Julie,
I find that doing head studies of Dobes and Danes is very difficult. You have to find the right angle and head-on usually doesn't work given the narrowness of their heads. My best results have come from shooting them slightly turned like this one.



Or closer to profile like this Dane image.



PeggySue, the issue of ear position and expression is one that is usually addressed in the breed standard so the concept of "getting the ears up" for certain breeds makes them look alert and prepared. Here, for example, is an unretouched shot of the Rottweiler Brito (Ch Brito Od Dragicevica) showing his earset up and his expression alert and ready for action.



And it works the same for the smaller breeds like this Frenchie. The ears should be up and the dog should look alert.



The whole concept of cropping was to make the dogs look more imposing given what their job was and what they were bred to do. Natural-eared Danes and Dobes just don't look the same. I'm not going to address the ethical issues of cropping or docking but the aesthetic issues are based on what the breeds were created to do and how their appearance enhances their ability to do that job.

Jim