Ears advice
- Thread starter Diana
- Start date
Justicemom
Forums Celebrity
Yes...I see that you are totally correct. I did not have that problem with Chloe, since her ears did not pull out to the sides. But with Dandie...her ears tend to pull away. I have the Japanese tape, so I think I will turn to using that instead. It makes much more sense to me now
An Aha moment.
With Justice, Ember and Diva all had the glue method. I never had problems with the ears pulling apart in the middle. Their ears were naturally high and the head. The glue didn't work for my friends bi blue. His ears were lower and more to the side. We learned the Japenese tape method for him and it works great.Am I going to offend any one if I say I don't really get some of the conformation aspects, especially ear bracing? If conformation is about the best example of the breed, why is engineering an unnatural physical trait required?
Just the fact that one person says to remove tape in a direction to prevent fur coming off . . . and the other says the opposite so that the fur will grow back correctly . . . I think the AKC and other clubs have something to answer for.
I'm sorry I'm being judgmental. I'm judging the practice, not the people. I know you all care about your dogs very much.
Just the fact that one person says to remove tape in a direction to prevent fur coming off . . . and the other says the opposite so that the fur will grow back correctly . . . I think the AKC and other clubs have something to answer for.
I'm sorry I'm being judgmental. I'm judging the practice, not the people. I know you all care about your dogs very much.
danisgoat
Moderator
Chloe is spayed....Dandie will be spayed, so I am not doing it for AKC conformation. I am doing it because I like the look of the tipped ears, versus the look of the prick ears.
Look at it this way.....I like feet to "look" neat and clean. I know that the "mops" are natural, but I do not like that, I like to trim all the hair between their toys so that their feet look nice and neat.
danisgoat
Moderator
An Aha moment.
Yes....it was definitely an aha moment, lol. Little Dandie's ears just want to pull out to the sides. Dandie's ears are also a lot smaller than Chloe's ears ever were. When I glue them down, it looks like she has nothing there but little bumps!
Randi is coming for a visit today....and she seems to have the Japanese Tape method down pat, so I will ask her for some tips
danisgoat
Moderator
She did a commercial/advertising shoot for The Children's Place. It is a clothing chain for kids.
Here is the thread:
http://sheltieforums.com/showthread.php?t=5117
Thanks for your interest. It could be 6 months or so before it is out...but I will definitely let everyone know when the photos/commercial are out.
I'll grant this much . . . it's easy for our household to decide not to brace because we do happen to like the prick ears better. I don't know what I'd decide if that wasn't the case. Trimming the hair from between their toes, in addition to looking nicer, also makes it less likely that they'll pick up wee beesties and wormies outside. And hair doesn't fall off when you cut it; something that can cause their fur to be pulled off . . . our newest came with ears already formed from bracing when he was younger. It's not such a terrible look, especially when he's looking at you with his head cocked, expecting a treat.
Thank you for offering your viewpoint.
danisgoat
Moderator
Justicemom
Forums Celebrity
No offence taken. A great many shelties will have semi prick ears naturally. The bracing is to ensure they stay that way. With my dogs, Ember and Diva's ears would most likely been the same way. Justice most likely prick and my friends dog like on hound. The original dogs had semi prick ears. From my understanding the tip on the top of the ear has a functional reason and that is to keep the water out of ear canals(like little umbrellas) yet open up the ear so it picks up sound more easily. Unlike ear cropping, there is nothing physically done to the ears. They are just held in place. I have braced 6 dogs personally and helped with many others and have not experience any difficulty or discomfort with them. Dog breeding and doing it right is dealing with all the triats of the dogs not just are the ears standing up or not. With much more important things like proper structure(so the dog functions properly) and health, ears fall way down the list in importance of things to breed for,seeing as it is easily corrected by other means.
KarenCurtis
Forums Sage