"If you feel that there is no level of correction that will make him submit, I would stop taping the ears. You should not make it into a daily sparring match and build up his stamina to confront"

THAT is what I was trying to say!!

I hope you've solved the problem for now, but if not, here is my advice. I think dogs are pretty simple critters. Many will push their sphere of influence as far as they can, comfortably. Like your puppy growling/snarling. This is complicated by fear behavior, also.

With my dog, I take the attitude of the absolute (but kind) boss. Every chance I get, I teach him that I demand he listen to me, and when he is distressed and he listens to me, I solve his problems. I never never let him dictate the terms of my involvement with his body parts. I also deliberately create positive outcomes for him where my involvement is concerned. I personally believe that in order to get our dogs to follow us willingly, we have to be competent leaders. To me, that means that I have the solution to every problem and I take care of the both of our needs, easily. And I demonstrate this to him as often as possible. Hehe

Any chance of making a video?

I used to work at a dog grooming shop (mostly prep-work). Some dogs have a sensitivity for whatever reason to their feet or face. I had a similar problem when I brought Logan home and in my opinion he is a very hard dog too...even hard corrections barely faze him. As long as I am super strict on pack structure, he doesn't show aggression to me...BUT like lately I screwed up and he has done stuff like guard toys. I will also say corrects are needed at times and are not always your friend (like lately correcting him for looking at dogs wasn't the best thing).

His issue was with his feet, this wasn't a pack structure issue (yours sounds like it is as well as a sensitivity) but he did react by biting and fighting. He was 1 yr old and have NEVER had his nails done before. What I did (and it should help you) was to first secure his head so he wouldn't reach down and bite me (but muzzle your dog!), then I secured his rear (all to a chain link fence). That way he couldn't spin around either. I touched his front foot and he flipped around whining....I ignored. As SOON as he stopped I let go YES HV reward! Did it a few times, kept it short. If I could go back in time I'd have marked him for accepting the restraints.

Anyhow, gradually I got him to stop panicking and he realized relaxing and letting me gradually do more and more was ok. He still is sensitive about it but now with no leash he'll stand on a table and get brushed and his nails done. Sometimes he can't stand it and he howls (I really should vid this! LOL) and I have to give him a break.

In your case, I may be repeating what other's said because I am too lazy to read all the posts...but just mark him letting you get near the ears, make it as pleasant as possible...very short several x per day. Make him look forward to it. I really wouldn't push it at all though. Easy for me to say as I don't care about what his ears look like. I just wouldn't push it...its too serious of an issue to make worse, you know? Just my 2 cents.