When should a Sheltie puppy's ears start coming up?
- Thread starter SRW
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- ears hound ears
SRW
Forums Enthusiast
Wow! I've got a lot of work ahead of me then. Devon is 3 months old today. I bought some breathe right strips and my friend is going help me do his ears again on Thursday. In the mean time I'm going to conduct some tests with the breathe right strips to see if I can come up with a configuration that lends stiffness to the ears without the weight of the moleskin. I'll post some pictures when we are done.
SRW
Forums Enthusiast
OK, here's my latest effort. The ears are forward and the right ear is erect sometimes, but the left one isn't coming up. I'm using two breathe right strips in each ear, trimed, and glued together with the string sandwiched in between them. They are at exactly the same location in both ears, but it has a far bigger effect on the right ear than the left. Even without the strips and bracing the right ear is usually a little more forward and erect than the left. Not sure what else I can do at this point.
Suggestions and comments welcome.
Suggestions and comments welcome.
SRW
Forums Enthusiast
Devon got one of the braces out of his ear a couple of days ago, so I took the other one out too as the loose one was just hanging by the string. His ears were forward but not quite up. However, the next morning they were both almost completely up, except for occasionally the tips! They've stayed that way for several days. Here is what he looks like now:
I'm very pleased with how he looks versus when we started. I'm not sure if what I did caused this, or if it would have happened anyway, but either way I'm happy about it. I guess my remaining question is should I put the braces back on, or just leave them as is unless they start to come down again, as I know everyone has said that they keep the braces on their Sheltie's for months, and Devon has only had them on for a few weeks and he's still a week shy of four months old. On the other hand I know you all are mostly trying to get the tips to fold over, whereas I'm trying to keep him from having hound ears.
The other thing I've noticed now that his ears are up, is that they are huge relative to the size of his body! I'm going to have to start calling him Bat Dog! My previous Sheltie's ears were nowhere near this large relative to his body at any stage in his life. Not sure if they are going to always be that big, or if his body will catch up and they will look more proportional, but either way it's still better if they are up versus hanging down.
Comments and suggestions welcome and thanks for everyone's help so far.
I'm very pleased with how he looks versus when we started. I'm not sure if what I did caused this, or if it would have happened anyway, but either way I'm happy about it. I guess my remaining question is should I put the braces back on, or just leave them as is unless they start to come down again, as I know everyone has said that they keep the braces on their Sheltie's for months, and Devon has only had them on for a few weeks and he's still a week shy of four months old. On the other hand I know you all are mostly trying to get the tips to fold over, whereas I'm trying to keep him from having hound ears.
The other thing I've noticed now that his ears are up, is that they are huge relative to the size of his body! I'm going to have to start calling him Bat Dog! My previous Sheltie's ears were nowhere near this large relative to his body at any stage in his life. Not sure if they are going to always be that big, or if his body will catch up and they will look more proportional, but either way it's still better if they are up versus hanging down.
Comments and suggestions welcome and thanks for everyone's help so far.
ghggp
Moderator
Looking good! I would still glue the tips over! My Liam is 5 months and I am still bracing and tipping. I will keep doing it until at least 8 months or more if necessary.
Calliesmom
Moderator
I'd stay with it for a few more months- just to be sure that they stay up
Phoebe'smom
Forums Enthusiast
When my last sheltie was a puppy, she looked like a little kangaroo. Once her coat came in and she grew up, it wasn't really noticeable.Devon got one of the braces out of his ear a couple of days ago, so I took the other one out too as the loose one was just hanging by the string. His ears were forward but not quite up. However, the next morning they were both almost completely up, except for occasionally the tips! They've stayed that way for several days. Here is what he looks like now:
I'm very pleased with how he looks versus when we started. I'm not sure if what I did caused this, or if it would have happened anyway, but either way I'm happy about it. I guess my remaining question is should I put the braces back on, or just leave them as is unless they start to come down again, as I know everyone has said that they keep the braces on their Sheltie's for months, and Devon has only had them on for a few weeks and he's still a week shy of four months old. On the other hand I know you all are mostly trying to get the tips to fold over, whereas I'm trying to keep him from having hound ears.
The other thing I've noticed now that his ears are up, is that they are huge relative to the size of his body! I'm going to have to start calling him Bat Dog! My previous Sheltie's ears were nowhere near this large relative to his body at any stage in his life. Not sure if they are going to always be that big, or if his body will catch up and they will look more proportional, but either way it's still better if they are up versus hanging down.
Comments and suggestions welcome and thanks for everyone's help so far.
Ann
Moderator
Wow, what a difference! Congrats on your persistence in keeping the ears in! Since he's still so young, I would continue to brace and tip them for at least another two months, until he's six months old. You don't want his ears to look out of proportion to his head, and tipping them even a little will add balance. Keep them braced too, just to be safe. It's easier to keep in place what you've accomplished, than to remediate it if they start to slip again.
SRW
Forums Enthusiast
OK. Here is is braced again:
I haven't tried gluing down the tips yet, as the weight of the breathe right strips (2 in each ear with the string sandwiched between them) usually causes the ears to fold about half way down over the top of his head as is (while simultaneously preventing them from folding down completely over the side of his head) and I don't want to add anymore weight to them given that the problem seems to be that they are too big and heavy to start with. I'm fine with the trade off of pricked ears in order to prevent hound ears, and having the ears properly tipped properly to boot would just be icing on the cake but not required.
I haven't tried gluing down the tips yet, as the weight of the breathe right strips (2 in each ear with the string sandwiched between them) usually causes the ears to fold about half way down over the top of his head as is (while simultaneously preventing them from folding down completely over the side of his head) and I don't want to add anymore weight to them given that the problem seems to be that they are too big and heavy to start with. I'm fine with the trade off of pricked ears in order to prevent hound ears, and having the ears properly tipped properly to boot would just be icing on the cake but not required.
SRW
Forums Enthusiast
An update since my last post. My bracing efforts only last about a week before he gets them out, and it seems that it always happens between 6 and 8 days after putting in the braces. I just want to make sure that the glue that touches the ears themselves is the surgical cement and not the Speed Sew! I'm only using Speed Sew to glue the two Breathe Right strips together with the piece of string sandwiched between them, and not directly on his ears. I ask because it seems that the weak link is the surgical cement because when the braces come out they are not sticky any longer on the side that was attached to the ears. I'm using something called Perma-Type surgical cement that I got from the local compounding apothecary. It says on the can that it's supposed to be used for all types of ostomy appliances.