Cropping / Docking

We understand there is a great deal of misinformation, concern, and confusion surrounding the practices of cropping and docking. As such, we are going to share some personal experiences and information regarding these practices to help you make a well informed decision. Functionally, both cropping and docking was originally done to reduce opportunities to grab ahold of the dog during both hunting and/or protection duties.

The puppies have their tails docked between 2-5 days of age at the veterinarian's office. The breed standard calls for the tail to be docked to 1/3 the overall length or at the 4th vertebrae. This is done to all pups in the litter and we do not offer an option to not dock the tail.

On the other hand, the ears are not cropped until between 8-15 weeks of age. As such, ear cropping is left up to the new owner's preference. If you only plan on owning one Cane Corso, it may not be too important to worry about cropping your Corso's ears, but if you own more than one Corso it is something I strongly suggest you consider. One of the original functions this breed was bred for was as a hunting dog, more specifically a catch and hold dog. They grab their prey around the neck and hold the prey until the hunter arrives. What does this mean to you? Well... Corsos are still a very rustic breed with many instinctual habits, such as when rough housing with other dogs, they still grab each others necks during play. This can easily lead to ripped or torn ears.

Myst instinctively grabbing Koda (our lab) by the ear during an intense play session.

Here at PHCC, we have a highly active Chocolate Lab. Our Lab and our Corsos frequently play with each other and the Lab has come up with numerous cuts to his ears. If the ears become severely or repeatedly damaged, they could require surgical intervention. Clearly, this can be very painful to the long eared dog as his ears are tugged, pulled, and cut repeatedly. Early on I took a series of photos of our Lab playing with Myst and you can see how easy it is to accidentally tear an ear during routine play (see photos below).

Cropping of ears is not without risk though. Any dog who is properly cropped by a licensed veterinarian will be anesthetized during the procedure. Some pups/dogs who go under anesthesia are more sensitive to the drugs than other are. Each time you are considering ANY procedure for you dog, you need to accept the possible risk that the dog may not wake up. It is not common, but it is possible and there is currently no way to know which dogs are at this increased risk. The decision needs to be made on an individual basis.