Ear tipping

H

haliaka18

Forums Novice
how long do you normally brace/tip their ears for? I started when my dog was 4months and he is now 5 1/2 months old. They look good when I take them down but how do I know they will stay that wat?
 
haliaka18 said:
how long do you normally brace/tip their ears for? I started when my dog was 4months and he is now 5 1/2 months old. They look good when I take them down but how do I know they will stay that wat?
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Hi and welcome!

The answer to your last question is "You don't [at least at this age]". Your puppy's skull is growing and changing rapidly, and even if his ears "look good" now, persistence pays off.

We raise our dogs to show, and are very serious about ears. Ears are glued as soon as there's enough hair/ear to catch the glue (around five weeks) and taped/braced as soon as there's enough ear to hold the tape (around nine weeks). They stay in full tapes until they are a year old. The tapes are taken out occasionally for a dog show weekend, or to give the ears a rest, but within forty-eight hours (three days at the absolute maximum), they're back in tapes. After their first birthday, we'll sometimes do "rolls" (a little roll of tape in each ear to keep the tip) until eighteen months.

So, the answer to your first question is, "until the first birthday". However, if you aren't planning to show the puppy, you are of course free to discontinue taping when you like. As with many things, you'll get out of this project what you put into it - if perfect ears aren't a big deal to you, you can choose leave the ears be.
 
As Tofu Pup said, if you seriously want tipped ears keep it up until at least 1 year old. If you are less committed, keep it up as long as you can stand it. Then take your chances. It is a pain!

That being said, you can eliminate some pain if you are using the right products and techniques.

I screwed up in the ear tipping myself. If ever I get another Sheltie, I will have the proper materials on hand - starting with Detachol - for removing old glue. Bacca's ear gluing ended prematurely when I had to cut out the fur between his ears because I had nothing to remove the old glue with. Once all that fur was cut out, there was nothing else to reglue! We were pretty much done at the point.

I would also investigate Japenese tape. Easier than moleskin and better than glue, I think. People who have used the tape might have better opinions.

If you are not showing, gluing is just a matter of personal choice. Just remember though that the ears are not just about the tip of the ear, but also the set of the ear itself. My Bacca's ears are tipped - oh yes! Too much so because he has hound ears. He needed bracing between his ears to keep the carriage up. That's where I failed.

Hope this helps!
 
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