Help - Sheltie Ear Tipping Question

[BarbV]

I use a glue that I ordered from a sheltie breeder.It is called Jiffy Sew,and I order the detachol from my Walmart pharmacy.It's pricy,but works really well.

I have learned & read just as you here on the forum,from the owners that glue,and thier posts,links etc..have been a tremendous help.

The only thing I'm going to add,is that the glue I use,you have about a 1-3 minute work time.Its sets fairly quickly.

I get everything out,before the dog goes on the table for gluing of ears.I can do both ears now,in such a short time,Jasper hardly knows I'm doing it.It hleps if the dog has a kong the first couple of times.I don't bother now,as he's not even on the table long enough.but I give him a treat after I'm done.

I do take glue out,and let the ears rest a day or two,but they always (1 does) goes really wonky.He has lost about 3 teeth so far,just starting.

His ear leather is very thin,unlike Trapp's.When Trapp was really young,I would also massage his ears over,and they would stay..like 2 minutes! it made no differance.I did not glue,wished I had. There was a period of time for 3 whole weeks,Trapp's ears were perfecto on thier own..then they went crazy~

Added note: a dab will do ya on the glue amount.I only use a dab,less tan the size of the tip of my pinky finger.It's just a small dot's worth.Remember..hair to hair..not skin to skin ok~

The rest of the tips,I'll leave to the pros..they know more than I.
Good luck!

Michelle pretty much summed it up! The lessons learned of gluing ears. And the things I would NOT do again!

Whatever you do, hair on hair only; and go light on the glue. Better to add more later than build the Berlin Wall, like I did. And make sure you've got an adhesive remover like Detachol to take out old glue before you reset.

There are many of the forum who follow the Japanese tape method, so you may want to take a look at that as well. In many ways, it seems easier than the glue method, but you can judge for yourself.

 

[mbfrench]

My new pup's ear needs something to help tip it and the breeder put some yellow glob of stuff on there but I didn't catch its' name. Like yellow chewing gum.

Well that sounds kinda strange~ Is it still in there? does it work~

 

[BarbV]

Well that sounds kinda strange~ Is it still in there? does it work~

When I was a kid and we had our first Sheltie, we were told to put chewing gum on the tips of her ears. It was the only time we were allowed to chew gum when I was growing up!

I don't think it worked, or maybe we chewed the wrong kind of gum, because she still had prick ears.

 

[mbfrench]

When I was a kid and we had our first Sheltie, we were told to put chewing gum on the tips of her ears. It was the only time we were allowed to chew gum when I was growing up!

I don't think it worked, or maybe we chewed the wrong kind of gum, because she still had prick ears.

I have read about gum being used.Would'nt it attract little flys or something.Being sweet,I guess I would'nt want any little buggers to be attracted to the ears.

 

[Smudge]

It wasn't sticky tac was it? Sticky tac comes in yellow and blue. It's used to hold posters to walls. It can leave a greasy spot on the paper though.

Do they even make sticky tac still, and if they do is it even still called sticky tac?

Gum to hold a sheltie's ears down is just too funny. So many flavors to choose from.

 

[mbfrench]

It wasn't sticky tac was it? Sticky tac comes in yellow and blue. It's used to hold posters to walls. It can leave a greasy spot on the paper though.

Do they even make sticky tac still, and if they do is it even still called sticky tac?

Gum to hold a sheltie's ears down is just too funny. So many flavors to choose from.

Sticky tac is still made! My boys used it regularly on thier bedroom walls,as they had more crap they wanted to hang,than I would allow holes in a wall.

 

[Smudge]

Sticky tac is still made! My boys used it regularly on thier bedroom walls,as they had more crap they wanted to hang,than I would allow holes in a wall.

That's the exact same thing my mom used to say! "You're not going to poke holes all in my walls!"

I don't think it would do a good job of holding together a sheltie's ears at all though. Maybe it was Juicy Fruit (since it was yellow)?

 

[Belladora]

thanks everyone for your help. I am still wondering how you tell if the leather is set yet in their ears or how to tell if its too thick to take??? any thoughts or help on that one?

 

[corbinam]

thanks everyone for your help. I am still wondering how you tell if the leather is set yet in their ears or how to tell if its too thick to take??? any thoughts or help on that one?

That I can't tell you. I don't know if there is a hard and fast rule about too thick/too thin. There are thick ears and thin ears, and an experienced breeder can tell you what your dog has, but it doesn't mean that they will or will not take to tipping.

Bentley has thick ears and the glue didn't work for him. I recently met a breeder who taped one of her dog's ears and they never took. I felt the dog's ears and they did seem very thick, but it's hard if you have nothing to compare it to.

 

[BarbV]

It's a tricky process and perserverance is the key. This is a committment that you must keep to at least to 7-8 months, and many will say up to 12 months. I wish I'd stuck it out till 12 months.

And yes, there are different methods for gluing/bracing depending on how the ear is set, thickness of ear, etc. Beyond chewing gum , there is glue only, Japanese tape, moleskin bracing.

Sheltie Talk is a good resource for dealing with different kinds of ears.

That being said, sometimes, no matter what you do, you just can't get them 100%. I do advise that you get help from a breeder if this is your first time.

Someday, when I've got nothing else to do, I'm gather all the "ear resources" that we've posted over the last few years and put them all in one place.