Ear Tipping

I have The Illustrated Guide to Sheltie Grooming and Sheltie Talk(plus a few other Sheltie books I could start a book store) LOL:lol:. I think these two books are great. I've been gluing Shelly ears since she was 9 weeks old she's 13 weeks now. Her father had natural tipped ears and her mother needed a little training to tip her ears. Here's a new pic of Shelly with her ears glued 13 weeks old.
13weeks-022.jpg
She doesn't mind having her ears glued at all. She never even trys to get at them. I use speed-sew and so far it worked pretty good. As for being a showdog I'm new at this and really don't know if she's even cut out for that. So for now Shelly will be seeing 4-H classes and going to lots 4-H fairs with my son. Tipped or not tipped it's a matter of choice. :yes:I happen to like the look of the tipped ear. BarbV is right you really have to kept up and be right on top of the ears if you really want them tipped. Because by keeping the ears in the correct position (like when they are teething and going through the puppy stages) it will increase the chances for a good ear set later in the dog's life. I've been told even then some ears aren't ever going to tip no matter what you do. There is no way to correct a really genetically incorrect ear. Set too low, too large ,too short to break,too thick ... ect ect ect. So if she happens not to have tipped ears she still will be beautiful to us and we will love her no matter what.:smile2:
 
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Lovely photo Janice :smile2:

BarbV I also asked the same question about why its breed standard, and I have heard its a genetic thing too, not sure about Jake's parents and how theirs were.

Think I will redo them he isnt bothered by it at all and if its only for a short period then why not try. I dont know if he will meet the standard enough for showing, his merling is border-line a bit on the dark side and I think its going to depend on judges individual taste so we'll have to see. He is about the right height, and Ive always said the only thing I can have some influence on is the ears so worth a try. Whether they stay up or not he's still my little man though :razz:
 
I've found that how ears come out does depend on the dog. My 10 y.o. Ivy has pricked ears because we gave up early on. I kept Pixie's ears glued until she was six months old and they flopped. I know they are too low but she is adorable and at that point I gave up. Barkley was done for me once a month by his breeder, who uses the double stick tape method, until he was a year old. Every time we took them out they began to prick again. He now has beautifully tipped and set ears at age 20 months. I've been told that Shelties' ears need to be set at least until they are through teething, or from 6 to 8 months minimum.

I agree with everyone that they are gorgeous no matter what their ears look like although my personal preference is for the tipped ears, probably because my first Sheltie, Scruffy, had naturally tipped ears from birth and I stupidly thought that's how they all came!! Little did I know the work most entail....:rolleyes2: You should have heard the breeders laughing when I started Sheltie shopping for a puppy and said "I'd like one with tipped ears please." :lol::lol::lol: Live and learn~
 
Yes, I prefer them tipped as well, so I keep on gluing...at this point, I think I've got so much speed sew in there, it will last a lifetime! At least it doesn't seem to bother him. They day it becomes an issue is that day that I'll give it up. For Bacca, the main thing is not so much the tip but to keep them upright....hence the wall of glue between his ears! Nothing is going to tear that down!

Now to just tackle those damnable nails! Got my Peticure all primed and waiting.....except pup seems to have different ideas!
 
I have given up on the ears. Indy absolutely hates me messing with them. I would give anything for them to tip because they are so adorable that way. :o Alas....Indy's feelings come before mine and I love him dearly tipped or not!
 
Any Canadians Looking for Ear Glue

Poor Sadie, I put her through hell when I tried gluing her ears, I came so close to giving up because I felt that I was needlessly torturing her. I used at least 4 different glues before I found one that worked. She now doesn't like her ears touched buy tolerates it. None of the products that I've heard talked about for ear gluing are available in Canada.

I just about gave up on Sadie's ears, I couldn't find anything in Canada that worked well and didn't want to buy any from the States because of the cost of shipping and length of time to get it over the border. I found a Canadian company online that I heard was great but despite sending them multiple emails about ordering they never replied.

I finally found some glue sold at Canadian Tire in the sporting section, its called Tear Mender and its marketed as a waterproof, flexible adhesive for tent repair. I found the name on a Canadian sheltie breeder's web site. The Tear Mender worked like a charm! It dried so quickly that I only had to hold it for a few seconds (then I kept her from shaking her head for 2 minutes to let it set. 2 minutes was more time than they recommended but I wanted to be sure it was properly set) and once dry she didn't even notice it was there. I only reglued once and only because I wanted to see if her ears would stay tipped (it was still too early). Her ears stayed glued easily for 6 weeks and I never struggled again.

After discovering Tear Mender I came across another product called called Jiffy Sew, its also a Canadian company, located in Peterborough Ontario and their product can be ordered online. Despite the name they actually market themselves as dog ear glue and I also read several sites recommending it.

Here are the web sites for both products:

Tear Mender (approx. $9.99 at Canadian Tire)

http://www.tearmender.com/

Jiffy Sew (Online Orders Only, $12.50)

http://www.jiffysew.com/index.html
 
BarbV

I was reading through these threads and noticed that your puppy had a crazy ear stage as well :biggrin2: Shelbies went every which way for a while but I kept rubbing them and used a little fabric glue and now they look perfect : ) Stay patient, it pays off!
 
OntarioSheltie

I found Speed Sew at Walmart in the crafts section. It too dries quickly. It does not get stuck to your fingers - you just roll your fingers together and it balls up and comes off. But it seems to hold well.

I use Goo Gone to remove it which I got at Home Depot. It's an oil based remover and does not seem to bother him, nor have a nasty smell. It's not super strong, so you have to work it abit and then scissors for the rest, but it seems o.k.

Now that I've built the Berlin Wall between Bacca's ears, I don't think they are coming down anytime soon (we are currently dealing hound dog syndrome!) - so hopefully I won't be gluing or removing anytime soon! :smile2:
 
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