THE EAR 85 



IS served in the same way. AMiwi doing the latter, the 

 piece of cardboard is merely reversed and laid alongside the 

 other ear. Care must be taken not to forget this, or the 

 effect \\\\\ be \-ery far from what is desired. 



In days gone by, when the cropping of dogs' ears was not 

 considered a cruel and unfashionable operation, the usual 

 method adopted was to fix a metal clamp of the required 

 shape to the ear-flap, the projecting parts being removed 

 with a sharp scalpel or razor. In harriers and foxhounds the 

 ears are sometmies shortened or rounded off w ith a specialh' 

 shaped instrument known as a ' rounding iron.' 



After-treatment. — Any cartilage N\hich protrudes should be 

 carefully snipped off, the parts being treated antisepticall}- 

 until healed. 



The ears should be kept as still, and as free from all 

 sources of irritation, as possible. 



Deafness, so commonh- met with in bull-terriers as a 

 congenital defect, is attributed by some authorities to this 

 operation. 



Operations to Cause the Ears to Droop. 



W^hen performed on a dog ^^"ith the object of improving 

 appearances for show purposes this operation is illegal, and 

 \\ould therefore not be done by a professional man, but it is 

 of the greatest importance that he should be acquainted ^\■ith 

 the manner in which it is done ; in order that, when called as 

 an expert, he may know where to look for evidences of this 

 form of ' faking ' having been practised.^ 



The object desired is a proper carriage of the ears in a 

 certain direction, varying slightly with the breed of dog. 

 Some animals, for example, have ' prick ' ears when the ears 

 should droop ; to effect this ' droop ' temporarily, pieces of 

 leather or weights are affixed, or the ear is fixed to the cheek 

 bv some adhesive substance such as cobbler's wax. Flat 



^ See quotation from the Kennel Club rule on p. 83. 



