Am I missing something with ear cropping?

The scabs can look pretty nasty. Leave them alone. They will eventually fall off on their own. As long as his ears do not smell like infection nor are oozing or look discolored besides dried blood, he will be fine.
 
So I used uni-solv to remove the bandages on Friday and he was alright with that. Now I’m using sterile gauze pads with sterile saline and for the small cracks just rubbing a q-tip over it very gently and not near the stitches. But the right ear he’s been alright with, should I be getting that far down in his ear to clean? Or did you mean left ear?



Yeah, I haven’t used neosporin or anything like that at all, I am strictly adhering to the guidance the experts here so generously provide. Any suggestions on what to clean the ear out with, or possibly even how to clean the ear out, that would work better than a sterile saline solution?

I’m worried that the longer the nasty stuff sits inside his ear crevices the worse it’s going to get. It wasn’t a scab I removed with a q-tip earlier, but it was something attached to his skin strong enough to make blood come out, which makes me think a bacterial infection.

It’s amazing how quick the focus shifts from “I want his ears to come out looking great” to “I want him to be alright”. I am seriously so, so grateful to have you guys as a resource through all this.

Neosporin is not going to hurt anything. Just don't go crazy with it.

Qtips and gauze to clean the inside of their ears is what I have always used and it seemed to work just fine for me. No issues at all with you getting on down in there to get all the crud out.

Get in the habit of smelling the ears every chance you get. You can definitely smell when things are not right (infection). You may notice some Vet techs that see your dog about the ears - sometimes smelling the ears is the first thing they do.

Not all tape is created equal. Some will not stick for squat, some stick too good, some leave glue behind that almost requires an adhesive remover (I despise those tapes), some tapes are better suited for irregular shapes, etc.

After trying a roll of Elastikon on the last girls I immediately bought a case of it. Will never, ever use or buy cloth tape again for ear stuff. Guessing it was a smidge over a hundred bucks for the case but it more than lasted both of my girls for the duration of their posting. Had a few rolls left over. :)


Never needed any solvent removers using Elastikon tape. Stretchable, breathable, will conform to irregular shapes with ease, just the right level of sticky on one side only. LOVE the stuff! :)
 
Neosporin is not going to hurt anything. Just don't go crazy with it.
Neosporin or any antibiotic gel is not recommended because it accelerates the surface tissue healing too fast. If this happens, then the skin grows over the stitches and they are hell to get out. Very painful for the pup. That’s why it’s recommended to just let it scab over and go on it’s due course. If it gets really nasty and smelly, then use warm soapy water and clean it up a bit. Otherwise, all will be okay as long as there is not any evident pus or a strong foul odor.
 
Now I’m using sterile gauze pads with sterile saline and for the small cracks just rubbing a q-tip over it very gently and not near the stitches. But the right ear he’s been alright with, should I be getting that far down in his ear to clean?
That should work. I use baby Q-tips for pups since they're fatter than regular ones and it makes it easier to get into crevices. The way the dogs canal is shaped you can get down there quite a ways but I'm more careful with the Q-tips.
 
That should work. I use baby Q-tips for pups since they're fatter than regular ones and it makes it easier to get into crevices. The way the dogs canal is shaped you can get down there quite a ways but I'm more careful with the Q-tips.

That sort of work is good for the dog in more ways that one. :)

Yes, the main goal is cleaning out the ear but you are also gaining trust with the dog.

If you are spending time touching and 'working' on them often they get accustomed and desensitized to it. If you do the nails often enough they are not going to complain about you wanting to grab and work on their feet. :)
 
Just an update... I took Bandit into the Vet who did the cropping 2 days ago. He gave him a tranquilizer so he could do a thorough ear cleaning and cleaned up around the stitches and sent him home with some blueish thick cream on the stitches. Since I brought him home, I have been following the suggestions and have been getting him used to me maintaining his ears routinely, and he is currently getting his stitches taken out at the moment and I go and pick him up at 1 today. So excited!
 
Relax…
You have plenty of time for now. Generally, folks let the ears hang post surgery and allow the edges to fully heal.

At about 4months your pup will start teething. During this process the ear cartilage with start taking shape of the position that they are in. This is the reason why it is common practice to start posting ears at 4months or when one sees the pup actively teething. The teething process generally last from 4-6months depending on the individual pup, but it’s pretty close to that. I started posting my two at 4months and stopped posting around 7.5months old.
That's a answer to my question. How long do I keep posting my dog's ears? He's exactly 4 months.
 
Just an update... I took Bandit into the Vet who did the cropping 2 days ago. He gave him a tranquilizer so he could do a thorough ear cleaning and cleaned up around the stitches and sent him home with some blueish thick cream on the stitches. Since I brought him home, I have been following the suggestions and have been getting him used to me maintaining his ears routinely, and he is currently getting his stitches taken out at the moment and I go and pick him up at 1 today. So excited!
Yay!! You should be excited.
Lots of good bonding time and prob some frustration coming up but stay true to the process and you will do fine.

Ask questions if needed.
 
That's a answer to my question. How long do I keep posting my dog's ears? He's exactly 4 months.
Yes, generally begin at 4 and end at 6months give or take.

Really depends on how long the crop and how thick the ears are. Some finish a little before 6 and some finish after 6months. I had some issues with the flippy/floppy ear tips so I went to 7.5 and then used Breathe Rite strips.
 
So I’ve had Covid- again… but just had to vent about Wednesday, all while being sick. I dropped Bandit off to get his stitches taken out, I figured I’d just wait a half hour and take him home. I woke up at 5am to go bring him 2 hours away, the vet told me to come back at 1pm, so in total I drove about 7-8 hours, had someone come in early to cover me for work, and when I got there to pick him up, he was heavily sedated (to the point he couldn’t walk), but was told by the doc “he’s not ready to get his stitches taken out.” Is there a veterinarian on here who could explain what possibly happened or why they couldn’t just call me so I could turn around and get him or why he would be sedated if his stitches aren’t ready? They saw me 2 days earlier and told me they were ready. Now on Wednesday afternoon he told me they weren’t ready, and to come back in 5 more days. Okay vent is over. Am I just having bad luck with vets or is everything I’ve experienced pretty typical?!
 
Oh my…sorry you are having such a bad day. Doctors and vets are on their own schedule and oblivious that we have lives too.

Probably sedated him and looked closer at the edges- digging around some and deemed it not healed enough to remove stitches.

You know….just about any vet can identify if the edges are healed and they are fully capable of taking the stitches out. I really don’t believe I would be driving 2hrs back just for that. I would find a vet close by and go see that one.

On a positive note…at least the vet didn’t take the stitches out too early and when you got home your pup wakes up and shakes it’s head creating a bloody mess with the edges all open now.

I pretty much keep my vet visits to a rare occurrence….
 
Oh my…sorry you are having such a bad day. Doctors and vets are on their own schedule and oblivious that we have lives too.

Probably sedated him and looked closer at the edges- digging around some and deemed it not healed enough to remove stitches.

You know….just about any vet can identify if the edges are healed and they are fully capable of taking the stitches out. I really don’t believe I would be driving 2hrs back just for that. I would find a vet close by and go see that one.

On a positive note…at least the vet didn’t take the stitches out too early and when you got home your pup wakes up and shakes it’s head creating a bloody mess with the edges all open now.

I pretty much keep my vet visits to a rare occurrence….
I appreciate the positive outlook, and different perspective! This is the first dog I have owned “on my own” and am probably overly cautious but I would just like to at least have 1 other (preferably “educated”) pair of eyes to give me the green light for his health. I have a new vet appointment on Monday since I am switching vets and was going to ask her if she could just remove the stitches there.

Could it be that since I didn’t use the neosporin like he requested that it didn’t heal as fast as he expected it to? I’m still not using it, I figured his ears would heal correctly at their own pace, instead of trying to speed the process up.
 
wait a half hour and take him home
I am surprised this took so long. When we had Kaiser's stitches removed, we were present and it took a few minutes. My hb held Kaiser while the vet did the work. Maybe the whole appointment was a half hour? The sedation was completed unnecessary and my guess is that vets are afraid of a Doberman being in pain and perhaps lashing out? LOL, it's a puppy, but it's scary puppy? It's good you are going to a closer vet now.
 
Could it be that since I didn’t use the neosporin like he requested that it didn’t heal as fast as he expected it to? I’m still not using it, I figured his ears would heal correctly at their own pace, instead of trying to speed the process up.
Possibly….but still no way would I use Neosporin on the stitches.

I learned this the hard way- my 5y/o Ragnar eats and swallows everything causing two abdominal obstruction surgeries. With his first surgery, I used Neosporin on the wound/staples. Went in to have staples removed and had a hell of a time holding that monster on his back while the vet dug in there with sharp scissors to find the staples. It was all healed over. This was a closer vet than the emergency hospital that did his surgery and vet was not happy I used Neosporin on the wound. Really caused unwarranted pain to my boy during the process. Now 5mins after, he was good to go but still….
 
That's a shame. I agree it's better to go to your local vet when it's time since any vet can take them out and usually without sedation.

Phoebe had a ton of staples and they didn't have to give her anything and there wasn't a peep out of her.
Staples Jan 9 23.jpg
 
That's a shame. I agree it's better to go to your local vet when it's time since any vet can take them out and usually without sedation.

Downside is that most likely the stitch removal cost is included in what she paid for the crop. If she goes to a local Vet (different from the one that did the crop) to have them removed they are likely going to charge her for the removal.

Paying twice for the same thing. :(
 
Could it be that since I didn’t use the neosporin like he requested that it didn’t heal as fast as he expected it to? I’m still not using it, I figured his ears would heal correctly at their own pace, instead of trying to speed the process up.

Yup. You should have followed the Vets instructions. That stuff is to help prevent infection AND promote healing. Should say exactly that on the label (mine does).

Currently raising my 6th and 7th cropped Dobermans. Have used 3 different Vets over the years for ear work and out of those 3 - 2 of them suggested using triple antibiotic ointment and the other made no mention of it at all one way or the other.

With all the different doggie boo boos (non ear related stuff) I have experienced over the years that required stitches I have never had any Vet caution me to NOT use triple antibiotic ointment for any reason. Never heard such a thing before this thread and have never personally experienced any issues because I DID use the stuff on a dog of mine.

Got in a really bad vehicle accident with this girl inside many years ago (this is a post recovery picture) -
ZfiAXws.jpg


When the vehicle finally stopped rolling she 'let herself out' - Through her crate and through the back glass. Vet that stitched her back together stopped counting at 200 stitches. Due to the damage she did to her hide there were a good bit more to go before she was done. Multiple tubes of triple antibiotic ointment she saw after all of that with no ill effects (or infections).

Very happy to say that dog made a complete recovery and had no lasting issues or disabilities due to that accident. Once her hair finished filling back in you had to know exactly where to look to be able to notice any signs of prior damage at all. She was with us for several years after making that recovery before old age eventually got her.

I have 'before she was sewn up' pictures but am not sharing due to how graphic they are. Hurts me still looking at those pictures. :(
 

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