Well, it's a surgery, so there are risks. And yes, there is pain involved.. you're cutting part of the dogs ears off.However, if done by a good vet at a young age (I wouldn't crop a dog that was older than 16wks.), the pain is pretty minimal. Sako was bouncing around the night after his surgery. We have quite a few threads here on ear cropping, most are in the Health/Nutrition section, just do a search and you'll find quite a bit of info.!