[jimmyt925]

Hello,

I have a Doberman who is a little less than a year old now, I got his ears cropped when he was around 10 weeks old
at very reputable vet here in Northern California whom had great reviews from others. But as soon as I took a look at his ears after they had healed I and many other noticed that one ear looked slightly off from the other and looks like they had cut too much off. Now realizing I made the mistake by going to that vet, I am still having trouble with his ears. My Doberman has been very stubborn with the whole posting process and will do anything he can to get the tape or whatever we are using off of his ears. We have tried using tampons, many kinds of different tapes, and many different ways to get his ears to stand. I am now using something that I have made similar to the ear halo, but it doesn't seem to be doing the trick either. His ears will bend back towards his tail and then go floppy after awhile. I have started him on some Vitamin C to see if that will help, so we will see. For awhile now however only one of his ears will stand on occasion, either when he is excited or when he hears someone outside, other than that it goes back to being floppy. But the one ear in which the vet cut wrong has not been able to stand at all. Can anyone give any advice on what I can do, or any suggestions that might help?

Thank you so much

James

 

[greenkouki]

James, welcome to DT

Can you post some photos of your posting job and how the ears are standing without posts? There is a good tutorial on the backer rod posting method here:
http://www.dobermantalk.com/ear-cro...ting-directions-photo-tutorial-my-method.html

 

[Shady]

in case you do not know a doberman can fold his ears back and also out to the sides looks kind of like a chicken wing.

The only time his ears are up and pointy is when he is alert.

 

[dobebug]

Hello,

I have a Doberman who is a little less than a year old now, I got his ears cropped when he was around 10 weeks old
at very reputable vet here in Northern California whom had great reviews from others. But as soon as I took a look at his ears after they had healed I and many other noticed that one ear looked slightly off from the other and looks like they had cut too much off. Now realizing I made the mistake by going to that vet, I am still having trouble with his ears. My Doberman has been very stubborn with the whole posting process and will do anything he can to get the tape or whatever we are using off of his ears. We have tried using tampons, many kinds of different tapes, and many different ways to get his ears to stand. I am now using something that I have made similar to the ear halo, but it doesn't seem to be doing the trick either. His ears will bend back towards his tail and then go floppy after awhile. I have started him on some Vitamin C to see if that will help, so we will see. For awhile now however only one of his ears will stand on occasion, either when he is excited or when he hears someone outside, other than that it goes back to being floppy. But the one ear in which the vet cut wrong has not been able to stand at all. Can anyone give any advice on what I can do, or any suggestions that might help?

Thank you so much

I can probably help but I need to see pictures of ears (close ups-side and front).

The halo and the various home made versions of it are not the most likely thing to help get problem ears up-they are all just versions of a very old technique called a "rack" which wasn't very effective either. Fairly short crops are almost the only thing they work on.

Were the people who recommended this vet Doberman breeders and owners?

Where in Northern California are you--I might be able to find you someone close to take look at the ears and help you with the posting.

Have you been consistent in posting his ears--dogs who have not been posted all the time sometimes are difficult to restart posting on.

I think the tampon method is harder to get to work than the calking rod method (the sticky that greenkouki put up for you) but both work and I've used both.

Frankly the stickiness of the tape is far less important than the placement of the post in the ear. Zonas tape by Johnson & Johnson (which you can get either from your vet or order on line--google it) or Johnson & Johnson Coach Sports Tape which is generally available in local drug store (around here some of the Walgreens carry it and some of the Walmarts--the Zonas is available in 1" and 2". The Sports tape is almost always 1-1/2".

These are low tack (deliberately not very sticky) breathable cloth tapes and thats what you want to use.

Dogs who fight to get posts out of their ears almost always do so because the post is not inserted all the way down in the base of the ear-so it moves easily which rubs and is a constant irritant. Predictably they will do almost anything to get it out.

The caulking rod can be trimmed to fit snugly in the base of the ear canal and if you have back taped it you should be able to push the bottom off te post (which I pad with a little cotton taped to the bottom of the post) twisting it a little as you push it down to seat it. Then continue to push down on the post and pull up on the ear and start the tape by sticking it to the exposed back taping a the very bottom of opening of the base. Tape toward the skull (this means you'll tape clockwise on one ear and counter clockwise on the other ear)--the little flap of skin folds toward the ear and will lay where it should if you've started the taping properly. The first wrap of tape should angle up, wrap around the ear and then angle back down--it should meet the beginning point and before you stick it down push the back edge of the ear forward a little to close the gap where you can see the post. This makes it much harder for a puppy to shack a post out.

Start the second wrap of tape overlapping the first one and do the same thing--then put a third wrap the same way--at that point you should be able to stop angling the tape and tape the rest of the ear all the way to the tip.

For a dog who has been able to remove posts from his ears in the past I recommend that the ear be fully taped. The upper taping should not be tight-I just lay it in place-and after all the tape is in place I just squish it with my hand to make sure it's all stuck to the ear.

You can put in a brace if you want--I probably wouldn't for a puppy this old--he should have some reasonable control of his ears but if you put a brace in it goes at the very bottom and should be loose enough to allow the ears to tip out at a 10 and 2 (clock face) position.

Feel free to ask questions if anything here doesn't seem to make sense.

If a post pops out of the base-take it down and start again--it was't positioned or taped correctly. Pushing the post back into the base and trying to fix it with more tape never works and is a great way to creat pockets

Is the ear the you say was cropped "differently" standing at all even at the base? If that ear drops from the base it may not ever stand but you can see it and I can not so pictures would help.

Good luck...

 

[jimmyt925]

Just took off the tape from the posting. The tape took off more hair than usual even when I put baby powder to help with that. But here are the pictures of my doberman

 

[jimmyt925]

And to your earlier message the reviews came from a variety of dog owners including doberman. I live in the SF Bay Area

 

[jimmyt925]

Hello,

I have a Doberman who is a little less than a year old now, I got his ears cropped when he was around 10 weeks old
at very reputable vet here in Northern California whom had great reviews from others. But as soon as I took a look at his ears after they had healed I and many other noticed that one ear looked slightly off from the other and looks like they had cut too much off. Now realizing I made the mistake by going to that vet, I am still having trouble with his ears. My Doberman has been very stubborn with the whole posting process and will do anything he can to get the tape or whatever we are using off of his ears. We have tried using tampons, many kinds of different tapes, and many different ways to get his ears to stand. I am now using something that I have made similar to the ear halo, but it doesn't seem to be doing the trick either. His ears will bend back towards his tail and then go floppy after awhile. I have started him on some Vitamin C to see if that will help, so we will see. For awhile now however only one of his ears will stand on occasion, either when he is excited or when he hears someone outside, other than that it goes back to being floppy. But the one ear in which the vet cut wrong has not been able to stand at all. Can anyone give any advice on what I can do, or any suggestions that might help?

Thank you so much

I can probably help but I need to see pictures of ears (close ups-side and front).

The halo and the various home made versions of it are not the most likely thing to help get problem ears up-they are all just versions of a very old technique called a "rack" which wasn't very effective either. Fairly short crops are almost the only thing they work on.

Were the people who recommended this vet Doberman breeders and owners?

Where in Northern California are you--I might be able to find you someone close to take look at the ears and help you with the posting.

Have you been consistent in posting his ears--dogs who have not been posted all the time sometimes are difficult to restart posting on.

I think the tampon method is harder to get to work than the calking rod method (the sticky that greenkouki put up for you) but both work and I've used both.

Frankly the stickiness of the tape is far less important than the placement of the post in the ear. Zonas tape by Johnson & Johnson (which you can get either from your vet or order on line--google it) or Johnson & Johnson Coach Sports Tape which is generally available in local drug store (around here some of the Walgreens carry it and some of the Walmarts--the Zonas is available in 1" and 2". The Sports tape is almost always 1-1/2".

These are low tack (deliberately not very sticky) breathable cloth tapes and thats what you want to use.

Dogs who fight to get posts out of their ears almost always do so because the post is not inserted all the way down in the base of the ear-so it moves easily which rubs and is a constant irritant. Predictably they will do almost anything to get it out.

The caulking rod can be trimmed to fit snugly in the base of the ear canal and if you have back taped it you should be able to push the bottom off te post (which I pad with a little cotton taped to the bottom of the post) twisting it a little as you push it down to seat it. Then continue to push down on the post and pull up on the ear and start the tape by sticking it to the exposed back taping a the very bottom of opening of the base. Tape toward the skull (this means you'll tape clockwise on one ear and counter clockwise on the other ear)--the little flap of skin folds toward the ear and will lay where it should if you've started the taping properly. The first wrap of tape should angle up, wrap around the ear and then angle back down--it should meet the beginning point and before you stick it down push the back edge of the ear forward a little to close the gap where you can see the post. This makes it much harder for a puppy to shack a post out.

Start the second wrap of tape overlapping the first one and do the same thing--then put a third wrap the same way--at that point you should be able to stop angling the tape and tape the rest of the ear all the way to the tip.

For a dog who has been able to remove posts from his ears in the past I recommend that the ear be fully taped. The upper taping should not be tight-I just lay it in place-and after all the tape is in place I just squish it with my hand to make sure it's all stuck to the ear.

You can put in a brace if you want--I probably wouldn't for a puppy this old--he should have some reasonable control of his ears but if you put a brace in it goes at the very bottom and should be loose enough to allow the ears to tip out at a 10 and 2 (clock face) position.

Feel free to ask questions if anything here doesn't seem to make sense.

If a post pops out of the base-take it down and start again--it was't positioned or taped correctly. Pushing the post back into the base and trying to fix it with more tape never works and is a great way to creat pockets

Is the ear the you say was cropped "differently" standing at all even at the base? If that ear drops from the base it may not ever stand but you can see it and I can not so pictures would help.

Good luck...

I live in the SF Bay area

 

[4x4bike ped]

Hard to tell about the right ear, but the left definitely looks like a crop and flop to me. Would it be possible to put your guy on alert (maybe with a high value treat) and take a pic straight on?

John
Portland OR

 

[dbrown6240]

Just took off the tape from the posting. The tape took off more hair than usual even when I put baby powder to help with that. But here are the pictures of my doberman

Get yourself some solvent that breaks down adhesives. Uni-solve is great and will prevent the hair loss. I buy mine on eBay. Just saturate a cottonball and then use the cottonball to soak the tape. After 10-15 seconds the tape almost falls off.

 

[HerbalVanity]

This may be controversial as far as this forum goes, but at a year old, if his ears aren't standing the way you want them to, there is not lol inch anyone can do to help you fix this naturally. If you're set on looks, I would recommend a product called "Perma Stay". It's an implant that works in correcting ears in dogs, but is not cheap and making sure there is a vet that installs them near you can be a little troublesome, but if you feel it's worth it, do your thing. If I wanted a specific look I'd go for it.

Otherwise, there's not very much you can do about ears that have already initially developed. A year is too old to correct without surgical implants.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[jimmyt925]

Does this help?

 

[Rosemary]

Is that as "up" as they go? Or do they sometimes stand?

 

[4x4bike ped]

Yeah...

At a year old, thats a failure. But what the heck. I guarantee you that he doesn't care. You will have folks coming up to you and thanking you for leaving his ears "natural". LOL

Unless you were planning on showing him, this is so not a big deal. Some of my favorite dogs on this forum are natural or "cropped and flopped".

Pull up MomnaL on the member forum search. Her boy Rip, IMO, is one of the cutest dogs I have ever seen. And boy, does he have some weird ears!

John
Portland OR

 

[greenkouki]

If that's as up as they go I'm afraid posting probably isn't going to change anything. There are surgical alternatives to get them to stand but you would need to see a doberman ear specialist to know if you can move forward with that. I don't mind the cropped and flopped look, it's better than natural ears IMO, but I understand you may feel differently about it.

 

[dobebug]

Hi Jimmyt,

I have to go feed the clinic cats--it's a holiday so this'll be brief.

From what I can see in the pictures it doesn't really look like either ear is what I'd call "standing"--even at the base. I'm inclined to echo John and say this is a definitely crop and flop.

I didn't ask before but did you talk to the vet who did the crop about them while you were posting them--has that vet seen the ears?

I don't know of anyone in the immediate San Francisco area who could be of help but Marj Brooks, a long time breeder and handler of Dobermans is in Santa Rosa and if this were my dog and I really wanted to see if something could be done to help I'd e-mail her ( [email protected] )--and maybe you could arrange for her to make time to take a look at the ears and see what she thinks.

If you don't get an immediate answer remember she may be away at shows and you'd want to do this soon as by the end of the month she'll probably be at the Doberman Nationals which are in the midwest this year. But Marj is better than most for answering quickly and was the DPCA referral person for years. At least she's in the same general part of the same state--and she might be able to put you in touch with someone closer to SanFrancisco.

Good luck...

 

[jimmyt925]

His right one will go up on occasion when he gets excited but then will flop back down

 

[jimmyt925]

This is what his ears look like this morning

 

[Cressrb]

I have to say that at 19 months old we just finished taping Kiri's ears. I didn't think it would ever happen.
I know it each case is different and it may not happen here depending on many variables.
I truly about gave up several times. Breeder would say, 'just keep taping'....

 

[Cressrb]

I just saw your last photos. I think with consistent taping the right ear will probably stand. The base doesn't look good on that left ear. I would consult the breeder or vet that did the cropping.

 

[jimmyt925]

Hello,

I have a Doberman who is a little less than a year old now, I got his ears cropped when he was around 10 weeks old
at very reputable vet here in Northern California whom had great reviews from others. But as soon as I took a look at his ears after they had healed I and many other noticed that one ear looked slightly off from the other and looks like they had cut too much off. Now realizing I made the mistake by going to that vet, I am still having trouble with his ears. My Doberman has been very stubborn with the whole posting process and will do anything he can to get the tape or whatever we are using off of his ears. We have tried using tampons, many kinds of different tapes, and many different ways to get his ears to stand. I am now using something that I have made similar to the ear halo, but it doesn't seem to be doing the trick either. His ears will bend back towards his tail and then go floppy after awhile. I have started him on some Vitamin C to see if that will help, so we will see. For awhile now however only one of his ears will stand on occasion, either when he is excited or when he hears someone outside, other than that it goes back to being floppy. But the one ear in which the vet cut wrong has not been able to stand at all. Can anyone give any advice on what I can do, or any suggestions that might help?

Thank you so much

I can probably help but I need to see pictures of ears (close ups-side and front).

The halo and the various home made versions of it are not the most likely thing to help get problem ears up-they are all just versions of a very old technique called a "rack" which wasn't very effective either. Fairly short crops are almost the only thing they work on.

Were the people who recommended this vet Doberman breeders and owners?

Where in Northern California are you--I might be able to find you someone close to take look at the ears and help you with the posting.

Have you been consistent in posting his ears--dogs who have not been posted all the time sometimes are difficult to restart posting on.

I think the tampon method is harder to get to work than the calking rod method (the sticky that greenkouki put up for you) but both work and I've used both.

Frankly the stickiness of the tape is far less important than the placement of the post in the ear. Zonas tape by Johnson & Johnson (which you can get either from your vet or order on line--google it) or Johnson & Johnson Coach Sports Tape which is generally available in local drug store (around here some of the Walgreens carry it and some of the Walmarts--the Zonas is available in 1" and 2". The Sports tape is almost always 1-1/2".

These are low tack (deliberately not very sticky) breathable cloth tapes and thats what you want to use.

Dogs who fight to get posts out of their ears almost always do so because the post is not inserted all the way down in the base of the ear-so it moves easily which rubs and is a constant irritant. Predictably they will do almost anything to get it out.

The caulking rod can be trimmed to fit snugly in the base of the ear canal and if you have back taped it you should be able to push the bottom off te post (which I pad with a little cotton taped to the bottom of the post) twisting it a little as you push it down to seat it. Then continue to push down on the post and pull up on the ear and start the tape by sticking it to the exposed back taping a the very bottom of opening of the base. Tape toward the skull (this means you'll tape clockwise on one ear and counter clockwise on the other ear)--the little flap of skin folds toward the ear and will lay where it should if you've started the taping properly. The first wrap of tape should angle up, wrap around the ear and then angle back down--it should meet the beginning point and before you stick it down push the back edge of the ear forward a little to close the gap where you can see the post. This makes it much harder for a puppy to shack a post out.

Start the second wrap of tape overlapping the first one and do the same thing--then put a third wrap the same way--at that point you should be able to stop angling the tape and tape the rest of the ear all the way to the tip.

For a dog who has been able to remove posts from his ears in the past I recommend that the ear be fully taped. The upper taping should not be tight-I just lay it in place-and after all the tape is in place I just squish it with my hand to make sure it's all stuck to the ear.

You can put in a brace if you want--I probably wouldn't for a puppy this old--he should have some reasonable control of his ears but if you put a brace in it goes at the very bottom and should be loose enough to allow the ears to tip out at a 10 and 2 (clock face) position.

Feel free to ask questions if anything here doesn't seem to make sense.

If a post pops out of the base-take it down and start again--it was't positioned or taped correctly. Pushing the post back into the base and trying to fix it with more tape never works and is a great way to creat pockets

Is the ear the you say was cropped "differently" standing at all even at the base? If that ear drops from the base it may not ever stand but you can see it and I can not so pictures would help.

Good luck...

Do you have examples or a link that shows how to do this?