Ear Tipping

ears

I have an easy method for prick ears that you may find either gross or ingenious. Kirby had the most impossible prick ears, and one day while trying to remove chewing gum from my niece's hair, I had a brilliant, horrible idea.

I chewed up a piece of gum, separated a small piece off and stuck it to the tip of Kirby's ear. It started to tip, I added a small amount more and it broke correctly. I did the other ear and held him still until it dried. It held up to intense scratching, didn't get stuck in any other parts of fur, and after 15 minutes, he even forgot it was there. Plus, you couldn't see the gum, it was under the tip. The gum would stay in place about a month or two. Then it would fall out on it's own, and I would check the ear to see if it would stay down. He was over a year old when I did this, and after 6 months of gum, those ears stayed tipped the rest of his life.

Archie went though a period of droopy ears - round about 6 months, but I couldn't bring myself to glue his ears together at the top of his head. But he grew out of the droopy ear a few months later. I guess I got lucky. He now had great ears.
 
LOL

When I was growing up, we had a Sheltie and my parents used the same trick with chewing gum to get the tip! The only time we were allowed gum as kids!!!! Unfortunately, we must have over-done the gum, because Callie had one of the worst set of hound ears ever!

Back to Speed Sew.....I just got the Illustrated Guide to Sheltie Grooming by Barb Ross (marvellous book, btw). And yes, it mentions Speed Sew as the best glue she found for ears (apparently only available in Canada) - and the remover is called Detachol. It is a bandage remover - safe on skin and no bad smell. Ms. Ross says to remove any residue with Fuller's Earth or grooming powder.

Now just to find a place that sells Detachol.
 
I have the one by Barb Ross called "The Illustrated Guide to Sheltie Grooming" that inlcudes instructions and several pages regarding "training your shelties ears" It does recommend to start this at 4 weeks old and continuing till they are 10-12 weeks old. If they do not tip then she says chances are they never will. I got mine at Amazon for 29.95
 
my poor belle. her ears had been glued from 8 weeks until she was 12 months. they were tipping just fine, until she went into heat. then one ear decided to stick up and it wont go back down! to top it off she now hates to have anyone touch her ears. I think its due to all the glueing she had done.
 
BarbV said:
LOL

When I was growing up, we had a Sheltie and my parents used the same trick with chewing gum to get the tip! The only time we were allowed gum as kids!!!! Unfortunately, we must have over-done the gum, because Callie had one of the worst set of hound ears ever!

Back to Speed Sew.....I just got the Illustrated Guide to Sheltie Grooming by Barb Ross (marvellous book, btw). And yes, it mentions Speed Sew as the best glue she found for ears (apparently only available in Canada) - and the remover is called Detachol. It is a bandage remover - safe on skin and no bad smell. Ms. Ross says to remove any residue with Fuller's Earth or grooming powder.

Now just to find a place that sells Detachol.
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Barb V,

Earlier in this thread I mentioned that I emailed one online company repeatedly to order their product but they never answered my emails. That company was Speed Sew. I also phoned fabric and craft stores all over the city and nearby cities but no one carried it. If you're looking for ear glue, I still swear by Tear Mender, in Canada its available at Canadian Tire.

I also spent a lot of time trying to find Detachol with no luck. But by then I was so frustrated with my search for ear glue that I didn't look quite as hard.
 
I'm just kind of curious here, but folks taping and "tipping" your dogs ears, are you doing this because you are hoping to compete the dogs or show them? I had a champion female who placed and won best of breed several times and her ears were never tipped. My friend who is an AKC judge told me that the fold in the ears is actually not important if the dogs confirmation is solid.
 
sheltiemom said:
I'm just kind of curious here, but folks taping and "tipping" your dogs ears, are you doing this because you are hoping to compete the dogs or show them? I had a champion female who placed and won best of breed several times and her ears were never tipped. My friend who is an AKC judge told me that the fold in the ears is actually not important if the dogs confirmation is solid.
Click to expand...

really? I was always lead to believe to not even bother showing if the ears are not tipped. I wanted to show Belle, but her 1 ear won't stay down. I was going to give up and not show her. maybe I will still try and show her this spring! :biggrin2: thanks for that info!!
 
OntarioSheltie said:
Barb V,

Earlier in this thread I mentioned that I emailed one online company repeatedly to order their product but they never answered my emails. That company was Speed Sew. I also phoned fabric and craft stores all over the city and nearby cities but no one carried it. If you're looking for ear glue, I still swear by Tear Mender, in Canada its available at Canadian Tire.

I also spent a lot of time trying to find Detachol with no luck. But by then I was so frustrated with my search for ear glue that I didn't look quite as hard.
Click to expand...

I got the Speed Sew at Walmart no problem. It's the remover that was a problem.

I did a google on Detachol and found several websites that sell it. I did try a medical supply store today when I was out and about (it's actually a bandage adhesive remover) but they didn't carry it. So I guess I'm shopping online.

btw - If any of our non-Canadian friends want the Speed Sew - let me know. I'd be happy to send you some! Just email me. Maybe I should set myself up as a Distributor to all Sheltie lovers! :winkgrin:
 
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