies with bandaged heads as attractive as those without.

It’s your decision in the end. If you want your dog to look like all the others then ear cropping is probably the way to go. But please keep in mind that ear cropping is a choice, not a requirement.

Should You Have Your Dog’s Ears Cropped courtesy Dog Articles.

Looking for a great gift idea? Who wouldn’t love a beautiful throw showcasing their favorite breed? Check out all of the great doggie gift ideas on Amazon.com –doggieoftheday@amazon.com

Dogs have been part of warfare since ancient times. The Romans used the breed Canis Molossus with success until they fought the Briton’s Mastiff, which were more powerful with broad mouths. So the Romans imported and used these dogs thereafter. The Romans started employing war dogs at about 101 B.C., which was 1 company of canines for each legion. They had dog attack formations and put chain mail and spiked collars on the dogs. Other ancient groups used war dogs such as the Greeks, Egyptians, and Lydians.

At the Battle of Vercellae, also known as the Battle of the Raudine Plain 9101 B.C.), the female Teutons led the huge Kimber dogs to defend the laagers, which were wagon forts. The wagons were an improvised fort and were circled or placed into a rectangular shape for battle.

During the period of transition from antiquity to the Middle Ages, which is designated Late Antiquity or Classical Antiquity, Attila the Hun made use of Molossers in his battles. The Irish counterattacked the Brits with Irish Wolfhounds and the Brits had attacked them with dogs. The Irish also attacked the Norman invaders with Wolfhounds. A dog could pull a armored knight from his horse and then the Irish solder completed the defense.

During the Seven Years War between Russia and Great Britain, the former had messenger dogs. In 1580, Queen Elizabeth dispatched 800 war dogs to battle during the Desmond Rebellions. The French had dogs that guarded the French naval installations since the first part of the 14th century.; they stopped using them in 1770 because a dog killed a French naval officer. During the Russo-Japanese war of 1904 the Russians employed dogs as ambulance canines. During the Spanish American War, dogs were scouts for Teddy’s Rough Riders in Cuba’s jungles.

During World War II, the Russians used dogs to blow up enemy tanks. The dogs managed to disable 11 armored vehicles during a single battle. The German Panzergenadiers had orders to shoot every dog they saw because of the Russian success.

Dogs have been employed for various war purposes: pulling carts of wounded soldiers, pulling huge guns, and pulling phone wire from one spot to a distant place. Dogs have been used as sentries for a long time. In modern times, dogs were used as sentries by the United States during the Viet Nam War. They put dog teams ahead of bunkers and towers. They had been used also for finding weapon caches, detecting soldiers underwater breathing through reeds in Korean, Vietnam Nam, and during World War II. The dogs were very successful at detecting Vietcong intruders, so many more were employed beyond the initial 40 dog teams.

The French employed almost 1200 dogs during the Gulf War to guard their troops, supplies, and aircraft and the United States also used dogs during this war.

So during all of history, in different cultures, and eras the effectiveness of employing dogs for various wartime activities has been recognized and taken advantage of, though some ot the uses are obsolete, some are still useful today.

Dogs and War courtesy of Dog Articles.

Looking for a great gift idea? Who wouldn’t love a throw blanket showcasing their favorite breed? Check out all of the great doggie gift ideas on Amazon.com –doggieoftheday@amazon.com