[Zoocitygirl]

I just posted Jager's ears and the baker rod kept popping out after I had taped his ears! I pushed them down into the ears and he acts like it hurts him, so I don't know how I'm supposed to push them down anymore without really hurting him. He also won't stand still for me and isn't easy to work with even with treats and someone helping. 😣

 

[spocksdad]

ZCG, if your Jager is a high-energy boy like our Neo was (still is), then you might try the Modified Backer Rod Glue-In method I used on him. You need lots of Torbot glue and LOTS of Unisolve & Q-Tip Baby swabs. Harder to remove, but posts will NOT come off ears except with remover. In the 5-1/2 months we posted him, I think bottom of post popped out about 3-times due to extreme rough-housing play.

Modified Backer Rod with Glue-in ear Method.

If you have very active Dobepup like our Neo then the posting method his breeder taught us could be used, the modified backer rod with glue-in ear method. Torbot glue and Uni-Solve remover are used, purchased on Amazon. You'll also need plenty of baby safety swabs, shot glass and Zonas tape as...

www.dobermantalk.com

 

[Zoocitygirl]

ZCG, if your Jager is a high-energy boy like our Neo was (still is), then you might try the Modified Backer Rod Glue-In method I used on him. You need lots of Torbot glue and LOTS of Unisolve & Q-Tip Baby swabs. Harder to remove, but posts will NOT come off ears except with remover. In the 5-1/2 months we posted him, I think bottom of post popped out about 3-times due to extreme rough-housing play.

Modified Backer Rod with Glue-in ear Method.

If you have very active Dobepup like our Neo then the posting method his breeder taught us could be used, the modified backer rod with glue-in ear method. Torbot glue and Uni-Solve remover are used, purchased on Amazon. You'll also need plenty of baby safety swabs, shot glass and Zonas tape as...

www.dobermantalk.com

Yes and him shaking his head. Did you use a bridge?

 

[spocksdad]

Yes and him shaking his head. Did you use a bridge?

Yes, we used a flexible bridge at first, then fixed bridge w/bumpers (stiffened w/backer rod) on subsequent postings.

Neo 4-mos. age with bridge (still flexing ears in- had pockets)

Neo 4-1/2 Mo. Fixed Bridge

 

[ECIN]

Zoo - Can you post up a picture of your post you put in her ear , before you post

Thanks

 

[Drogonea]

Yes, we used a flexible bridge at first, then fixed bridge w/bumpers (stiffened w/backer rod) on subsequent postings.

Neo 4-mos. age with bridge (still flexing ears in- had pockets)
View attachment 154826

Neo 4-1/2 Mo. Fixed Bridge
View attachment 154827

May I ask what the specific function of the bridge (both flexible and fixed) is used for? In my experience, I used the flexible earlier in Drogon's postings when his ears still needed support to stand. Now that he's approaching his 6 months mark, I've started doing half-posting with backer rods and no bridge since his ears fall naturally at the 11-1 angle when resting. Do you think I am fine with my current method or should a bridge still be added? I've read from a different thread that sometimes the bridge is discouraged as it can create ear pockets or ears tilting inward if not taped right.

 

[dobebug]

May I ask what the specific function of the bridge (both flexible and fixed) is used for? In my experience, I used the flexible earlier in Drogon's postings when his ears still needed support to stand. Now that he's approaching his 6 months mark, I've started doing half-posting with backer rods and no bridge since his ears fall naturally at the 11-1 angle when resting. Do you think I am fine with my current method or should a bridge still be added? I've read from a different thread that sometimes the bridge is discouraged as it can create ear pockets or ears tilting inward if not taped right.

Yes, I think that's fine--not all the same things work for different dogs. On my own dogs I usually only use any kind of bridge for the first two or three postings when the muscle control of the ears really doesn't exist.

As soon as my puppies show signs of being able to control their own ears I generally stop using a bridge of any kind.

I may go to using a hard bridge if I have a puppy who has a pocket (or pockets in both ears) to make sure he can't pull his ears together when posted.

I generally also don't do half posts but if I'm doing half posts on a puppy who isn't doing well with full posts but still needs the ears supported I will do half posts and usually those don't need to be bridged.

But so much of posting is dealing with the puppy who is in front of you--and I've posted puppies--even older puppies 12 and 14 months old where I did use a bridge because I felt that it was helpful for what those particular ears needed.

And just so you know--I'd told people who've asked about bridging the same thing I'll say here--a badly placed bridge can do more harm than good.

dobebug

 

[spocksdad]

I used a flexible bridge to support ears as recommended by Neo's breeder. Later on in posting process he developed ear pockets when ears would tilt in when on super alert, then I switched to fixed bridge & bumpers.

Neo w/Ear Pockets @ 4-months Age

Later when pockets were gone, I posted with no bridge of any kind. We wanted a more casual ear look for Neo, who's destined for therapy dog work. Others DT members, such as ECIN, used a bridge through entire posting process which I believe, results in more razor straight & more parallel (vertical) pair of cropped ears. IMO these have a more intense, intimidating look, such as on Sully, champion show Dobe. Other factors such as ear set, dog's attitude (alert state) and crop shape also affect the look.

I see Dobebug, the resident DT cropping/posting expert, has already weighed in..

Neo's More Relaxed Ear Crop Look
("I'm a Lover, Not an Intimidator")

ECIN's Evie - Little Girl (LG)
(Got Attitude?)

Sully!

 

[Zoocitygirl]

Zoo - Can you post up a picture of your post you put in her ear , before you post

Thanks

Yes. I'll try to remember next time to take a picture of the post.

 

[Zoocitygirl]

I used a flexible bridge to support ears as recommended by Neo's breeder. Later on in posting process he developed ear pockets when ears would tilt in when on super alert, then I switched to fixed bridge & bumpers.

Neo w/Ear Pockets @ 4-months Age
View attachment 154939


Later when pockets were gone, I posted with no bridge of any kind. We wanted a more casual ear look for Neo, who's destined for therapy dog work. Others DT members, such as ECIN, used a bridge through entire posting process which I believe, results in more razor straight & more parallel (vertical) pair of cropped ears. IMO these have a more intense, intimidating look, such as on Sully, champion show Dobe. Other factors such as ear set, dog's attitude (alert state) and crop shape also affect the look.

I see Dobebug, the resident DT cropping/posting expert, has already weighed in..

Neo's More Relaxed Ear Crop Look
("I'm a Lover, Not an Intimidator")
View attachment 154949

ECIN's Evie - Little Girl (LG)
(Got Attitude?)
View attachment 154950



Sully!
View attachment 154945

With the bridge, do I have to use a backer rod between the ears or just tape them from one ear to the other to hold the ears a certain angle?

 

[spocksdad]

I made Neo's fixed bridge with just a piece of backer rod, with a flat cut along length, about 1/3 removed. First I put on a flat tape bridge, then glued the cut backer to tape, then overwrapped with more tape. You could also use a zip tie along with backer rod to make stiffer, but I wanted fixed bridge to be stiff, but still flexible due to high energy of our Neo puppy. ECIN used a backer during his entire posting process for Evie, so maybe he'll chime in on how he made his?

 

[dobebug]

With the bridge, do I have to use a backer rod between the ears or just tape them from one ear to the other to hold the ears a certain angle?

See my post #7 regarding post flexible vs hard posts. Basically depends on what you are using the bridge for.

dobebug

 

[Zoocitygirl]

I used a flexible bridge to support ears as recommended by Neo's breeder. Later on in posting process he developed ear pockets when ears would tilt in when on super alert, then I switched to fixed bridge & bumpers.

Neo w/Ear Pockets @ 4-months Age
View attachment 154939


Later when pockets were gone, I posted with no bridge of any kind. We wanted a more casual ear look for Neo, who's destined for therapy dog work. Others DT members, such as ECIN, used a bridge through entire posting process which I believe, results in more razor straight & more parallel (vertical) pair of cropped ears. IMO these have a more intense, intimidating look, such as on Sully, champion show Dobe. Other factors such as ear set, dog's attitude (alert state) and crop shape also affect the look.

I see Dobebug, the resident DT cropping/posting expert, has already weighed in..

Neo's More Relaxed Ear Crop Look
("I'm a Lover, Not an Intimidator")
View attachment 154949

ECIN's Evie - Little Girl (LG)
(Got Attitude?)
View attachment 154950



Sully!
View attachment 154945

Sully is so handsome!!!

Zoo - Can you post up a picture of your post you put in her ear , before you post

Thanks

Here are pics of his ear too. He holds it up right after I remove the tape, then it flops either forward or back and the ear folds.

Zoo - Can you post up a picture of your post you put in her ear , before you post

Thanks

 

[dobebug]

zoo, how old is your puppy now? That post looks rather big to me. What size backer rod are you using? If you are having problems getting a post seated in the ear canal--the problem is often that you are trying to use a size of post material that is too large.

Backer rod only comes in three basic sizes--3/8, 1/2 and 5/8 inch and if your puppy cries when you try to put the post in his ear try going down a size OR taper the end of the post before you start taping it--make it taper at least an inch and leave the very end blunt--pad the end with a small piece of cotton that doesn't add to the diameter of the end of the post. When putting it in the ear--twist it back and forth a little while pushing down and see if that helps.

Typically posts pop out because they weren't actually all the way down in the ear and/or you weren't taping the first wrap at the base correctly.

Also--if a post pops out--don't even try to just push it back into the ear and put more tape on--that never works--it popped out because it wasn't right in the first place.

dobebug

 

[Zoocitygirl]

zoo, how old is your puppy now? That post looks rather big to me. What size backer rod are you using? If you are having problems getting a post seated in the ear canal--the problem is often that you are trying to use a size of post material that is too large.

Backer rod only comes in three basic sizes--3/8, 1/2 and 5/8 inch and if your puppy cries when you try to put the post in his ear try going down a size OR taper the end of the post before you start taping it--make it taper at least an inch and leave the very end blunt--pad the end with a small piece of cotton that doesn't add to the diameter of the end of the post. When putting it in the ear--twist it back and forth a little while pushing down and see if that helps.

Typically posts pop out because they weren't actually all the way down in the ear and/or you weren't taping the first wrap at the base correctly.

Also--if a post pops out--don't even try to just push it back into the ear and put more tape on--that never works--it popped out because it wasn't right in the first place.

dobebug

The post is 1/2. I put a layer of duct tape first to stiffen it up then the coach tale and I put gauze at the bottom over the tip for extra softness. Jager is 5 months.