Ear posting tips needed

The breeder said it’s a show crop.

I did try the 1/2 inch backer rod from Home Depot, but it was so flimsy that she actually broke it off at the taped area.
For a long show the 1/2 would be the way to go. My male has a long show crop. I use gorilla duct tape and leave about a 1/4 inch of the rod showing then I take a cotton round and cut it into a rectangle and tape it over the foam at the end, then I back tape with Kendall tape and then wrap the outer part with Johnson zonas
 
OMG! Thank you so much. I am a very visual learner, and this really helps. I also spent a few minutes peering and poking in to her ears.

@Ares, thank you. I’ve already prepped these 5/8 posts tonight.

Ok, I’m going in.
 
In fact, when I clean my Dobe's ears, I dip a Qtip in rubbing alcohol and get it right on down in there and work it around. It doesn't hurt them. My current boy, Oji, who is tough as nails when it counts, is sensitive about being handled (despite my efforts since young puppyhood). So I first clean the ears up higher with one end of the Qtip to sort of ease him into it, them flip the Qtip and go on down including all the way.
 
Hi all! I haven’t posted on here in several years. I was just looking back at when I created my account here, and my girls were 6 at the time. Sadly, we lost our Leathur this past summer, and lost our sweet Lace in November; they were 10 1/2 (both to congestive heart failure).

Welcome back! I'm so sorry to hear that. May they RIP :sorrow:.

But, in mid-December, we got our new angel, Lexi.


Welcome little Lexi. We need some pics. ;)


Am I just not pushing them in far enough?


That's the only reason I have ever experienced the post coming out. To get it deep enough try this...
pull up on ear as you twist/push rod all the way down

I did try the 1/2 inch backer rod from Home Depot, but it was so flimsy that she actually broke it off at the taped area.


I had trouble with backer rod breaking when I was posting my girl. I think I figured out it was because it was old. I bought some at a different store and the texture was different (seemed softer and more flexible) and it worked like a charm.
 
Are the posts getting bent? Probably not, as I imagine you would mention that if they were; but Little Oji was a fiend in terms of bending his posts by laying on them. With Oji, I wonder if it had to do with how he likes to lay. To this day, most of the time he is laying down, his ear is folded under. He tends to like to rub his head forward on the rug and snuggle into position. It's amazing his ears managed to stand with how often the posts got bent. At one point I had 6 layers of duct tape on the posts and they still bent. Bent posts can lead to them popping out.
 
upload_2019-1-9_11-44-11.jpeg

Little Lexi on her first morning here, Dec 5.


upload_2019-1-9_11-45-17.jpeg

upload_2019-1-9_11-45-45.jpeg

Sleepy Lexi last night before we posted.

The ear anatomy diagram from @Tropicalbri REALLY helped me; maybe someone with better tech-skills can attach that to the video that’s on here. I think I’ve been putting the bottom of the posts in the wrong place this whole time! Last night, I carried the back-tape down a bit further, made the posts a bit longer, and stuck them in the right place. I also only used the two pieces of tape, top and bottom. While she still shook and scratched some, we distracted her until bedtime. She definitely didn’t go as nuts trying to dislodge them (maybe because they are more comfy now that I put them in the right place?). So far, so good; although we’ve made it this far before. Keeping my fingers crossed!

@Oji: while she would bend them a little when scraping her head on her bed, they were just flexible enough so that they only really bent at the “naked” bottom of the rod, which would help them pop out. But again, none of that so far this time.

I’m hoping that we’ve discovered the secrets; but if not, at least I know I’m on the right track.

Thanks again to everyone who took time to chime in!
 
She definitely didn’t go as nuts trying to dislodge them (maybe because they are more comfy now that I put them in the right place?).
You hit the nail on the head there. If they aren't in far enough it could be uncomfortable so they will try to get them out any way they can.
 
Ok, so we passed our first 24 hour mark! They are still in the right place and looking good. Hooray!

And, she’s leaving them alone 99.9% of the time!

I’m thrilled. Thank y’all so much,
 
Yeah, we will be doing ALOT of traveling this year.

18 and 16 year old is playing Comp1 soccer so there will be in-state games as well as Mississippi, Ala, Ga, Memphis and Florida.

13 year old made the state select Olympic developmental program (ODP) so along with playing stated above Gulf Coast states, she will be playing a lot in Texas and then to Regional tryouts in Montevallo, Ala. for the Regional Olympic squad.

Texas usually kicks our butt but it’s really good training and competition.
1/25-27 College Station
5/31-6/2 Houston Dynamo area
6/7-9 Plano

My two oldest are decent players that can hold their own. My 13y/o is good and may have a chance for the Regional squad. Needs to put more muscle/meat on her bones, too light in the ass.
 
Beware: what follows is a long, rambling post where you can practically smell my desperation. I apologize in advance for the length and the whining!


Hi all! I haven’t posted on here in several years. I was just looking back at when I created my account here, and my girls were 6 at the time. Sadly, we lost our Leathur this past summer, and lost our sweet Lace in November; they were 10 1/2 (both to congestive heart failure). Between LIFE and my girls being the amazing Dobies they were, I lost track of this forum. But, in mid-December, we got our new angel, Lexi.


Lexi is amazing! Super-fun, with tons of personality, and - so far - the smartest dog I’ve ever owned. We call Lexi “Ms. Fancy-Pants”, as she is a “show quality” Dobie. Even though we were only in the market for a pet, the timing was right for us and Lexi; and I’m super grateful that it was!


Hence, why I’m back: I’m desperate for advice on posting her ears. Leathur and Lace didn’t come cropped (I now know that I bought them from a “hobby breeder”); I had to get them cropped, and we opted for a medium crop. We were taught by our vet to post them in a completely different way, using, if I remember correctly, pill bottles. I didn’t really know what I was doing, although it was helpful to have the vet right around the corner. Lace’s ears came out great, but Leathur’s fell; however, honestly it didn’t bother us because floppy ears completely fit her laid-back, couch potato personality. I really don’t remember posting their ears as being a very big deal; but, that was ten years and three teenagers ago.


Fast forward to now with Lexi: we got her at 13 weeks with a healed and posted show crop. The breeder was as helpful as she could be; she unwrapped and re-posted and wrapped her ears when we picked Lexi up, explaining every detail; we even videoed the whole thing so we’d be able to refer to it at home, as the breeder is several hours away. I started researching, browsing this forum and watched many you-tube videos of ear posting. You know the ones: where the puppy-star of the video sits ever so sweetly still during the entire process, or, better yet, walks over and stands there calmly. (Despite my jealousy , I learned something useful from most of them, and appreciate the people who took the time). I read every posting post on this forum, and again learned a lot.


However . . .


We left the breeder-placed posts in for 7 days (she had told us 5-7 days), delaying as long as we could. And that was a huge mistake! When we finally removed all the tape (oh, the miles of tape!), she had a couple of sores in her ears. On the advice of our vet (who, by the way, no longer crops ears - my two dobies were the last ones he did; his staff “made him promise to not crop ears anymore”), we left the posts off for a week until the sores healed.


Our first attempt at posting was a comedy of errors, the first error being that we tried to post her at her peak time of puppy-craziness. It was like trying to put a cat in a bag! An hour later, we emerged from a narrow victory, exhausted and in disbelief. Huzby and I had already vowed that we would NEVER leave her posts in for more than 3 days, tops. But how on earth would we ever be able to fight this battle: first trying to remove tape that was apparently the stickiest substance known to man, and then wrestle our growing little bundle of puppiness EVERY 3 DAYS !?!? As we weakly high-fived each other, we looked over to see our little princess shake her head and scratch her ear, and saw that the @#&$-ing backer rod had popped out of her ear! In approximately 2 seconds, she had the other one popped out, too.


Since that first time, we’ve: learned to wait until Lexi is calm and preferably sleepy; tried popping the bottoms of the backer-rod back in and taping over them (another huge mistake that cost us another week to let yet another sore heal, along with a heaping side of extreme guilt); learned to use baby oil to loosen the tape that can stick to itself throughout eternity (but which can be scratched and shaken loose at the bottom of a dog’s ear no matter how many layers you add); learned NOT to soak down said-tape with said-baby oil without promptly removing the tape and posts (which made removal easier, but required an extra thirty minutes to then clean and remove tacky, sticky tape residue from dog fur); tried using 1/2-inch backer rod instead of 5/8-inch backer rod, thinking that maybe a smaller bore would fit into the ear better, but which instead breaks off when scratched with dog paws. We’ve tried tons of tape; we’ve tried the two-pieces of tape. We’ve tried taping cotton balls to the bottom the the backer rod, hoping to make it less slippery. Same results: my little angel pops out the bottoms of the backer rod.


I feel like I push the backer rod down in her ear all the way. I leave the bottom 3/4 inch uncovered and insert it in her ear canal. I also think this is complicated by the fact that she’s not used to having the posts in (because of the time we left them out to heal her sores), so she goes after them, trying to get them out. She shakes, she scratches, and she rubs her head on her bed, trying to scrape them out.


I’m not ready to give up. I’ve started to post on here several times asking for advice, but every time I think “this will be the time that we get it right, and they will stay in properly”. And so far, every time, it’s a big fail. The only times we’ve made it over 24 hours, she’s ended up with sores in her ear. She’s 17 weeks old now. Any tips y’all can offer will be appreciated.


How do you get the bottoms of the backer rod to stay in? Am I just not pushing them in far enough? Should I use more tape for now? Should I tape under her chin for a few days? Use a cone (oh, how she’ll hate that)? Thanks again for any advice you can offer.
Wrap the backer rods inside out with tape so that it sticks to each other and it sticks to the ear itself.then wrap the ears and tapes on the outside and put a bridge between the two ears with tape. You can buy adhesive remover that's not harmful to the dogs ears I went through the same thing. It's not much fun but it worked out well for me and Rudy.
Best of luck
 

Back
Top