Ear Posting - What’s the most efficient way?

Banackock

Banackock

Member
Morning everyone,

We’re new time buyers of a Doberman puppy and while researched up, have a couple questions or are seeking advice. We know it’s taboo and everything and are not posing in a seemingly great forum to look for critics. We love her tons and want to provide her the best care and love with this!

We recently got our puppies ears done - last Tuesday, and they waited 8 days to heal and take the stitches out prior to posting/taping up. We got that done for the first time yesterday. We use the style with tampons in the ear, wrapping the ear and then connecting the ears with tape in the middle and then the weaker cardboard piece around the tape in the middle.
A new puppy is stressful, but this is another level. She’s not really a fan of her ears being taped (obviously) and shakes her head. Is there anyway to keep this from happening without harming her and allow for proper healin of the ears? Maybe use something other than weak tape and the small cardboard in the middle? Maybe a popsicle stick shortened?

I’m under the assumption the ears have to stand up perfectly straight and be taped 100% properly at all times. Is this true or does it matter if she shakes her head and they one ears swaps a small amount? That would cause the one ear to not be 100% straight though. ALSO, in time, she’ll hopefully stop shaking her ears... right?

Thanks so much and appreciate the responses and help. I’ll browse the site later when I can :)

Jordan
 

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She shakes quite a bit and the ears fall off. Is this normal until she gets used to her ears being taped?
 
If she's shaking the posts out they're not in deep enough in the ear.

I'm also posting my girl's, Jasmine, ears right now and if I don't put the posts in deep enough she shakes them out. She also was a head shaker, so I switched to zip ties today and she hasn't shaken her head once after the zip ties were in. My guess is because they're less bulky the zip ties don't bother her as much.
 
Jasmine0430 said:
If she's shaking the posts out they're not in deep enough in the ear.

I'm also posting my girl's, Jasmine, ears right now and if I don't put the posts in deep enough she shakes them out. She also was a head shaker, so I switched to zip ties today and she hasn't shaken her head once after the zip ties were in. My guess is because they're less bulky the zip ties don't bother her as much.
Click to expand...


Thanks for the response. Yeah, we’ve only done it once since the vet ourselves and supposedly they should last 5-7 days before removing, cleaning and redoing? My girlfriend twists the tampons in and says it’s as far as they go. It isn’t so much that the ear piece falls off. Maybe more so that the middle piece connecting both ears to hold straight isn’t good enough so she’ll shake and they’ll be lopsided heavily.

Little frustrating.

I’ve read about the zip tie way on this site: How To: Ear Posting . Just very anxious on the ears not ending up right as we’re not doing it right.

Are you possibly able to post an example of the zip tie method on your pup?
 
You also got one of those white cones so she can’t touch her ears or scratch.. they just have us one of those inflatable blue “airplane” pillows basically.
 
We’ll be swapping her into one of those larger, typical white cones today after work! Hopefully that helps.
 
Are you talking about the bridge between the ears? Don't know why you would need cardboard there. Just tape works fine. A few of the members recommended to me to not use the bridge. She wore it for 1 day and then I took it off as her ears were standing decently with the posts in already even without the bridge.

The cone of shame as I lovingly call it was only used when she still had her stitches in and the cup on her head. While posting you shouldn't use the cone as it can push the ears forward.

As for zip tie pic:
1533806259950.jpg

In the puppy forum there's a good explanation with pictures that Archer put up for zip ties (it's a popular method here in South Korea)
 
Oh wow... no bridge.. her ears become lopsided and don’t stand 100%! Likely from having them tampon not deep enough then?

We also didn’t have the ears posted for 8 days after the surgery.
 
The ears shouldn't be straight up and down more like 11 and 1.

Jasmine was lopsided too when she wasn't focusing
1533264562287.jpg

When focused her ear went up fine. 1533260206999.jpg

After surgery the ears can be set in different ways to allow for them to dry and heal. Some are cupped like Jasmine was, some pinned, and some left flopping.

Her ears now when they're airing out:
1st change
1533344487490.jpg

2nd change (taken today)
1533804673387.jpg
1533804675257.jpg

It's been a little over a week since I started her posting.
 
There are lots of post here on the different ways to post ears. Try backer rod instead of tampons. I can see how a cardboard tube would be more irritating than a tube of foam.
You are using a lot of tape, you really dont need that much.
Please spend some time reading our guides and watching the vids. They're really helpful.
 
NikiL02 said:
There are lots of post here on the different ways to post ears. Try backer rod instead of tampons. I can see how a cardboard tube would be more irritating than a tube of foam.
You are using a lot of tape, you really dont need that much.
Please spend some time reading our guides and watching the vids. They're really helpful.
Click to expand...
Unfortunately, that picture wasn’t our tape job. That was, in fact, the vets where it was done... haha we use WAY less to allow the ears to breathe, wounds to heal and whatever else. I 100% agree.

We’ll have a look around tonight together! Thanks :)
 
If you do the backerrod method correctly, pushing the rod all the way down into the bell of the ear will prevent it from not only rubbing/irritating but also prevent it from popping out.

Sure, she will initially shake her head because she feels a foreign body in her ears but she will gradually get used to it.

The tampons you are using maybe too big.

As far as both ears not matching up perfectly being symmetrical and vertical?? Don’t spaz out because they are not perfect. You should be re-posting every 3-5 days and only leaving them out of posts no longer than an hour.

It is highly recommended to post past teething stage, which is usually at/after 6months of age. So you have plenty of time to perfect and with time and experience you will nail it correctly.

Again, don’t fret. Just remember what you did wrong and correct it next post.

As NikiL02 and JanS stated, go to the Doberman Puppy forum and read, read, read. There are a lot of good posting threads in there. Also do a search for posting ears.

It can be a frustrating PITA if you let it. Don’t let it, make it fun and a good bonding experience with you two.

Good luck and Welcome from Louisiana.
 
UPDATE:

Firstly, thanks again to everyone for being so helpful and taking time out of your days to offer us advice. We’ve continued with the tampon method, however, have tried a different style of taping (basically just changing the procedure a small bit) after watching a really helpful video.

My girlfriend started from the top, however, starts from the bottom now and it’s 100%. The dog still doesn’t like us afterwards and isn’t a fan while we’re putting them in or posting - but shakes her head WAY less and itches much less too.

Ears don’t look too bad undone but aren’t 100% straight up. Not bad though and are learning!!

Thanks again
Jordan and Morgan
 
Post some picts.....

Can’t leave us hanging here.

Not being 100% straight up could be a lot of things.

You know, when I first started all this, I did not know that a Dobermans ears do not stand up erect all the time. They only stand tall when at alert. Other times, they can be folded back, to sides, etc...

Here is a reference pic that @Kaiser2016 put out a while back.

440C392B-E39B-42CC-8315-43B7DE595965.jpeg
 
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