brita54

I am having major issues with ear posting. I has so much trouble posting and taping I finally gave up and took the puppy to the vet to get posted. He had them in 3 days when they started to smell horrible and I took them down and his ears were oozing, bloody and had a small necrotic part on the edge of the ear. I was horrified and left the ears down. I have been slathering them with neosporin ointment and wrapping them in gauze to keep him from scratching at them. They are almost healed now and I plan to attempt reposting in the next day or so with foam posts which I special ordered. Will his ears ever stand now that they have been down for about 4 days now? I was told to not even try and post until they healed. I am worried sick they will never stand again. Please help Any advice would be appreciated.

Kratty

Have you contacted your breeder for any help. How old is your pup? Where are you located at? We might have a member close enough or know of a someone that can help near by. Its really hard to assist posting issues without seeing the issues.

__________________

reddobes

How old is your pup? I wouldn't worry too much about them being down while they are healing.
My pup's ears seemed to really react to the white tape, so I just used the foam backer stuff and used masking tape wrap around (wrap around LOOSELY and then scrunch with your hand) the masking tape needs to be changed more frequently as it is not as sticky.
If you are putting tape/glue on the foam post don't put it on the end that sits in the ear -- this will let more air in.
You definitely want to get the ear infection under control - have you gone back to the vet? dogs can often get a yeast infection inside the ear and this will not respond to neosporin.

brita54

I am in south Mississippi. I think part of the problem is the horrible heat here. The puppy stays in the house but out to potty and run every few hours. He was pulling out the posts every time I put them in and I tried everything. I used the tampex with the reverse taping, I used the tongue depressors wrapped in vet wrap. I have been totally unsuccessful at keeping the posts in. I have tried every kind of tape and vet wrap and he still gets them out. He shakes his head a few times and scratches and out they come. The ones the vet put in stayed great until I had to take them down. I am just so discouraged. He has such a beautiful crop. I am going back to the vet Wednesday so hopefully he can shed some light on the problem. I never had these problems with my other dobe but she had a shorter crop so maybe that is why.

brita54

I forgot to add, he is almost 16 weeks old.

reddobes

you might try using a post that is slightly smaller in diameter. Have your vet/breeder show you exactly how they place the post into the ear.
The other thing you can try is to put the posts in right before you feed him so he is distracted for a little while so the tape can stick better.

Again if his ears are red/smelly inside and he is not on a cleaner/appropriate ear med, I would get him to the vet sooner.

you can PM me an I can email you a couple pics of my pup w/ the foam posts/masking tape -- I don't know how to post on here .....

jdd

Most vets feel the need to wrap the ears and sometimes the head like a mummy. Then the ears can't get air and thats why they get slimey and infected.
Try calking rod / backer rod. You can usually get it at Home Depot. If you taper the end that goes into the ear it might make it more comfortable. I use duct tape to wrap the calking rod to make it stronger for more support. Then sticky side out tape so it will stick to the ear. Then use either Zonas or Sports Tape, a wrap around the bottom and a wrap around the top should be all the tape you need. But make sure the post is down in the ear as far as it will go. As far as them not standing because of this setback. I would not worry a bit. I had people bring me a puppy to show and at 6 & 7 months his ears were hanging like a hound dog. They had STRETCHED the ear so tight every time they posted, that they actually pulled the pocket out of the ear. I was able to re-form the pockets and the ears stand fine now. Another dog I helped with was 18 months old when he went to this new home. One ear was not standing. Just by wrapping a little tape at the base of the ear so it couldn't fall over and in about 2 or 3 months the ear stood fine. If you dog is still young, you will be fine. Just use as little tape as possible and make sure you get the post down in the ear as far as it will go.

Kratty

I'm taking a guess here, but it sounds like your using the method of inserting the posts into the ear and its resting on the bottom. We use cotton on the bottom base for comfort. I learned quickly if you didn't stretch the ear up the post a bit, before you taped the tips, the bottoms would pop right out. Plus with working with the reverse tape to the posts, you need to secure the tape with a little tape, on top of the post, to keep it from sliding down the posts. Maybe this can help.

__________________

brita54

You are so right. My vet had so much tape on the pup's ear there is no way they could breath. It was only three days before the stench started and he even lost a small cut out of the edge that became necrotic. I felt so horrible when I saw how bad the ears looked and that he must have been so uncomfortable. It just made me sick. His ears are really much better. I clean them every day and they are almost all the way healed now with no smell at all.

Scoob

Are you using any type of adhesive cement? Most people use Torbot and use the super tampon method. My dog Rudy is having trouble with one ear at 20 weeks and most people say post for 6 months. So, no, all is not lost. Contact your breeder for support or look on the Web for Doberman ear posting. Plus, there are other people here that know more than I do -- just my 2 cents.

Scoob (Jim)