one soft ear - Page 1

Back to that age old problem of a soft eared pup. I have a male pup , six months old, both parents were seen and not soft eared. His left ear is fine but the right is still soft, it occassionally goes up but doesn't stay long and cannot be described as firm. He has plenty to chew on and outside stimulation. I am thinking of getting it taped. Any views or ideas gratefully accepted

you had better tape it now...I waited to long on my girl and now she has a ear down all the time. also feed geliten (sp?) it will help.

I would tape the ear. Normally you would do this at 5 months but it is worth a try. I had only one dog I did this to years ago. The instructions called for a weather adhesive glue that I can look up if you want me to. Also a size large Goodie (hair) roller. They are pink foam. You took a pencil and placed it down the center of the roller so you could hold it while applying the sticky glue (with a wooden spatula) and to insert it into the dogs ear. Make sure you don't use to much glue that will run down the ear canel! Have a helper hold the dog and set it in carefully as it wants to stick to anything it comes in contact with. Fold the ear firmly around the roller and hold for a minute or so to get a good bond. Pull out the pencil and the hole provides air, or so the article said. It will fall out on its own and hopefully the ear is still up. That said, what I did was just used the roller and masking tape. I think the dog can get it off easier but it is also easy to put it back on. On either application try to be sure the ear doesn't get wet!! The pup I used it on had large and heavy ears, but it worked great and I only had it on for a short time, about a week. I also had another pup that kept helping to remove that cute pink thing in his ear, but it just needed that little bit of help and he had strong ears after.

ZernoGSD, send me an e-mail and I can send you a template set that you can use to make the patterns to fasten inside the flopping ear with Tearmender cement. I have used soft rollers and tape in the past, and although it worked okay it was a lot of trouble to do and maintain. Bob-O (derhundmeister@aol.com)

thanks for the advice. To Het what is geliten, do you mean gelatine, like jelly?

When using the roller, check every so often to make sure the ear isn't irritated underneath. My boy had the "uni-ear" look too, and I used the roller (worked great) but he has sensitive skin and got a little irritated by the roller - we live in Florida and he was sweating underneath.I dusted him with a little baby powder and cornstarch mixed. It made him more comfortable (and he smelled good too!!). Oh, using Vitamin C Ester (has to be the ester portion) helps too.

ZernoGSD it is Knox gelatin. It is a powder and unflavored, sprinkle small amount on the dog's kibble. But I agree with you need to tape the ear.

I've seen the Knox gelatin even work within 7-10 days on dogs even at 6-7 months of age, although it usually takes longer. You should feed 1 teaspoon twice a day (sprinkled on the food), but if the dog's stool gets soft, go down to once a day. However, I have a puppy that's almost 6 months and have the exact same problem with a soft ear and she's been on the Knox gelatin for the past 3 weeks and with a dose of a teaspoon 3 times a day! So, I guess it doesn't always work...

You can cut pieces of a paper towel roll that fit the inside of the ear and attach them with Skinbond. Skinbond is a surgical adhesive similar to contact cement available from the pharmacy.

Hi Zerno, Did you talk to the breeder about it? Now that I hear how common this is, before I finally purchase the puppy I've been waiting 8 months for, I think I'll ask him if it can be in the contract...Do I sound picky? I guess, but I've never tried taping an ear, or cementing it, and with the number of dogs I have, and NONE of them live in Kennels or cages of anysort, it would be hard to let the ear or ears have the tape, ect... on there without someone ripping it off. Good luck, keep us posted, Krista Blue-Skye Kennels