Someone has recommended that I glue / pin (sorry I don't know if this is the correct term) my 14 week BC puppies ears to bring them up.

Does anyboy have any ideas for and against this? Does it actually work? Can it go wrong?

What technique do you use? Do you have to keep re-doing it or is it just done once?

Sorry but I don't know whether to or not, yes I want good ears that are up and tipped for the ring but I don't want to harm him. His ears are up and tipped but the person who recommended this thought that I should pull the ears together so that they are more on top of his ears.

Thanks GG

The breed standard for Border Collies does not call "tipped"ears

Ears(BC)
Medium size and texture, set well apart. Carried erect or semi-erect and sensitive in use.

Rough/Smooth Collies & Shetland Sheepdogs Ears are "tipped"

Ears(RC)
Small, not too close together on top of skull, nor too far apart. In repose carried thrown back, but on alert brought forward and carried semi-erect, that is, with approximately two-thirds of ear standing erect, top third tipping forward naturally, below horizontal.

Ears(SC)
Moderately large, wider at base, and placed not too close together nor too much on side of head. When in repose carried thrown back, but on alert brought forward and carried semi-erect, that is, with approximately two-thirds of ear standing erect, top third tipping forward naturally, below horizontal.

arsSS)
Small, moderately wide at base, placed fairly close together on top of skull. In repose, thrown back; when alert brought forward and carried semi-erect with tips falling forward.

As  you can see nowhere are a BC's required to be "tipped"ie the top bit falling forward & the classsic "semi erect"ear IMHO is not a RC/SC/SS type ear.

TBH I don't think anything that you do to a dogs ears will permanently affect them(except Illegal in the UK operations) I've had prick eared dogs from semi erect eared parents & vica versa

Hi Geeky Girl
If you use the search facility on this board, you will find this subject discussed several times. You will also find links to web pages explaining in detail how to go about glueing ears.
The matter of how ethical this is, is also a matter that's been up for discussion. You will find that this is something that you will have to decide for yourself, if you want to do it or not. There is no definite answer to weather it's OK or not.
Try googeling ears+dog and you will discover an abundance of opinions, techniques and even pictures of how to go about it.
All I can say, is that the general idea is to keep the dog's ears in the desired position, while the cartilage is still soft, especially while theething is going on. With age and hardening of the cartilage the ears should then stay like you want them to. Different breeds use different methods, depending on the shape of ear and desired effect.
By posting this I'm not taking sides, I have no set opinion on if it's OK or not, so please don't jump on me for this. Just think it's fair that everyone should have the chance to make a deciscion based on as much facts as possible.
HTH
Karen

Try googeling ears+dog and you will discover an abundance of opinions, techniques and even pictures of how to go about it.

Most of which will not be from the UK & are usually from the USA

There have been drop eared champions in BCs even though drop ears are a fault as they do not fulfill the breed standard requirements. In working BC's & WSD as Michelle says there are a multitude of ear types all of which fulfill the breed standard requirements of being erect or semi erect

ohhh yuck. id never do this. dont think its right.
what were his parents ears like? did they have to be glued. BCs ears are accepted in a wide variety of carriages,why not let nature take  its course, & teach the pup to USE its ears.

I do agree with MichelleD. I own and show BC's and I wouldn't do it personally. There is every shape of ear going in the showring and and although it does mention them of course in the breed standard Medium size and texture, set well apart. Carried erect or semi-erect and sensitive in use. there are lot's of other things which are considered when judging the  dog. Pointless having great ears if the rest of the dog is not right. My youngster periodically uses his ears. Depends if he finds the judge interesting enough, so I've learn't to hold them in the correct position as a back up. Hasn't cost me in the ring as far as I can see.
If your pup is only 14 weeks old, as Michelle says, find a toy or something that will get the pup interested and using it's ears.
You say someone has told you to do this. Was this the dogs breeder or someone else? If it was someone else, I would go back to your breeder to seek their advice on it. I wouldn't personally do it, but if you're thinking of doing it, get someone who knows how to do it properly to show you.
Is this your first border collie show dog and first time showing 'cos if it is. Trust me there's more to learn and worry about than your dogs ears.

to me one of the joys of the BCs is the variety in ears.& the expression in them.

Totally agree. You only have to look at my bitch (nicknamed Batfink). They are rather large but it didn't stop her at shows. Puttin showing to one side, it's her ears and her beautiful dark brown eyes that give her expression. Wouldn't swap it for anything

Thought that I should let you all know. I have not decided yet. His ears are up and tipped at the moment but the person who told me said that they could go wrong when teething so to do it just in case (not sure if this is correct).
I have already searched on here for glue and ear but alot of it is opinions. I do want opinions and hope that I am not upsetting anyone by asking for whether it can go wrong or if it actually works etc.
I would like to make an informed decision as, yes I do want a nice looking dog for the ring but could I do that to my puppy??? .
Any advice??
Very confused
GG

ALL dogs ears go abit mad when teething, & then they go right.

who is telling you to do this, your breeder?

if not what breed does this other person have? BCs as well?

To be honest people that do this and think that is the reason the ears are right will never know if had they let things go naturally that they wouldn't have settled anyway.

As a breeder you want to know that what the dog displays is what it will produce, so doing things to alter natural ear carriage is tat amount to false advertising, when it comes to breeding from the individual.

Our imported boy has lovely small ears, but they took longer to go up than we were used to.

Had we not left well alone we would never have known if we were not breeding in a problem with ears that wouldn't go up.

I have seen several methods used, but this is the best in my opionion.  http://majesticbordercollies.com/PuppyEars.html.

If they are up and tipped at them moment I wouldn't worry to much, but if they go heywire during teething, this method will help.

Sorry, but that's awful :(

Daisy

How is th at awful?

I did it to my collie x pups ears for a bit, they are VERY heavily haired and i figured having his ears more upright wouldnt do him any harm (he is x spaniel), letting more air into the ear.

Certainly didnt bother him - that said because i ran out of suitable glue i only did it twice and as i didnt get him until he was 13 weeks old i dont know how much of a difference that actually made.

It causes no pain or discomfort though, so from that side of things i cant see how its awful.

In a pedigree breed where dropped or prick ears are a fault, i do think its a possibly a little underhand to force the correct ear carriage rather than to breed for it - but there again if great dogs are losing placings becuase of a tiny thing like ear carriage......

Em

I can't see how it is awful either. 

With this method you do not have to put glue on the actual ear, just on the hair.  You then tie the glued hair together with a piece of wool. It helps the muscle in the ear work on keeping them upright.

if people want good ears they should breed for them.

i think ear glueing should be banned in showing,i dont think its cruel (but i do find it distasteful) but i think its wrong to alter a dogs conformation for the show ring. im amazed the KC allow it tbh, when you think they ban hair spray etc that improve the coat,that they allow something that artificaLLY improves the ears

I am sure that the Kennel club does not sanction this practise. 

The rules state that no operation can be done that alters the natural conformation of the dog.

To me it is cheating, in the same way as those who rubber band teeth to force the bite right.

The fault in both instances will come out in the whelping box, so as a breeder the person is deluding themselves and being dishonest with those who use their dogs.

rubber band teethoh dear god!!!!!!!

Yep was with friends in a breed where a level bite is tolerated but scissor preferred, when they were advised to band the lower teeth to get a scissor bite as the pups teeth were almost level.

Of course they didn't and the dog had a level bite and did quite well when shown.

This was many years ago, and said dog has been dead for some years.

OMG!!!!!!
what cheating!!!!!

Have you ever put your hair up with a band that catches a strand of hair and pulls it tight? It's not exactly cruel but quite uncomfortable and when I do that with my hair if I don't loosen it and stop that one strand pulling I get a headache.

I certainly wouldn't want to chance that happening with my puppies and as was said earlier, ears are something that should be bred for.  Imagine doing this as a matter of course with all the pups in the litter... three generations down the line you might not even realise that you have an ear carriage problem.

Just my opinion.

Debs

Agree with Debs, breed decent ears.
What a crazy thing to put on a website - that breeder is telling the world that she has to 'fix' ears to get them right - or thats how it comes over to me.
I recently judged a Sheltie with 'things' in its ear to keep them tipped. Owner did not seem pleased I noticed, and even less pleased when his dog was not placed.