Hi all,

My puppy is a mixed breed who is 16 weeks old. He will be 4 months on Dec. 29. At the moment he has "flying" ears which I would like to have erect ears (or if I had to... tip ears). I have heard that this is possible even with breeds whose ears may not stand without taping (like Border Collies).

I read what Ed wrote about ear taping but he was vague on when the taping should start. After teething is done? I have read elsewhere that you should start at 4 months.

Here is a photo of the puppy that I took today.
http://i18.tinypic.com/6sgf1c7.jpg

His mother has some terrier in her (Jack Russell) and has the small "button" ears and I think this puppy will too. He will be 80 lbs when grown and I kind of think "button" ears on an 80lb dog would look silly.
Here is the mother:
http://i1.tinypic.com/4lsyyih.jpg

What is the correct time frame for taping and how do I know if it is working?

Thanks

Whatever you do do not use a water proof tape! I found that out the hard way years ago. You can see the scars on my dogs ears in the picture below.

Oh! thanks for the tip! nice dog, by the way.

 Quote: angela burrell

My puppy is a mixed breed who is 16 weeks old. He will be 4 months on Dec. 29. At the moment he has "flying" ears which I would like to have erect ears (or if I had to... tip ears)....

I have to ask, after reading this twice..... I plead total ignorance.

Why? Is it an ear-infection (moisture) thing?

 Quote: connie sutherland

 Quote: angela burrell

My puppy is a mixed breed who is 16 weeks old. He will be 4 months on Dec. 29. At the moment he has "flying" ears which I would like to have erect ears (or if I had to... tip ears)....

I have to ask, after reading this twice..... I plead total ignorance.

Why? Is it an ear-infection (moisture) thing?

Me too....I am confused as to why you would want to tape ears on this pup.

Angela, I gotta say, while I am a big fan of pointy ears , I don't think this guy's ears will stand....period. They would have to be cropped (which, IMO is silly and he's too old) in order to have the kind of shape you'd need to get them to stand up. On the outer edge, there's too much tissue holding them to the sides of his head, if that makes any sense. In cropping, they remove that and cut along with the curve of the ear, so when they're erect, they don't have big bulges of folds on the outside, if you know what the hell I'm saying.

I think his ears are cute, BTW. They look like Simon's though, and Simon's were cropped. Here's Simon before and after. Look at the outer edges of his ears in both.http://s32.photobucket.com/albums/d33/Jenwilliams918/Simon/?action=view&current=8-31-07040.jpg
http://s32.photobucket.com/albums/d33/Jenwilliams918/Simon/?action=view&current=Jen9-07013.jpg
http://s32.photobucket.com/albums/d33/Jenwilliams918/Simon/?action=view&current=nov107028.jpg
http://s32.photobucket.com/albums/d33/Jenwilliams918/Simon/?action=view&current=12-19-07072.jpg

I do know how to tape ears, and I'd be more than happy to tell you, but I just don't think taping alone will do what you want.

Why - purely cosmetic reasons.

This dog is going to have tiny ears and I don't like the way they look. (they look OK now - but remember puppies grow and the ears don't). All of his littermates have normal size drop ears (like a lab) that of course look ridiculously huge right now, since they are only 16 weeks old.

On the other hand, this little guy has the teeny tiny terrier ears and he's going to be a big dog.

If the general concensus is, I can't get the look without cropping - then I'll live with it. (Although Simon is cute).

My puppy's ears are not like Simon's - they are smaller and when he looks down, they stand up on their own.
http://i5.tinypic.com/6sqfcsh.jpg
This is what made me think about taping. The ears do not always "fly" either - sometimes they fold like a drop ear.

Here is a shot of his littermate for comparison of ear size.
http://i11.tinypic.com/729huh1.jpg

I didn't ask why. I understand vanity . Simon's used to stand up when he was focused on something, but they were HUGE. He looked like Marmaduke. The guy who was going to adopt him wanted them cropped, but he was already 11wks, and so I took him to the best guy in the Midwest for cropping, and then the guy turned out to be a jerk so I wouldn't give him the dog. I do think Simon looks better cropped, but I probably wouldn't have done it just for myself. Mia's stand perfectly, totally upright when she eats really fresh meat. Weird, huh?

Just because they stand at the base doesn't mean they'll stand all the way unless you remove the exterior edge, which I wouldn't bother doing on a mixed breed (and I don't mean that in a bad way at all; I just mean that it's one thing to do if it's the breed standard). You could try taping and see what happens, but I am not optimistic that they're going to stand alone, even with months of taping.

Honestly, I wished Simon had smaller ears. Mia has the cutest ears in town, but Simon's looked like he robbed a Great Dane. At 6 mos, he's only 35lbs, so all in all, I do think he looks better cropped. He NEVER would've grown into those ears. How can you be so sure he'll reach 80lbs? He might not. His ears may turn out to be perfectly fitted to him.

Angela,

I think he is cute just the way he is, and would not change a thing.

Thanks guys (gals heh)

This is what he will most likely look somewhat like when he is grown up. This is what his mother's ears look like. All three of his littermates have normal sized ears, he has his mother's ears.

IMO if he would just stay in the proportion he is now, I think it would be cute, but I know he will get bigger and those ears won't. And I'm not a big fan of the flying ear look.

It sounds from this thread that I'm all about looks but really, I'm not - I love this little (almost 40 lb @ 16 weeks) puppy and if I cared about looks I wouldn't have mixed breeds. It's just that the ears kind of irk me, and if I can change their look by taping I'd like to have a go.

It seems that Jenni is voting that it won't work. Any seconders or opposers to this thought?