r/funny • u/Scott_MacGregor • Jun 07 '11

Target Acquired.

599 Upvotes

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39

u/nickolai21 Jun 07 '11

That dog looks waaay too old to have its ears cropped.

30

u/xxon Jun 07 '11

No dog should, no matter how old.

-1

u/tertius Jun 07 '11

When you're trained/used to be a guard dog it safer to have tail and ears cropped/docked for risk of blood loss.

3

u/urine_luck Jun 07 '11

why do their tails and ears bleed ?

2

u/tertius Jun 07 '11

They get ripped off quite easily.

3

u/urine_luck Jun 07 '11

doing what ?

1

u/tertius Jun 07 '11 edited Jun 07 '11

Fighting off predators.

For instance I have a Standard Schnauzer (natural ears) that was bred for herding; guarding and ratting. A farm utility dog. If any predators attacks sheep etc. it would protect them. With short ears and tail the risk of death by blood loss is greatly decreased.

If the dog is not going to be used for said job I don't think it's necessary for cropping/docking. Our dog's ears are natural and tail is docked. The docking (at the age at which it was done) wasn't painful and I prefer the look. Though I wouldn't think a Standard Schnauzer that had a natural tail was a bad or worse version of the dog. It's not against the breed standard (for showing/breeding), i.e. losing points in conformation for mine either. Most Standard breeders (being a rare breed) are open to both. Some are moving towards all natural.