A little help with the ears

A

Aynesa

Forums Regular
Hey all,

I'm planning on taking my newest pup, Prize, to his first shows (with me :) ) next month and his ears are giving me all sorts of fits. He doesn't have pricked ears, but neither are they the nice tipped ears. They're sorta in-betweenie. I looked up all sorts of bracing articles last night, and tried the instructions in the Illustrated Guide... but it just doesn't seem 'right'. I don't think he needs a full bracing, and honestly I was terrified of being able to get the moleskin out of his ears after. I tried putting the moleskin in and gluing it over, but the fur on the head under the ear was too short, and to stick the tips down, it seemed to be folded 'too far'. But at the same time, I've heard that simply 'weighting' or 'loading' the ears will make it worse... Here are some pictures:

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Sorry for the poor quality, I wasn't taking pics for this purpose when I took them. They were the normal "I love my dog" shots around the house... To make it worse he was untrimmed. Now I have them weighted a little so I couldn't take a faithful shot.

Any advice would be fantastic. I'm planning on taking him to a show in Feb.

And my other dog's ears break too low! :) Ears are my bane!
 
Oh geez, that's exactly what Missy's ears did. I ended up giving up and letting them go back up when she was about 7 months old. I think Missy's ears are too thin to stay down. I wonder if Prize has the same problem... how old is he?
 
he's 20 months old. I put him on the grooming table last night and trimmed him up, and I'm pretty happy with how the ears LOOK, it's just the tips, and that I'm not sure how to deal with at all. My sable's break low, and his seem to half-break high! His left ear seems to half tip, half prick, it's crazy and I have no clue how to deal with it. From what I understand, it's well too late to make them tip 'properly'.
 
I hear you on the ears! Oh those Sheltie ears...I've taped, and glued, and massaged, and used ointments and potions....if they don't want to tip correctly, it can be a real pain.

A few suggestions...from the picture, it does look like your pup needs his ears done. How old is he? I have found that no matter their age, you can't put stubborn ears that want to prick in just before a show (or even a week or two out) and have them look good. You have to bite the bullet and keep them in all the time. If you have a dog who won't cooperate, and keeps removing the tape/glue/whatever, keep trying and be persistent!

I've had the best luck with using Tear Mender and gently glueing just the inside ear hair at the tip to the long hair in front of the ear. Be gentle, especially when removing the glue, or you will pull the hair out and leave a hole...not the best look for the ring! The best tutorial I've ever seen on this method was posted on a thread here by one of our members. Here's the link:
http://www.vistadeishelties.com/ears.html

For a short-term fix before a show if you don't want to glue, go to Wickets by Mel (wicketsbymel.com) and order the double stick tape -- it has glue on both sides -- and a can of the spray adhesive; cut one piece for each ear, rounding the ends slightly. Spray the tape with the adhesive for extra oomph and insert in the ear. This tape comes out easily with Zoeeze (also available at wickets) and it's only one piece of material instead of glue and tape and moleskin etc etc. You can also get Tear Mender at the wickets site.

In between glueing or taping, I rub in a product called Ears Beautiful, made by Cherryknoll and available online, to the inside of the ears. It's an emollient which softens the ear leather and helps them tip.

I hope this helps! Good ears are a project, but stick with it. It's not uncommon to keep the ears glued until age 2 or beyond, so don't give up. And good luck at the show!:fl Let us know how it goes. :yes:
 
I'm sorry to break (pun intended) the bad news....but at 20 months, those ears are going to be what they are.

Based on the photos that I saw they would never pass muster in a show ring - i.e. AKC, CKC, etc. Also 20 months is a little old to be starting conformation, from what little I know from shows.

There is another club - I think its called UKC???? (I'm having a brain fart at the moment) that may do for him instead.

He's gorgeous for sure

Good luck!
 
BarbV said:
I'm sorry to break (pun intended) the bad news....but at 20 months, those ears are going to be what they are.

Based on the photos that I saw they would never pass muster in a show ring - i.e. AKC, CKC, etc. Also 20 months is a little old to be starting conformation, from what little I know from shows.

There is another club - I think its called UKC???? (I'm having a brain fart at the moment) that may do for him instead.

He's gorgeous for sure

Good luck!
Click to expand...

Actually, that's not true, Barb. I know show people who have rehabbed the ears of two-year-olds with vigilance and the right treatment, as long as tipping prick ears is the issue and not hound ears. Those are tough to rehab.

There's also no limit to the age at which you can start a dog in conformation. Plenty of dogs start late.
 
For the show ring... his ears will have to be weighted... http://www.wicketsbymel.com/EarLoadingProducts.html

You need to use the paste... very lightly. I've heard some people say horses hooflex works just as well. Add just a tad of paste on the tip of the ear... and then pack the powder in. It's hard to explain how to do it just right... as you need to put the lightest amount needed as you will be faulted by a judge if they realize the ears are weighted. Best thing to do is get a handler to show you how to do it.
A lot of show shelties are done this way. But, the best thing to do is train the ears correctly as a pup.
 
Ann said:
Actually, that's not true, Barb. I know show people who have rehabbed the ears of two-year-olds with vigilance and the right treatment, as long as tipping prick ears is the issue and not hound ears. Those are tough to rehab.

There's also no limit to the age at which you can start a dog in conformation. Plenty of dogs start late.
Click to expand...

I wouldn't be giving false hope... I know your not meaning to do that... but it is next to impossible to train ears once the cartilage has matured. Possibly has happened before, but it is rare. I have heard of people having ears surgically broke, but to me that is just cruel... and really... how many vets could you possible find that would do it.
 
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