My puppies ears are just about done healing and within the next couple days I'll start posting his ears. When I got him the Vet recommended/showed me a way of posting with tampons. I've seen a thread on here where someone posted a very good photo tutorial of posting with backer rod. What kind of posting do you prefer most? Just trying to get a better idea.
I'm not crazy about the "tampon" method--it uses the tubes and with a long crop I've noticed that one of the hazards is not remembering to tightly fasten the small tube to the larger one so they can't slip down while the ear is posted--I've seen too many pockets because that happens more often than you might expect.
And the other thing I don't like is that it makes a pretty rigid post--which is why I don't like the tongue depressor or popcicle stick method.
The only thing I don't like about calking (aka backer)rod is that it isn't quite stiff enough--you can and should stiffen it but I use pipe insulation instead and cut sections and tape them into cylindars which solves the not stiff enough problem for me.
Next to that my next favorite post material is paper towels rolled into tight cylindars and taped--I still use them on some puppies who seem to have super sensitive ears.
But there are lots of methods and bottom line is that they all work--persistence and practice will get ears up using almost any method.
The folks that are using the big heavy duty zip strips (aka tie wraps) swear by them for certain types of ear crops--I've never dealt with a crop where I started the posting with tie wraps but have helped people for whom they weren't working well by showing them some other method.
Weird I've never forgotten to tape the plug to the insertion tub and the little insertion tube to the big insertion tube but I could see how someone could I guess. Seems like you would notice right away though.
I could never get the backer rod stiff enough for my liking even with tape.
The zip ties didn't work for us but I think it's because I didn't start from a puppy. he tried so hard to get them out it caused his ears to bleed.
I like caulk backer rod stiffened with duct tape and back taped with Zonas Tape. Maybe some bit of a cotton ball attached at the base.
Years ago, we had great success with several long veterinary swabs taped together. Swab side in the ear, trimmed to length, with a couple of drops of Otomax on the cotton swab.
My first boy (42 years ago) had his ears posted using a toilet paper tube, trimmed, rolled and taped.
It all works... What ever is easiest for you and the pup
I've tried tampon and backer rod. I prefer backer rod by far and think the biggest percentage of people on here will agree. Very easy to learn and I've had 0 problems with posts staying in. It's much easier to personalize backer rod for any pups ears vs the tampons.
Show crop here. I alternate between two types of backer rod/foam in 5/8" diameter.
1. the "pocket fixing method" here that uses duct tape, Johnson coach tape, and bumpers..each ear is free
2. and the backer rod without bumpers and I use painters tape in place of duct tape. I would also trim the rod down so it was thinner...ears are connected at the base
For the first few months I only did method two. It's much lighter weight and worked well. He developed light pockets so I switched over to the method with bumpers
PS. Sorry for the bad structure. I wrote this in pieces and moved stuff around
I simply use a cottonball as the bumper. I tear one in half and wedge it between the rod and the ear where the pockets form. That has worked well so far. Here is my boy at 13 weeks with I guess you would call a medium-long crop.
I am not fixing pockets. I am simply doing that with the cottonball so I don't have to worry about any forming. Everything seems to be working perfect so far.
I used the foam backing method posted here until about a month ago, when I switched to zip ties, to try and finish the ears up. He much preferred the foam- he pops the base of the zipties out after about 3 days, while the foam would last 7+ (if I let it).
Team tampon over here! It was the only method we tried, and he didn't seem to mind them once they were in, so I never bothered trying anything else.
We've got a unique case, though... We had a TERRIBLE first crop (should you care to read about it here or look at him here), but I guess I was good at posting, because his bases were SO STRONG. Once we finally got him re-cropped, we only had to post once after the sutures came out. And now he is as handsome as can be!
All this to say, that the tampon method is what made a successful re-crop possible after the botch job we had done first. The moral of the story, really, is to do your research. I did research when it came to posting... but not enough when it came to cropping. Live and learn. And now I'm an obsessive researcher :-D
Poly foam aka backer rod i think by far is the best.
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