Hello All!

My puppy Zeus had his ears cropped on January 10th. His stitches came out this past Monday, and the ear rack that they put on fell off yesterday ( I have pictures of his wreck in an earlier post). The vet office told us to bring him in to get his ears rewrapped once it fell off, so we did so today. The attached picture is what he has on his head done by the vets. They told us to keep it on for 3 days, then take it off for 2 and have him practice strengthening his ears by making sounds and whistling. Then, we are to bring him back to get them rewrapped and repeat the process. I've read that his ears should not be down for very long so I was wondering what your thoughts were on this?

We were planning on posting his ears ourselves once we were done with the vet service that they offer. They do this rewrapping three times. But if it'll be more beneficial for his ears not to be down for 2 days, we were going to take him back to the vet after one day of the ears being unwrapped.

I hope this makes sense.

So... My thoughts.

First lose the cone collar. In my experience, with respect to ears, it creates more issues than it solves.

Leaving a dog's ears down for 1-2 days between posting is really not a good idea. at least, in my opinion. My first Dobes vet, many years ago, told me that a day down was often an extra week of posting. He was a show cropper and a Doberman judge. I still subscribe to his advice. So, I would take the pup to the vet with the ears still posted or having just been taken down. Ideally the ears (IMO) should be reposted as soon as you can clean and dry them. Maybe an hour or so.

Lastly... Thats an awful lot of tape. And, I would prefer to see the ear tips more wide separated. Say like in a 10 o'clock-2 o'clock position. They appear to be pretty much upright.

Oh.. One more thing. I would gather your info and supplies well in advance of taking over your pup's posting. It's really nice to have all your ducks in a row.

I like posting. It is a unique experience to bond with your new puppy. Just make it rewarding for him by being prepared, relaxed and praising.

John
Portland OR

I agree with you, 4x4bike ped. I didn't think having them down for 2 days was good. Also, when his ears are down, they both pull in toward each other, so I do agree that posting them more apart might help with that. (right?)

I was also thinking of trying to post myself from now on instead of taking him back to the vet. I'm both excited and nervous! I'm going to get a table for him to stand on, as people here have said that that may help with keeping him still. Also, a grooming arm to clamp onto the table to keep his head up. He's getting big fast! We weighed him today and he's 27 pounds and just turned 13 weeks. We're heading to Lowe's tomorrow to get supplies. We'll probably attempt posting for the first time on Wednesday! *deep breath!*

As for the cone, it's off! People already told us that it wasn't good for him, but he kept pulling at his stitches so it was put on him till they were out, and they put it back on him today when they wrapped his ears. It's been off all day. Just forgot to take it off before taking his picture

Thank you so much!

@ gamer...
LOL. Don't sweat it! There is a learning curve here. Once you get the hang of it and your boy gets with the program, it is a very rewarding experience for both of you.

Every time you have an issue (this is your first posting after all) , just come back on and you will get help. If you do have questions, photos really help.

Heck, in a few months, you will be aiding others in posting their pups.

Best to you and Zeus

John
Portland OR

@4x4bike ped , I do I have a quick question! As I was looking at a post about ear posting, there's an backer rod post that has a little bumper on it to prevent pockets from forming in the ears. It says that the bumper faces the bell of the ear ... May I ask which side is the bell? (dumb question, I know, but I want to make sure I do this right!)

I know they mean the base, but is the bell part facing away from the head or the part that is toward the head?

Thanks for being so nice! I'll be sure to post pictures this week of our posting adventure!

Hi gamer. In over 4 decades, I have never had a boy (yes ALL boys) develop pockets. I did use the backer rod method on my youngest. It worked very well. From what I understand , one deals with pockets if and when they occur. The DT member here who IMO knows as much as anyone with respect to posting and corrective posting is dobebug. Many years ago she helped my son with his first Dobe when I was a bit at odds with the extreme length of the pup's crop. The advice always given to me was to keep the post firmly in the base of the ear and repost if and when the post pops out.

I am sure others who have had to deal with pockets will chime in. Again, you can always reach out to Bug. She has been posting Dobermans since around 1960 (no kidding). She is the man! (So to speak. LOL)

John
Portland OR

Edit to say... I am a bit of an oddball when it comes to posting. I tend to use a bridge pretty much for the first few month. I like the control it gives me over the spread of the pup's ears. However, I never recommend this, as it is really not an accepted method these days and most would probably disagree.

An ear pocket can form where the ear meets the top of the dog's head. The ear will sag over the top of the dog's head and lean inward, so that there is a "pocket" between the ear and the top of the head.

When you use a bumper to correct a pocket, or to keep one from forming, you tape an extra piece (the bumper) to the post. Take a look at our tutorial on posting with backer rod https://www.dobermantalk.com/ear-crop...my-method.html One change to the tutorial directions though--one thing we do NOT advise is using of vet wrap on the posting job to tidy it up. Vet wrap is tricky to use; it is easy to put it on too tightly, and it tends to shrink if it gets wet--that can restrict blood circulation to the puppy's ears, with nasty results.

When you put the post in the dog's ear, the bumper needs to fit into the ear so that it puts pressure on the part of the ear that meets the top of the dog's head. Play around with your dog’s un-posted ears. With your thumb, press on inner part of his ear where it meets the top of his head. When you find the magic spot where your thumb’s pressure makes his ears stand properly, that is the area that should be pushed out with bumpers. Let the bumper act as your thumb does by pushing out the problem area to straighten his ear up. Try to tape the ears so that they point outward slightly at about 10 and 2 o'clock positions \_/


Oh, and make sure that his ear edges are completely healed before you post his ears....you need to wait until all the scabbing is gone and you have pink healthy looking edges where his ears were cut. It may even take a week or so after the stitches are removed for that to happen. If you tape over an open area you are risking infections, as well as making the process more uncomfortable for the pup.

I'm having trouble finding the Johnson and Johnson zonas tape that is recommended for ear posting. Is the attached picture something similar that I can use?

Johnson and Johnson coaches tape should work for you. You can find that in just about any drugstore I would think. I don't think I'd use waterproof tape on a puppy's ears--the skin needs to be able to breathe.

Remember to get some mineral (baby) oil or an adhesive remover so that you can remove the tape without it pulling on her ears. Work the oil under the tape with your fingers; you'll be able to feel the sticky dissolving and the tape will just about slide off. Give her a little ear massage before you put her ears back up and she'll thank you.

Additional comment about the tape you posted a picture of; the label says that it "stretches". I think you would run the risk of putting the tape on too tight. If you used it on yourself, you'd know it was too tight and would redo the bandage....a puppy wouldn't be able to tell you that.

Hi... Go online and buy Zonas in the multi-roll pack. NextCare does not work well.

Here is a typical example of whats available: https://www.amazon.com/Johnson-JJ510...Z5MYYPFMFPJPR3

John

Don't use Nexcare--it's a self amalgamating tape similar to Vet Wrap.. You can usually find Johnson and Johnson Coach tape (I think it's labeled J & J Sports Tape these days at almost all Walmarts as far as I know.

Ignore that information about where to add a bumper to deal with a "pocket"--I think that got posted by someone who didn't know where the bell was in a cropped ear and was putting the bumper in totally the wrong place. The "bell" of a cropped ear is the area of heavy cartilage at the back of the ear--pockets never form there. They form at the forward area of the ear--just aft of the little fold of skin and where the ear attaches to the topskull.

I don't put in bumpers unless a pocket has already formed--and you can tell if you have one because the ear(s) tend to tip in over the top of the skull. Then I use a bumper but if you tape the ears so they tip out at 10 and 2 you may never need to get rid of pockets because they usually don't form.

Good luck--posting ears is one of those things that really does get easier the more you do it.

Thank you John! I didn't even think to use the magical world of online ordering. It'll be here by Tuesday!
@melbrod , I will get adhesive remover or baby oil. I didn't think about that, so thank you for the reminder!

I think I have everything I need. Once I unwrap his ears later this week, I'll post a picture of what they look like to make sure that they're okay to start posting. (Speaking of pictures, I'm sorry my phone uploads are sideways! I'm not sure why that keeps happening..) I bought three different sizes of backer rods because I wasn't sure which one would work best in his ear. 3/8", 1/2", and 5/8". The thickness should be big enough to support the ear, but not so skinny as to go down into the ear canal, right?

Lastly, I couldn't find the Caldesene powder, but I did find the Caldesene Baby version which the only difference looks like it has "skin-soothing aloe and chamomile". That shouldn't be a bother, right?

The ear canal of a dog bends sideways inside the ear, so you cannot push the posts in so deeply that you can damage anything inside.

In fact, when you put the backer rod into the puppy's ears, you want to get it in as deeply as possible. So you twist the post into the ear, stretch the ear up lightly, stick it to the post and then tape around the ear and post, all without letting go. That will help keep the post in place. If you are having trouble getting the post to stay in the ear, it is usually because you don't have the post in deeply enough, and because you have allowed the ear to sag on the post before you tape it. Starting with a smaller post when your puppy is little can help too. As he grows, his ears will get heavier and you will need to switch to a thicker post.

Backer rod, though, no matter what size you are using, is not stiff enough by itself....that is why you wrap duct tape around the post before you cover it with the back-wrapped zonas/coaches tape.

It seems complicated at first, but it's not hard once you get the hang of it.

The powder for powdering ears can be almost anything. Originally there was one powder that every drug store had as it disappeared I switched to the original Gold Bond Medicated powder. Over the years Gold Bond has ended up making powder for everything--I used to get the medicated foot powder but just went and looked at what I have right now and it's a medicated body powder. Buy the smallest container you can find--the time I bought a big bottle of one of the Gold Bond powders (because I was putting up and demo'ing a post for a woman new to posted ears) I had it for almost 10 years and the bottle was disgusting looking--it's probably the least expensive thing you'll ever buy for your Dobeman.

And Melbrod's explanation of how to get a post properly positioned is very good. I back tape the entire length of the post--and add a little pad of cotton in the very bottom--when I put the post in the ear I twist and push down while holding the ear and pulling up with the other hand. You'll know almost immediately if you haven't gotten the post far enough down in the ear because the puppy will keep shaking their head to try t dislodge it and will often manage to pull the bottom of the post out of the ear. DON'T try to stuff it back into the ear. Take the ear down and start from the beginning.