Fresh crop

Rebel

New Member
Hey y'all. I was hoping y'all could help me out. My girl Rebel had her ears cropped this morning. They told me her ears would lay flat forward for a day or 2 because she is so sore, but I'm not sure this is supposed to be the case. I feel like it's more of the way it was posted after surgery. Here is a pic. It's nothing more than tape glued to the ears, with a tiny metal rod outlining the frame. I was told to leave this for 2 weeks, then return for a repost and checkup. It's not like this because she's lying down. It's flopped down like that regardless. Looks like a visor. I'm going to do the backer rod method eventually, but I'm paranoid this is a bad start? Thanks in advance
 

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Hello from TX. At first I thought this thread was going to be about gardening....

That after crop posting certainly is different. I haven’t seen that yet. But I’m not an expert and I’m sure more will chime in shortly.

So the vet told you the ears were supposed to lean forward like that for 2 days while she’s sore but will they start standing erect after that? I have seen the metal rods used for after crop care but they’ve always been straight up and erect not leaning forward.
 
Hey, welcome!

From what I can tell by looking at the picture, that does not look like too bad a setup. Question: Are the incisions not covered with tape or anything else? The should not be. I am wondering about what I see there. A few more pics would be helpful.

It seems like the ears are being kept extended which is good.

Some folks will let the ears be just down and free from any sort of support until the incisions heal. It is said that this works fine. Personally, I don't like that. I prefer to have a setup on there that keeps the incisions free from anything touching them yet keeps the ears up and extended.

Again, more pics from different angles will tell us more about what your vet has going on there.
 
Hello from TX. At first I thought this thread was going to be about gardening....

That after crop posting certainly is different. I haven’t seen that yet. But I’m not an expert and I’m sure more will chime in shortly.

So the vet told you the ears were supposed to lean forward like that for 2 days while she’s sore but will they start standing erect after that? I have seen the metal rods used for after crop care but they’ve always been straight up and erect not leaning forward.
I am wondering if they are leaning forward from the weight of the rig he's got on there. They aren't going to lean back, right?
 
I’ve seen the Euro rack/halo using the metal rods but they stand erect not forward. (Not my dog - but I’ve seen this method used)F155E2CF-4774-48E7-A358-A28A7A464A9F.jpeg
 
For some reason, the forum is not allowing me to reply with quotes, so hopefully I don't get y'all mixed up. My2Girls, the VET didn't tell me, but the assistant did.

Oh little oji- No the stiches are not covered, not on the outside anyway. I'm not sure if any cuts were made on the inside. ( not internal inside, but inside, as in other side of ear/ towards head/ middle)
The ears are extended, but somewhat of a crease/ pocket going on that I'm not liking on the back of ear.
I see also wondering if the weight was holding it down, but it's very, very light weight.
I'll give her the 2 weeks and take her back and see if they screw it up again. I'd they do, I'll go ahead and start the backer rod method. Only thing stopping me at the moment is that it's not healed and u know it would hurt her too much to pull that off her ears.

So here's what I've done. I cut a whole in the center of the top of the rig and tied yarn from there to get collar. This holds the ears up, but the pockets/crease is still present.

I'm wondering if the assistant posted her and just botched it and let it go as not to hurt her trying to redo it? Or maybe she wants Rebel to use her muscles to push the ears up? I dunno, but she tried playing it off like her ears being sore would make them limp. Here's some more pics from other angles and of my modification. Sorry, she's gets to get pics of right now
 

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I like your modification way better than the original which seems wrong to me. The comment made by the assistant about the pain gives me an indication that she didn't agree with the surgery. The dog had pain killers during surgery. My Dobe got his ears done and wore a cup style setup on his head for 2 weeks. He was playing just fine right after we brought him home. Wait to hear what the others have to say but if your contraption doesn't hold up, there's no issue with letting the ears flop while they heal. The ears don't stand proper until teething is done at 5-7 months anyway.
 
That looks like a Hoytt Quick Brace system.
The ears should not be leaning forward, having said that, with posting mine using backer rod their posts on occasion would tilt forward so I would repost to correct the leaning. Cute puppy!
 
Welcome from Minnesota!

Cute pup and I like the way you fixed them much better. I'd go ahead and post them yourself when they're ready since the vets don't always do a very good job and they can set your progress back.
 
For some reason, the forum is not allowing me to reply with quotes, so hopefully I don't get y'all mixed up. My2Girls, the VET didn't tell me, but the assistant did.

Oh little oji- No the stiches are not covered, not on the outside anyway. I'm not sure if any cuts were made on the inside. ( not internal inside, but inside, as in other side of ear/ towards head/ middle)
The ears are extended, but somewhat of a crease/ pocket going on that I'm not liking on the back of ear.
I see also wondering if the weight was holding it down, but it's very, very light weight.
I'll give her the 2 weeks and take her back and see if they screw it up again. I'd they do, I'll go ahead and start the backer rod method. Only thing stopping me at the moment is that it's not healed and u know it would hurt her too much to pull that off her ears.

So here's what I've done. I cut a whole in the center of the top of the rig and tied yarn from there to get collar. This holds the ears up, but the pockets/crease is still present.

I'm wondering if the assistant posted her and just botched it and let it go as not to hurt her trying to redo it? Or maybe she wants Rebel to use her muscles to push the ears up? I dunno, but she tried playing it off like her ears being sore would make them limp. Here's some more pics from other angles and of my modification. Sorry, she's gets to get pics of right now
That is exactly what I was going to suggest – the modification you made there. Good!

As for the crease or pocket you're seeing: Probably not ideal but hopefully not problematic to progress.

I don't really buy the vet tech's idea that the ears are sore so they will be held down for a while. I mean, they may not feel like perking them up all that much at first, but Dobes normally don't seem to show any pain for very long at all after cropping – and this with no pain meds post-op. Instead of her blaming your pup for having sore ears, she should educate herself on the best practices in crop after care. It is easy to see what good breeders do in terms of the post-crop setup that keeps the ears erect while leaving incisions uncovered.

Oh, and there are probably not any incisions on the centerline side of the ears – to answer one of your wonderings.
 
Does anyone have any idea how I can remove this thing safely? It has now started to gradually come unglued and is leaning back due to the posts coming out. It's driving me and her nutts. I don't wnt to rip her ears because of the glue. And I'm not sure what to use to loosen the adhesive. I'd rather them be free, or put the backer rods in until we go back to the vet
 
I don't wnt to rip her ears because of the glue. And I'm not sure what to use to loosen the adhesive.
Most of us use UniSolve but it's not always easy to find locally so it would probably have to be ordered. You could try soaking the tape with baby oil to loosen it up until you can get something else.
 
How are the incisions? Are the ears healed? If not, personally, I would go back to the vet and have them remove it and just be direct with them that you want the ears to hang and not have that apparatus on her head.
 
Also while you’re waiting for the incisions to heal this is the time to order all your posting production, tape, Unisolve etc. most you can not find locally and need to be purchased on line (with the exception of backer rod). Get everything now so that you’re ready to go when it’s time to post. I learned the hard way. We had to wait over a week for the UniSolve to arrive.
 
There are many different types of athletic tape.

I use Mueller athletic tape to tape my daughters ankles for soccer. Strong and sticks well for about three hours. Good for ankles but did not do a good job on Ragnar's ears. Disappointed I was, because I have cases of that stuff. It just unraveled and got messy after 2 days.

Lots of choices out there and other members use different kinds, but by far the best tape I found is Johnson & Johnson Zonas tape. Yes, a little more expensive but IMHO, well worth it. I would feel so self defeated when Ragnar came out of the kennel and Mueller tape was peeling off.

And in the earlier days when I was less skilled taping backerrod post, I needed all the help I could get.

Changing to J&J Zonas tape was a game changer for me.

Now I can tape him up in about 12 mins and it will hold until I take it down at the next interval.

I get it off Amazon.

By the way, taping seems intimidating at first. You feel like it has to be perfect or else his ears will be funky and fall off. The more you do it, the more you will learn the sequence of what works, what angles are better, this goes there, pull here, etc..... it just takes trial/error and time/experience.

Just have to make sure not to wrap too tight.

My 2 cents.
 
There are many different types of athletic tape.

I use Mueller athletic tape to tape my daughters ankles for soccer. Strong and sticks well for about three hours. Good for ankles but did not do a good job on Ragnar's ears. Disappointed I was, because I have cases of that stuff. It just unraveled and got messy after 2 days.

Lots of choices out there and other members use different kinds, but by far the best tape I found is Johnson & Johnson Zonas tape. Yes, a little more expensive but IMHO, well worth it. I would feel so self defeated when Ragnar came out of the kennel and Mueller tape was peeling off.

And in the earlier days when I was less skilled taping backerrod post, I needed all the help I could get.

Changing to J&J Zonas tape was a game changer for me.

Now I can tape him up in about 12 mins and it will hold until I take it down at the next interval.

I get it off Amazon.

By the way, taping seems intimidating at first. You feel like it has to be perfect or else his ears will be funky and fall off. The more you do it, the more you will learn the sequence of what works, what angles are better, this goes there, pull here, etc..... it just takes trial/error and time/experience.

Just have to make sure not to wrap too tight.

My 2 cents.


Thanks for your feedback. I have been through this once before and I wouldn't have been able to do it without forums like this and people like you. I just now got her out of her brace. What a relief. I'm going to leave them down until we go back for her checkup, though she has developed some pockets that's driving me crazy. I got some so called "ear supplements" along with her pain meds. From my research, they are nothing more than vitamins and stuff for hip and joints, but something in them helps harden the cartilage in the ear. Glucose maybe? I'm going to wait till I start posting to give them to her as well. One is a pill, one is a liquid, and the other is a powder. Anyone here familiar with these?
 
I got some so called "ear supplements" along with her pain meds. From my research, they are nothing more than vitamins and stuff for hip and joints, but something in them helps harden the cartilage in the ear. Glucose maybe? I'm going to wait till I start posting to give them to her as well. One is a pill, one is a liquid, and the other is a powder. Anyone here familiar with these?
I'm guessing you're right since there isn't much that's going to really help build the cartilage except time and consistency posting.
 

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