No tippy ears here...

My first Sheltie, Scruffy, had naturally tipped ears so yes, it does happen! Since she was from an "accidental" breeding by a BYB who never meant to breed, I thought all Shelties came that way. I'll never forget missjennygirl laughing hysterically on the phone the first time I called her about puppies when I said "I'd like a sable female with tipped ears, please" like I was ordering take-out! :lol::lol::lol:

None of mine since have been natural, and both Bandit and Ivy had prick ears. I much prefer the tipped look and thanks to missjennygirl, all my pups now have them -- but it doesn't come without months and months of effort. :rolleyes2:
 
Ember had naturally tipped ears. I glued them so they'd stay that way. Her dad had nautral tipped ears too. His were glue for one week but he kept pulling them out. He has very nice tipped ears. Everytime I took Embers ears out they looked perfect. I never glued them after 6 months.

Diva's ears were tipping too when I started gluing them. Again only to make sure they stayed that way.

My friends dog Grizz had low hanging ears. If his hadn't been glued he would have look like a hound dog. His ears never in his life thought about being prick. The glue was only to brace his ears on the top of his head.

So yes they won't nessacarily be prick if you leave them alone. I prefer tipped ears even if I wasn't showing that's me. If your dog is going to be a pet you don't have to brother with them. But you could get hound ears, semi prick ears, prick ears, one up and one down or anything inbetween.:smile2:
 
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My first sheltie Buddy had naturally tipped ears. Chandler's were tipped as a puppy but I never glued them so they are now pricked. Gypsy,well you've seen her bat ears as a puppy. they were never tipped but luckily she did grow into them:lol::lol::lol:
 
I think my first ear tipping was an awesome disaster. :lol: Maybe I just got lucky though, but ear tipping isn't the monster everybody makes it out to be. Fluffy was a very good puppy to practice it on. She almost always sits so still!

Smudge has pointy ears. I think he looks like a disgruntled elf. :lol:

I don't mind prick ears as long as they aren't HUGE ears. Smudge has huge ears. Some shelties have the smaller, cute ears. Not Smudge. Sit him on top of the tv and you might get extra channels! :lol:
 
labgirl said:
Wait a minute, there is a natural tip? Did not know that! Oh dear, I'll probably end up with a natural tipper then - is it quite rare? I take it must be with everyone gluing?

Thanks Granite, Sheep and Karen. I think its the foxy look that first appealed to me about Shelties - I had also looked at some of the spitz breeds but favoured the Sheltie temperament. Also most of the shelties I see out and about have pricked ears, so I am more used to that then folded ears. Not to say I don't like folded ears, don't get me wrong, they can make the face really expressive. But I can't see me struggling with glue and tape.

Besides, I am serious perfectionist and if an ear was just slightly wrong I would be re-doing it over and over, and that isn't good! Better for me not to have the temptation.
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Both my boys are from completly different lines and both have naturally tipped ears.
Yogi
http://introducingmyshelties.shutterfly.com/pictures/48
Revel
http://introducingmyshelties.shutterfly.com/pictures/49
(His ears need trimming in this pic!)

I've never had to do a thing with them except a little trimming. Revel's are a touch heavy so I trim them more to keep them up. Merlin's went through a slightly prick stage when he was teething and a little chewing gum or fullers earth on the tips just helped to keep them over until he was through that stage.
Merlin
http://introducingmyshelties.shutterfly.com/pictures/50
(He is not shown and my auntie likes a more whispy look!)
Lots of puppies have good ears as babies but they 'go up' when they're teething. Often a little work for a couple of months with something on the end seems to bring them over and massaging the crease. It all depends on the ear really. Both my dogs have 'thick' ear leather which naturally wants to fold, friends shelties have thinner ears and they sometimes require a little help. Blue merles sem to have larger ears than sables or tris and they are often 'heavy' i.e. tip too far, so chances are, if you have a merle you won't have to worry about ears. Also if you leave more hair on when the ears are settling 4-8 months it will help keep them over.

Funnily enough I was exactly the same and had eye on one of the spitz breeds - a schipperke acatually although I like them all and am a HUGE fan of the foxy expressions, but like you, preferred the sheltie temprement. I also was not going to worry about getting the ears over as I like prick ears and wanted to do obedience mainly but when it came to it, it was out of my hands. After a while I was glad anyway as I gave showing in breed classes a go and Revel was able to do well in both confirmation and breed. There are not that many dual purpose shelties in this country so I was really proud of his achievements.
Basically what I'm trying to say is that you seem to have to put up with what your given with shelties and their ears:smile2:!
I have also noted that smaller shelties (under 14" )are more likely to have prick ears than bigger shelties, in this country anyway. I don't know why this should be except perhaps they are always having to look up so their ears stand up more often?:smile2:
 
Basically what I'm trying to say is that you seem to have to put up with what your given with shelties and their ears!
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I like that! I'll just take the ears I'm given, I reckon!:lol:

Thanks everyone for your info, this ear business is way more varied than I realised.
 
labgirl said:
I like that! I'll just take the ears I'm given, I reckon!:lol:

Thanks everyone for your info, this ear business is way more varied than I realised.
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We take them as them come and when push comes to shove, it really doesn't matter in the long run what the ears look like, we love them too much to really care. If you show the dogs, then you work with them. Noah's ears were glued and braced when I got him at 10 weeks because he was to be shown. I took out the moleskin, etc in about three weeks after getting him. Hamish was shown and did become a champion in Canada - so his ears mattered to my sister. Emma will have a prick ear at times when she looks at you, just because of her head movement when she looked up. It looks cute, one ear up and one ear down (reminds of the nursery rhyme only John had one shoe one, one shoe off.)
 
I like tipped sheltie ears. I think it really adds to their expression. I love the way Bailey looks with tipped ears. I had her ears taped until she was a year old. Unfortunately, her ears are starting to pop up now :cry: She is almost 15 months old. I'm a little upset. All those months of taping and they're starting to creep up. I don't want to have to tape them again and I'm pretty sure it wouldn't help. I started massaging them a few times a day for a minute. I don't think it's making a difference.

ohhh and my first sheltie, who was from a pet store had naturally tipped ears...go figure
 
I kind of stopped taping Chase's ears since it was such a pain to clean all the tape glue out.

Thankfully I get the best of both worlds-one is tipped and one is pricked straight up! :biggrin2:

... Maybe I'll keep taping and see what happens in the end. I kind of like the tipped look.
 
I have one of each. Meggie has prick ears and Cooper's are tipped. They are both precious to me. And a sheltie cuter than my Meg, well, sorry but I'm sure one does not exist! Of course, I may be bias!

My daughter's older tri has naturally tipped ears. She never glued them at all. I all for what comes naturally!
 
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