Having a Horrible Time Taping Ears!!

[1der_girl]

Hi.
I'm brand new to this board, and brand new to dobermans. My husband and I recently purchased an 8 week old female red dobie puppy from a breeder. We had her ears cropped shortly after we got her, and she came home with a cup on her head.
The cup made it the full 2 weeks that the vet recomended, and when I took it off I carefully followed the instruction sheet given to us by the breeder on how to tape (tampons/J&J Sports tape). It's been down hill since then!
She was fine while we watched her for the rest of the day, and she was crated in our bedroom that night. Durring the night, she scratched so much that by morning she had an open sore at the base of her left ear almost the size of a quarter (which is huge on a puppy!), a smaller one at the base of her right ear, and little scabbed over bumps all over the top of her head.
We immediately went back to the vet. He gave us antibiotic ointment and an elizabethan collar, and said that the insides of both of her ears were inflamed, but he could not tell if she had some kind of reaction to the adhesive, or if they were just irritated from all that scratching.
I called the breeder, and she said 1)switch tape, just in case and 2) keep wrapping them or they won't stand, but put gauze over the sores, and lots of powder all over both ears before re-wrapping.
I re-taped her ears. The next day I unwrapped them to check. The insides of both ears were inflamed again, and a small sore had started to form on the inside of her right ear.
I called the breeder back and she said keep taping, but don't use any tape or adhesive at all. I wrapped both tampons in gauze, and used ace bandages to wrap each ear. I've been changing it every day, and watching for signs of infection. The sore at the base of the right ear is almost completely healed, the one at the base of the left looks better, and I'm hoping that she won't have any scarring from the little scratches that were all over the top of her head.
I feel like I'm in over my head. I've never had a dog that's ears didn't just stand up all by themselves at 12 or 16 weeks old, and everything that I read about ear taping said that you re-do it about once a week. Her little ears both look horrible to me, all scabby looking. I feel like a bad dog owner for letting her get to a point where she would look so pitiful. I don't know if I'm doing the right things to help her ears get better as quickly as possible, and of course her health comes first. I'd really like both ears to end up standing, though...
Anyway, any advice or help that anyone could give me would be much appriciated. Or if anyone lives within driving distance of Augusta, GA and is willing to help, I'm desperate enough to come to you.
Thanks,
~Aimee

[Rich S]

Where the stitches removed before the ear were taped?

[Deeoogee]

When I had Baggins' ears done the vet taped her ears to a cup but the suture line itself did not have tape on it. A week later he removed sutures and started posting her ears. I heard that some vets will keep their ears down until the sutures are removed. I think it's just a personal preference thing. 1 week of the ears not being up should not cause a problem, just make sure that you keep up with the aftercare of re-taping and the ears should turn out fine.

Good luck mate!

[1der_girl]

Rich- The stiches were disolvable, and the cut edge of each ear is healed. It's these sores that she got from scratching- I'm not sure if it's better to keep taping them (so that they stand eventually) but risk making the healing take longer by re-agrivating the wounds each day when I change the bandages, or if I should leave her ears down (regardless of what the breeder is saying), let them heal, then start the taping again? As I said, I have no previous experience w/this, but the breeder keeps stressing how important it is to have her ears taped up ALL THE TIME or they will not stand. She's 10 weeks old now. If I leave them down for 4 or 5 days, will her ears be a lost cause, or is the breeder overstating it a little bit, and her ears would still stand eventually, as Deeooge sugests?

[reddobe]

From what I've been reading, it is important to keep them taped up. However, if you need to miss a few days it shouldn't effect things too much.

How are they doing now? The ears that is.

[1der_girl]

Well, I switched to molefoam and medical adhesive, and it seems to not bother her nearly as much, the sores are starting to heal up and some of the fur is growing back in. I am worried that there will be scarring from this whole ordeal, and from my ignorance on what to do, but as I said, things seem to be headed in the right direction now.
I was so paniced when I wrote that first post, I was convinced that her little ears were just going to turn black, shrivel up and fall off!! I'm very happy that they didn't...
I'll try to post some pictures of the little trouper soon.
Thank you all for your help!
~Aimee

[Poicephalus]

I hope this situation is resolved by now and the ears are standing tall and proud.

I have had bad reactions with some tapes. My favorite tape (no reactions) has been Zonas Pourus tape (sp?).

I also discovered a really neat trick for when the ears are basically standing but the tips still fall. Use breathe-right nasal strips to hold the tips erect. This is MUCH less stressful on the pup since the posts are no longer inserted. Another plus is if you get the transparent breathe-right strips they are invisible and no one can tell they are there.

Here are the ears standing (breathe-right strips were used for the final stage) on a 7-month-old bitch I own.

http://i43.photobucket.com/albums/e367/Poicephalus/IMG_0015.jpg

Good luck. The first few times taping ears can be a bit intimidating.

[MLR]

I felt like the worst monster in the world when I was going through the process of having my two dobe's ears cropped. With the oldest one, the male, I had so much trouble that I finally talked to my vet and for a small fee he agreed to do the taping for me. I just couldn't do it so they stood up and stayed up all day. I know by now your probably past all that but if you ever purchase another dobe you might want to let the vet do this service for you.

Poicephalus has an ingenious idea with the breath right strips. I never would have thought of that one. I like the idea that you can't see them on thier ears with the clear ones.

[ScreamNdemon]

When Apollo's ears were cropped I wrapped gauze around the entire ear and then applied medical tape. With the gauze the tape never touches the ear. Smell the ears everyday for a foul smell. If it doesn't smell right unwrap them straight way and apply spray type Neosporin. The spray type is much easer to apply than the cream. Good luck with the ears.

[Sue J]

You're not a bad Dobe mom!!! If you were you wouldn't be worried and doing everything you can for your baby.

I can relate to your feelings since our girl had hers done just 3 days ago. We had to work on them tonight and she snuck in a fast scratch and as quick as a flash tore one suture out while my hand was on her ear. Started bleeding. I got it stopped (thank heavens the vet gave me a med to do just that). We gave her night time meds to keep her from shaking her head and she's crated now. I had hoped not to have to medicate her tonight, but can't afford shaking especially with the little tear. I figured stopping the bleeding was more important than anything else tonight. We're on our way to vet tomorrow morning first thing. I'll let him worry about fixing her back up. Her ears are down now.

Hang in there, it will get better for you and her. This is only a temporary part of a long term love between the two of you. I'll keep you in my thoughts:):)

[Sue J]

1der_girl: how are the ears doing now?

[Mercedes]

Boy!!! Ear taping is truly a nightmare!!!! We have had Mercedes ears tape a couple of times and the top of the ear (not quite midway down) seems to want to bend forward again. UUUGGHHH! As frustraiting as this is after all the hard work it's actually kind of cute and goes well with her personality. However, the post about the nasal right strips.....can you give me a bit more info on that and how you actually apply those. I'd like to give it a shot verses posting her ear again. Thanks! Rhonda

[Mercedes]

Ear taping is truly a nightmare!!!! We have had Mercedes ears tape a couple of times and the top of the ear (not quite midway down) seems to want to bend forward again. UUUGGHHH! As frustraiting as this is after all the hard work it's actually kind of cute and goes well with her personality. However, the post about the nasal right strips.....can you give me a bit more info on that and how you actually apply those. I'd like to give it a shot verses posting her ear again. Thanks! Rhonda

[Big Dogs]

Another trick you might try that doesn't involve any tape in contact with the ear and protects the ear fairly well from scratching is using coban and small weather stripping. I believe coban is the brand name of the wrap. Try cutting foam 1/2 round weather stripping from Lowes the length of the ear with a taper at the end of the ear. You have to make sure it is seated all the way to the base of the inside of the ear and start wrapping the coban at the base of the ear to the top. A little tip is to pull slightly up on the ear while wrapping as this will help keep it in place the coban is like a ace bandage with the ability to cling to itself which may be the same as the sports wrap you were talking about. Just use a small piece of tape at the end of the wrap just to make sure it doesn't unwrap. There is two pluses to this which it lets the ear breath while letting the suture area heal while being protected from scratching. This has worked for us in the past but there are many different ways of doing it. I just like this way because tape or adhesives do not come in contact with the ear ripping scabs and hair off. Our dogs after several weeks only had to hear the tape coming of the role to become upset it does take time but the look is sooo beautiful. Another rule of thumb we have always used was after taking the tape off is re post immediately for 5 days if the ear or ears fall. The one thing you have to watch for is not to wrap them so tight that you would cut off the circulation. Just wrap it the way you would your self with an ace bandage. Unfortunately there is no short cuts to get the results you want but it will be well worth it in my opinion, after all they don't say dobermans have the look of eagles for no reason.

[jelly8bean]

Perhaps coban is like vet wrap? I use it on my horses all the time, it is non adhesive but clings to itself, stretchy and comes in lots of colors :) Used for wounds where you need something to hold it on, but not sticky around the wound.

[fritz'mom]

I think what bigdogs is referring to when they talked about the weather stripping is the same thing we used on Fritz. My vet used it for the first taping and we used the same two pieces several times before we had to find something else to post them with. I think it was a soft styrofoam, it was grey, and I remember thinking it kind of looked like what you would wrap water pipes with to keep them from freezing, only smaller.

I also second the vet wrap idea. This is what I used on his ears after we ran out of the medical tape. It worked very well, and I had it on hand as we also use it on our horses all the time. My boy was very cute wearing hot pink vet wrap!

[Bob J]

My vet always taped and/or repaired the tape when needed. This was included in his price. He used the foam pipe insulation which he cut to fit.
He did not even attempt to tape/wrap or post his ears until the stitches were removed and totally healed. I did a repair a couple of times myself and it was a total pain. My other dog would occasionally decide that she didn't like the stuff on his ears and would try to remove it for him lol. All in all it wasn't a bd experience. I consider myself lucky reading some of the events that happened to people on this site. I hope my luck doesn't run out.
My pup did develop a smell coming from one ear. The vet gave me some drops and it was cleared up in a couple of days then he retaped them.
Also, whle talking with a few people at work with dobes, their vet actually cut the ear canal to help with the ears standing. My vet is against doing that.

[Dobs4ever]

This is common for first time dobe owners who have never posted ears before. I like to do ears before a puppy leaves so a new family does not have to contend with the healing time. Usually you have to post ears a minimun of 5 nonths.

[TanksMa]

I have a one year Doberman. I racked his ears weekly for 5 months. His left ear still fails. I have just read about breath right nasal strips. Does anyone have personal experience with them? How long do they stay on? Do you use special glue? Do you use one strip at a time?

[RKCM]

I have a one year Doberman. I racked his ears weekly for 5 months. His left ear still fails. I have just read about breath right nasal strips. Does anyone have personal experience with them? How long do they stay on? Do you use special glue? Do you use one strip at a time?

We use the breatherite strips for the tips of the ears only. It is not solid enough to hold up an ear that is bending in the center or not standing.

I posted alink from the dpca website on how to post. It is the best in my view. It is in this thread.

http://forums.dobermanhub.com/showthread.php?t=1421&highlight=link+posting+ears

[RKCM]

Here is a few pictures on the breatherite strips. We've used them for years with great success. Let me know if you need the full instructions. Be sure to use the glue in the picture. There are various sizes and it depends on the dogs length of ear and the ear leather as what size you use. We prefer the thicker ones but sometimes they are too heavy. They can stay up for weeks but have to be reglued. We take them down so they can be cleaned or they would stay for longer. Always do that. Also BE SURE TO USE THE GLUE REMOVER or it will pull off skin and hurt. The dogs don't seem to mind it.

Why don't you post a picture of the ears and maybe we can suggest something. Some ears have to be posted longer than others, depending on the dog and the crop.

Hope this helps.

[freeze3kgt]

I have not successfully taped any dogs ears... so keep that in mind when you read this, but our vet did all the taping for Loki and they are standing up after 5 months of retaping. He was having trouble with one ear on Loki because it was staying "flat" so our vet compared the ear to a sheet of paper, if the paper is flat it will not stand up vertically but if you shape the paper like a C or U it will stand up more easily... so the same "theory" can be applied to the ear, if you give it a 'U' shape it helps it stay up better. We had difficulties with Loki but the vet did all our tape jobs for us, and after watching him do it 2 or 3 times a week for 5 months i think i have a better idea on how he does it

what he had to do was put a post inside the ear then tape the base of the ear around the post to give it a U shape here is a crappy picture of what the vet did kind of any way sorry i didnt really think about taping or videoing the vet do his magic.


OH and he used a glue to help keep the tape and post on

http://i1100.photobucket.com/albums/g420/freeze3kgt/eartape.jpg