To tip, or not to tip?

I think I'm with the majority, here. I really prefer the look of tipped ears. My first dog's ears just didn't want to tip. He has fairy small ears with thick ear leather and despite our gluing (we got him at 7 months) it just wasn't happening.

Our second dog we used Japanese tape on and I felt it was much, much easier. She has tipped ears and her expression is much softer.
 
I glued her ears tonight. We'll see how long it stays.. she keeps pawing at them.

I talked to the breeder today and the told me that Missy's mom's ears wouldn't stay tipped, so she probably has a 50/50 chance of having ears that will actually stay tipped. I honestly didn't even notice, and I saw her mom multiple times... I can be a bit oblivious lol.
 
That really stinks because I had to have my friend come over to help me! I would feel bad if I had to ask her to come over once a week to help me re-glue! Then again, she likes playing with Missy.. so maybe it's mutually beneficial lol. Hopefully Missy will get used to my messing with her ears and she won't fight it so much.
 
yeah- it took 2 people to do the Cranpup's ears. and that was after he ran around with the then bigger sheltie for a while to tire him out:winkgrin:
 
Tip them and they also need a bridge to pull them to the center. We took care of a puppy for our breeder last year and I had a friend come over a few times to do his ears- she enjoyed seeing him and it was good socialization for him, plus the ears go done and they turned out great.
 
My first Sheltie was extremely tiny and his ears were incorrigible! I tried every trick I came across - including fishing weights. When he was a year old, I gave up, and for the rest of his long, long life he had just about the cutest pricked ears every. And I wouldn't have changed them for anything - it gave him a particularly alert look, which suited him.

Bela came to me at 5 years old, and either her ears are those rare ones that tip naturally, or somewhere back in her past, someone spent a lot of time on tipping her ears. And tipped ears suit her perfectly, too. I love to watch her ear tips bounce as she trots around. It's just *squeeeeee* cute!

As long as you're not showing, the ear tipping is just a matter of taste. I showed my male Sheltie in obedience for a long time even with non-tipped ears. I would get a lot of flack ringside because of those ears (and some very snooty looks) until we got in the ring - he loved doing obedience and wagged his tail the entire time. I think we ended up getting more qualifying legs that we really deserved due to his perky, happy, smiling attitude. And those ears were priceless!
 
Sumac3890 said:
Tip them and they also need a bridge to pull them to the center. We took care of a puppy for our breeder last year and I had a friend come over a few times to do his ears- she enjoyed seeing him and it was good socialization for him, plus the ears go done and they turned out great.
Click to expand...

I talked to the breeder yesterday and sent her a picture. She said her ear set looked good for now, and we didn't need to worry about doing the whole bridge thing yet. She said if we do it too early, her ears will fall backwards? IDK. For now the tips are glued. I think she said at 16 weeks we'll do the bridge with yarn and whatnot.
 
Olive at 16 weeks.jpgAll my dogs, except my very first sheltie when I was 8, had tipped ears. Only one had to have his ears 'tipped'; all the others tipped on their own. My new puppy, Olive, 17 weeks, had all the ear tipping paraphanelia when we got her at 8 weeks. It lasted about four weeks. She is a terror--rolling around, running under and behind things, etc. At 15 weeks, her ears came up on their own. They are prick, but very high set. My very first dog was the only tricolor in all of the dogs i've had, except for my newbie Olive. I like the prick ears, so we aren't bothering to tip them. She will do agility only. So, I think it is a personal preference. We think it adds to her wild and crazy looks :biggrin2: I've added a photo of her her at around 16 weeks, being bad, as always. haha!
 
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