ear carriage for natural

[blueskies]

Originally posted by Nedra's_momma

I taped Nedra's ears because she had one ear that "flew" much like you described with your pup. I taped her for three or four months and her ear still "flies" occasionally. If I were to show her, I would just have had to tape them the night before a show. I began taping her at the age of 6 months because a puppy's ears tend to do funny things when they are teething anyway. Someone else was asking about how I did it, so I set up a quick webpage to better describe it. You can find it here, and this is what worked for me: http://216.201.21.117/boxer/natear.html

Nedra before taping: http://www.boxerworld.com/photo/data/5523Nedra2.jpg

Nedra after taping: http://www.boxerworld.com/photo/data/5523Nedramug.jpg

Good luck!

Thanks so much Jessica! Nedra is beautiful and looks (in the before shot) just like Sadie's ears! I went and read your site and bookmarked it for offline use as well, I am going to try to start taping Sadie's ears and see how she does. (the trick will be to get her to leave them alone and not to bring the lab in on it for helping to get the tape off! LOL)

 

[Krikkit]

Originally posted by Nedra's_momma
Do you think that some dog's ears will still fly no matter how much you tape?

Also, how are ears that fly regarded in countries that allow natural ears? I know that they aren't desirable, and where showing is concerned it depends largely on the judge, but how much of a penalty do they carry?

I'm sure some ears will fly regardless A well known breeder in the USA told me that he prefers pups with those flying ears / semi erect ears as the crop will be good (I've no idea if that is right or wrong but looking at pics of some pups in the USA I can see that a crop would work well with some of the ears......but then I know nothing about cropping so take this with a grain of salt :p )

Re flying ears in the show ring, this is what we need as far as ears go: The Boxer's natural ears are defined as; moderate in size (small rather than large), thin to the touch, set on wide apart at the highest points of the sides of the skull and lying flat and close to the cheek in repose. When the dog is alert the ears should fall forward with a definite crease.
FAULTS - Flying ears; rose ears; semi-erect or erect ears I guess it does depend on the judge on the day, but I've not really seen any ears which are too bad in the ring, some may fly a wee bit but most are really nice. An ear that lacks the definate crease can be corrected to a certain extent by placement of the show lead when the dog is stacked and when they are moving the ears flap a bit anyway :D Personally I'd not show a Boxer who has ears that do fly badly, or with rose ears or semi-erect ears.

 

[Nedra's_momma]

OMG, so much to take in! LOL Thank you so much for explaining all of this!

Wow! Your standard on ears is so descriptive! I would hope that should the US standard allow natural ears, they would be as in depth as your's is.

I could also definitely see that a pup with ears that fly would be a better candidate for a crop, I guess I never really thought of that. I also would have never thought that the crease could be corrected by the placement of the show lead on the dog's neck, but it totally makes sense.

One more question and I will leave you alone ... What are "rose" ears?

 

[Krikkit]

Jessica, Rose ears sort of fold inwards on themselves and backwards - think Whippets / Greyhounds (ok, I'll never be able to write a Standard )

This site has some descriptions of ears with pics which might help: http://animal.discovery.com/dog_guide/ears.html

Sharon

 

[Nedra's_momma]

Thanks for answering that for me, I think I understand now!

Thanks also for answering my other questions, I know I can be a pain at times!

 

[Jagger00]

My Jagger didn't exactly have "flying ears". His more stood up on their own. His hears when he was younger would lay to the front and touch, looking at him from the front he looked like he was all ears ion his forehead, they looked like little triangles above his face! !!! They have relaxed now, but occasionally one will stand up more than the other depending on how he is sitting.
LOL

 

[Dempsey J's mom]

I had the same question about my dog's ears, and I posted it as "Ntural ears don't lay flat" in this same forum. I got some really great information and thought you might want to look at it too. Your dog's a cutie!

 

[blueskies]

thank you

just wanted to thank each and everyone of you for your advise adn suggestions. I have been trying to tape Sadie's ears as suggested and I am noticing a big difference. She still has her flying nun moments but now I can simply touch her ear and she make it fall in the correct natural position! woooohoooo you guys/gals rock! I am getting so excited about showing come spring D

 

[JennaP]

another flying nun question...

how old is too old to correct the fall of the ear? Lily just turned 2 this month and she has rose ears. I can tape them but i was wondering if it would do any good? or are her ears her ears forever?? Not that i really care. she is beautiful and totally a pet dog. I was just curious..



Jenna

 

[Nedra's_momma]

It just depends on how hard the cartilage in her ears is, at two it is likely that her's has already firmed up. My friend's four year old's ears are permanently folded back against her head because the cartilage is now so tough and there is no correcting them at this point.

She is just as beautiful with her flying nun ears though and just as much a sweetie! Her ears just give her character all the more! :D