for some breed's cropping ears can also be a health preventative as well. Especially since Dobermans have such a large surface area in their ears, by getting the cropped it lowers the risk of them getting an inner ear infection. I have two mini schnauzers that are docked, but not cropped. One of my dogs, Jack, has much larger ears than the other, and the flop straight down in front of the canal which blocks a lot of the airflow that it would normally receive if they were cropped, and he gets an ear infection every year, if not every other year. He's always well groomed, and we clean out his ears regularly, it's just something that happens with him *shrug*. So you could say that it's also a health concern, haha. As far as the tail, I think that it's purely cosmetic and 100% up to the owner if that's what they want to have done to their dog or not. Dogs don't rely on their tails for balance as much as cats do, but like cats, they can survive (and thrive) without one. Just look at the cat breed Manx. These cats are born without tails through selective breeding... anywho... time to get off my soap box, lol.