[Oliviaquinci]

Hello everyone,

I feel so helpless with this ear. She got them cut at 8 weeks and I have been posting them ever since. Her right ear has been standing since she was 4 months old. However, the left one stands only 50% of the time. I swear it's like she makes it stands when she feels like it. So I constantly post it just in hopes that it will stand since she is still young. Could this be genetic? I am trying to understand. I have no issue still posting it if there is a slight chance for success.

Here is my melanistic female Shiva, the absolute love of my life.

Here is the problematic ear when I clean it and breathe for a little bit:

Here it is breathing again but this time she feels like making it stand:

I don't understand how it stands half of the time...Asking for help/ advice.

Thank you!
-Olivia

 

[lestat1978]

Please post pictures of it posted. How much time between postings?

 

[eegreen]

Don’t despair, keep posting. My last male had a long show crop and I posted until he was over a year old. Are you using backer rod method?

 

[dobebug]

How long are you leaving it down when you take it down to clean the ear and let it dry?

Personally I would keep posting it until it didn't fall like that.

10 months is really not unrealistically long for posting an ear. One of my males with a very long crop had an ear that was weak--if I left it down it would slowly sag to where it looked pretty much like your girl's ear. So I didn't leave it down--he had about half of his champion points before the ear finally stood reliably.

The ear that stood had been standing as I recall since he was around 5 months old. So he got posted and he went to shows with the weak ear posted until just before his class--then I took it down and as soon as he was through in the ring I posted it again--I didn't even wait to get him home. And he was around 18 months when I finally did stop posting it.

I don't know why some dogs have ears that they can put up if they want to but who have one or sometimes even both ears that look like they are a crop and flop and I know that owners often give up on them.

In fact a friend, a long time breeder had a nice red male who finished fast and was still in posts when he finished (well, not in the ring but at home) . Both of his ears did what your girl's one ear is doing--dropped. When I moved back into the Pacific Northwest he was already a champion and was being shown (and doing some winning) and even though I had seen him at home a number of times and had been told that he always had them up in the ring I didn't believe her until I finally got to a show--huh! Learn something new every day--that dog went in the ring and put his ears up and never put them down until he was out of the ring. At home he looked like the original crop and flop.

dobebug

 

[Oliviaquinci]

Thank you everyone for the replies!! I now have some hope that ear will eventually stand. Here is a picture of how it's posted. I've been reading other posts about the zip ties along with the duct tape so I will be getting those tomorrow. Yes, I use the backer rod method. Some people say I should still post both ears with the bridge.. but it didn't make a difference so I just started posting the creased left ear.

This was when she was younger (6 months) but you can see the posts better.

Appreciate the help,
Olivia