doberdad94

New Member
axel ear.JPG My dobie, Axel, is 7 months 1 week old and his ears are still not standing. We have only taken 2 breaks from posting his ears due to him being nipped by an older dog on his ear (we left him unposted for about a week with each incident while he healed). His left ear has a crease in the cartilage which causes it to flop over more often then his right ear. When he is alert his right ear tends to stand and sometimes even both stand well. My question is, is it normal that he chooses to keep both ears down most of the time or are there any better methods to get them to stand. Currently we have been using the tampon posting method. Considering trying breathe right strips or possibly the Hoytt System. What are everybody's thoughts on this? PLEASE HELP!
 

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Hey there. I'm definitely not an ear pro (look at my sweet boy's "quirky" ears!!), but you are in the right place for some great advice and support. I think a lot of the experienced people here (and the ones who have dogs with beautiful ears) use the backer rod method. There are some great tutorials on here, and I definitely think that everyone will tell you to "post'em up!" I was intimidated by the process, but I'm a wimp!
As I said, I'm inexperienced and really don't have any great advice, but a lot of people post for a year or even a bit more so I just wanted to tell you that I bet you can correct a whole lot if you get going in the "right direction." I noticed that you posted just a little bit ago, so I really just wanted to tell you that there is help and expertise coming! I was also intimidated to ask questions at first, but this is an awesome group of people who will help so incredibly much.
Congrats on your boy; he is precious.
 
Welcome from Ohio!

I don't see a reason at this point that it can't be fixed. Typically 7 months is the earliest you can stop posting.

I agree backer rod is the way to go. I did tampons with my last one successfully though.

They say you lose progress if you leave them out of posts.

I can add more a bit later.

Welcome!
 
Yep backer rod method and no bridge. Start doing ear exercises with him to get him to lift his ears, by squeaking a toy and taking him places where he will lift the ears himself. Don't take him out of post any longer then to clean, dry and make the posts. Don't give up ! I posted for 14 months. Breathe right strips will not work for him right now since the ear its self needs to get stronger.
 
Don't give up! There are GREAT posting tutorial that can help! Backer rod is the way to go. (And way cheaper) I would also recommend using Torbots adhesive to reallllly make them stay were you want. Good luck
 
Welcome!

I agree to keep posting and you should be able to get them. They're standing nicely in the second photo so that tells me they want to stand. It looks like he has thicker cartilage and it can sometimes take longer for it to firm up so they stand nicely. We did Albert until he was over a year too since he has a long crop and thick cartilage.

I tried the Hoytt system with our first pup and it didn't work well for us.
Here are a couple links to tutorials and we're always here to help if you need it. They're almost the same except one uses the back taping method and the other uses adhesive.
How to Post Cropped Ears (Video)
Doberman ear posting - improved method
 

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