Hi all :),
I dont know if you remember but a while ago I posted asking why my SBT puppy (now 16 weeks old) had developed a floppy ear almost overnight
A lot of people have said it could be to do with teething but,  I dont know and neither does my vet,who seems to think that is nonsense and it will stay that way :(
Anyway, I have been trying to find out more on the net recently and have found that a lot of people use a method called 'Taping'.
I would like to try this but thought I would ask all of your opinions first. :)
I will not try it if it would upset (or hurt) Tink (aka Stink:;)) in any way,but would be interested if anyone had tried this before or knows anything about it.
Any info would be great
Thanks :D

I don't like the idea of taping :) My Aussie's ears went up and down frequently over her first year (they are supposed to be down) and finally settled in their correct position :D

Daisy

Hi Daisy,
I dont like the idea of taping myself if I'm honest and am hoping that it will fix itself but my vet seems to think its always going to be like that :(
I was hoping to start showing and Stink is a prime example of her breed (IMO :D) and now 1 of her ears flops over.They were perfect and then 1 morning she looked at me and her ear looked really floppy (I laughed my head off at first until I realised it was stuck that way ).Should I see a different vet and ask their opinion?
What do you think of the possibility of it correcting itself?
Thanks
Waffy

Why are you taking it to the vet? i'd think there was nothing they could do anyway as its purely cosmetic.

Can the breeder not help? i'd think this would be better for the breeder to help with or at least someone in the know rather than a vet. (Like call one of the breed clubs up and ask advice)

I could send you a picture of my dane (different breed i know but just an example) and his ears had the flying nun effect totally wrong for the ring but then months later they settled to a nice position.

I am the breeder mygirl
I am not worrying about it as I love her to bits anyway regardless of whether I could show her or not but I was just disapointed as now she looks funny (but still heartmeltingly cute.)I was only going to take her to a different vet just out of curiosity as I think my vet just likes to shut you up,take your cash and get you out of the door.
I was only searching on the net to see if any other SBT owners/breeders had experienced this and if it had corrected itself.I have had and known SBT'S for years and cannot remember any of them as puppies so dont know if their ears were like this.I do have some photo's but they dont seem to on them. :)
My OH says that Callah (Stinks mum) had a floppy ear at some stage but I can't remember and we have no photo's showing it.

I am no expert - certainly not on SBTs :D

I don't show and was perfectly happy to let my dog's ears do whatever they intended :D Personally, I think it is cheating a bit to tape ears :D

I doubt whether a vet would give very good advice on this - I'm sure someone with SBT experience will be along soon :)

Daisy

I think Waffy you just have to wait and see what will happen with the ears when your puppy has finished teething. I've known people to tape and also coat the ends of their pupies ears with paste to weigh them down but there is an arguement that suggests that this actually encourages the ears to go up when the tape/paste is removed..lol. Good ear carriage is bred in, if you know the dogs in your pups pedigree all have correct ears then I'm sure iot will be fine. My collie pups ears have been all over the place while she is teething :)

I am starting to think it is just teething now as all of you who have told me,have more knowledge and experience than my vet (IMO ;))
Thanks for your replies,I will not be 'Taping' anyones earlugs (except OH if he wont make me a cup of coffee )
See you,
Waffy

I have taped my dogs ears, it really doesnt do them any harm as long as you dont put the tape on to tight and check it isnt irritating the skin on the underside of the ear.  Here is a site for you to look on, it has loads of pictures of dogs ear having their ears taped.  There is other SBT owners on hear aswell.

<a class='url' href='http://s9.invisionfree.com/All_Molosserbreeds/index.php?act=Msg&CODE=03&VID=in&MSID=2480305'>http://s9.invisionfree.com/All_Molosserbreeds/index.php?act=Msg&CODE=03&VID=in&MSID=2480305</a>

Trouble is if you did tape the ears you would never know if they would have goen right on their own, and if they would not have and you bred from her on the strenegth of ears being correct you might end up breeding in faulty ears, or people who had pups from her down the line might find faulty ears and not know where it came from, and therefore not know how to correct it by avoiding doubling on the fault..

If you dont want to tape the ears, Massaging the cartlidge at every opportunity should stop the ears "setting high".

All the best
Robbo

teething does affect ears for quite a while - my pup had lovely high set small ears at 10 weeks then nearly overnight one flopped down COMPLETELY and the other stuck out at the side of his head  , he looked horrendous - they even flopped about about when he  moved - he's just over 5 months now, all his baby teeth have come out , new teeth mostly in and his ears are back to being small, high and gorgeous :D :D

Be patient - if they started out ok they will usually turn out ok too.

Yvonne

Thanks for all of your replies,:)
I am not going to tape Stinks ears because as Brainless said,I would never know if it would have corrected itself and If I bred from her I might end up breeding in faulty ears.
Today though,it doesn't look half as bad as it did yesterday,so I do think it will eventually correct itself.
I have been massaging it too so maybe this has helped.
Thanks again
Waffy & Stink

In my experience taping ears will only work on the mild cases, which would probably have sorted themselves anyway.  Besides, like Brainless pointed out, hidden faults will turn up in later breeding, anyway. In young dogs the cartledge is still soft, it won't harden until the teething and growing is done.  Keep massageing the ears, whenever you see them in the incorrect position, correct them with a gentel and quick massage. This might have to be done over and over again, for some time. In the end, this will help the ears "remember" their right position, when it's time for them to harden .
If the ears then end up faulty anyway, it's just one of those things. Better one dog with floppy ears, than breeding a whole litter that has ears like propellers ;-) .
Best of luck,
Karen