Those Darn Ears!

[AnuShelties]

OK, I have heard several different things in the last month about training sheltie ears. First, I was told that after about 12 weeks, it is pointless to brace the ears (though still necessary to tip). Is this true?

Next... Ellie has one tipping ear and one not so much... I got her when she was 10 months old, and never had success getting them both to tip. The same person above who told me about the bracing said I could still tape Ellie's ears to train them to tip.

If some light could be shed on the situation, I would appreciate it.

 

[Smudge]

OK, I have heard several different things in the last month about training sheltie ears. First, I was told that after about 12 weeks, it is pointless to brace the ears (though still necessary to tip). Is this true?

We braced the Fluff woman's ears when she was 13/14 weeks. I won't lie though. I wasn't so much concerned about the bracing as I was the actual tip so I didn't brace as much as I should have.

Tell Karma's ears that Fluffy said to behave. Otherwise...they will look scary like the picture below.

 

[tofu pup]

OK, I have heard several different things in the last month about training sheltie ears. First, I was told that after about 12 weeks, it is pointless to brace the ears (though still necessary to tip). Is this true?

Not true at all! Bracing (bringing the ears up and together) is absolutely vital to achieving correct expression, and you need to keep at it well beyond twelve weeks.

The reason is simple... the puppy's skull is constantly growing and changing. Ears that were braced up high on the head back when the puppy was twelve weeks old can easily become low-set and houndy if left alone. Think about it - the skull is getting wider and wider, and if you do nothing to keep the ears up and together, they're going to get further apart.

Plus, it's not that difficult to keep the ears up and braced for puppy's first year. The payoff is a lifetime of gorgeous, correct ear-set.

Next... Ellie has one tipping ear and one not so much... I got her when she was 10 months old, and never had success getting them both to tip. The same person above who told me about the bracing said I could still tape Ellie's ears to train them to tip.

How old is Ellie? It wouldn't hurt to just put her ears in rolls (to hold the tips over) a week or so before she shows. You won't be able to enact any permanent change, but it will help the ear to stay over on show-day.

 

[Lightplum]

I keep them braced till they are a year atleast. It may be overkill but I dont want to take any chances.

On a side note, Mods or Kelly can you make a topic section for ears? Since there seems to be so many threads in every section...And its inevitably a question almost every owner asks or has an issue with

 

[KenRC51]

I got Daisy at 10 weeks but didn't start to brace or taped till almost 12 weeks. Good thing I read this thread because at first I didn't want to brace her ears but just tip it only.

 

[AnuShelties]

Not true at all! Bracing (bringing the ears up and together) is absolutely vital to achieving correct expression, and you need to keep at it well beyond twelve weeks.

That's exactly what I thought! But the person from which this information comes from is a breeder judge ( ),through another person, and then to me. When I first saw Karma, I was in love with her eyes. When (the said mediated person) was called the breeder judge was in the car with her. Remember Karma is a blue. When I mentioned both eyes are half blue, the breeder judge (I heard her in the background myself) said "she might not win because of them" (as in it is a fault in the standard).. OMG! REALLY? THIS from a breeder judge who should KNOW the breed standard!!! I guess that's just another reason she isn't very well favored with the AOAC handlers/breeders/owners...

How old is Ellie? It wouldn't hurt to just put her ears in rolls (to hold the tips over) a week or so before she shows. You won't be able to enact any permanent change, but it will help the ear to stay over on show-day.

Ellie will be 3 in March. I didn't think I could do anything with them other than weight (tungsten) her ears down when show grooming, and I was kind of wondering if taping right before a show would help.

 

[Justicemom]

That's exactly what I thought! But the person from which this information comes from is a breeder judge ( ),through another person, and then to me. When I first saw Karma, I was in love with her eyes. When (the said mediated person) was called the breeder judge was in the car with her. Remember Karma is a blue. When I mentioned both eyes are half blue, the breeder judge (I heard her in the background myself) said "she might not win because of them" (as in it is a fault in the standard).. OMG! REALLY? THIS from a breeder judge who should KNOW the breed standard!!! I guess that's just another reason she isn't very well favored with the AOAC handlers/breeders/owners...

Good Grief. I'm glad she wasn't judging at the show I was at last weekend. Our traveling companion finished her blue merle girl. She had one blue and one brown eye and took breed over a special 2 out of the 4 days.

Ellie will be 3 in March. I didn't think I could do anything with them other than weight (tungsten) her ears down when show grooming, and I was kind of wondering if taping right before a show would help.

Rachel and I were talking with a handler/breeder a couple shows ago about this. She has a dog with one wonky ear. She said she kept the ear taped down about a week before a show and then took it out. It usually stayed down though the weekend and then would pop up again. So while he is showing, its out for the weekend and then down again for the week til the next show. The dog is a champion about 4 yrs old if I remember right. Vogue's ears don't tip that great so we were trying it out and it works pretty good short term.

 

[tofu pup]

When I mentioned both eyes are half blue, the breeder judge (I heard her in the background myself) said "she might not win because of them" (as in it is a fault in the standard).. OMG! REALLY? THIS from a breeder judge who should KNOW the breed standard!!! I guess that's just another reason she isn't very well favored with the AOAC handlers/breeders/owners...

In the judge's defense, I think she meant that it could be hard for a dog with two half-blue eyes to win because the color of the eyes can detract from the expression, not that there's anything wrong with it in the Standard.

Blue eyes in merles (full-blue, half-blue, both-blue, one-blue, dark- or -light blue) are all perfectly acceptable, but it can be hard for judges to get around the difference that a blue eye makes in expression. I'll admit for myself that it's hard for me to really appreciate the expression of a dog with light blue eyes - it makes an otherwise-soft expression look hard, to me. I think that's what the judge meant - not all judges will care for the overall look that the eyes contribute to, even though blue eyes are acceptable.

Ellie will be 3 in March. I didn't think I could do anything with them other than weight (tungsten) her ears down when show grooming, and I was kind of wondering if taping right before a show would help.

OK. Taping will help, but unfortunately, you're right that you're kinda stuck with the lead.

 

[SheltieChe]

I was really lucky with Che's ears which started from pretty low hound ears and became stunning example of what properly tipped properly placed ears should be without any help on my part, except weighting tips down for about a month when his teething was really bad...
that got me thinking that while I do see why tipping is needed, bracing ears to be close together might be against what nature intended. While scull does grow and changes shape so are muscles responsible for moving ears so if we brace ears it will prevent correct muscles from developing and being strong...
Tipping ears is different as we want to achieve opposite effect, we want not to develop strong muscles/cartilage to perk them up...
I know braces are traditional but I see no physiological need behind it, specially if pup's ears decently placed to begin with?

 

[BarbV]

In the picture below you can really see the difference between various head and ear types.

Larger skull and thin ear cartilege (Bacca) vs. thick ears and narrower skull (Indy). Indy's ears are more prick than tipped, but are small in proportion to his head size, so they don't look like satellite dishes.

Bacca would probably have benefitted by longer bracing between the ears to compensate for his wider skull and "soft" ears.

But you can really see the difference in distance between the inside edge of both ears on both dogs.

And sometimes no amount of "intervention" will fix it.