J&J Zonas alternative?

[swm_good]

Here's my Raven look a like...12 wks there. Smart but has a true Dobie personality.

Beautiful pup, post a picture of what she looks like now!

The biggest problem with them is that they use way too much tape. You really only need one wrap by the base (not as far down as they went) and one at the top. The brace can go right where the lower tape is.

Yes, they definitely do. I went a couple of days ago and had them remove the old posts and put new ones in and the ears are already standing on their own. I am confident I can do it on my own now and will use much less tape. I'm going to leave the posts in for another day or two, remove them and clean the leftover adhesive and re-post.

 

[swm_good]

A little update - I ended up removing the vet's posts yesterday and cleaned the ears from all of the Torbot and tape adhesive with Uni-Solve. My god the stuff works wonders!!! It took about 20-30 mins to carefully clean all the gunk off of the ears both front and back.

The ears are standing and she uses them very well. I let her hang out for about 45 mins before re-posting. I only used 1 piece of about 8" of the sports tape on the bottom and a 4-5" piece on the top. I think I could probably use shorter pieces next time I post so I do not fold the tape over itself 2-3 times.

Here are some pics

 

[JanS]

What a cutie and the ears are off to a great start!

I only used 1 piece of about 8" of the sports tape on the bottom and a 4-5" piece on the top. I think I could probably use shorter pieces next time I post so I do not fold the tape over itself 2-3 times.

Yes you only need it long enough to make one wrap around.

 

[swm_good]

What a cutie and the ears are off to a great start!


Yes you only need it long enough to make one wrap around.

Yes, indeed!

Small update - I think I'm getting better and better at this. I am changing them out every 3-4 days and she seems to be comfortable with the process now.

Quick question - Any suggestion on how long I should keep bridging? She is now 3 mo. 1 week old and seems to be able to keep the ears straight without a bridge. See picture - I added the bridge after the picture was taken.

 

[Rits]

Yes, indeed!

Small update - I think I'm getting better and better at this. I am changing them out every 3-4 days and she seems to be comfortable with the process now.

Quick question - Any suggestion on how long I should keep bridging? She is now 3 mo. 1 week old and seems to be able to keep the ears straight without a bridge. See picture - I added the bridge after the picture was taken.

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Looking good! I think you are ready to lose the bridge. She's holding them up nicely!

 

[Ddski5]

Damn those ears look awesome!!

yes, lose the bridge for sure.

 

[Lizbeli]

Safest thing is to post through teething which is about 6mths old. The cartilage will soften during this time. Better to post through just incase they flop and you have an ear with a fold. My boys ears stood strong after just a fee postings but I stopped at 7mths. Very similar crop to your girls.

 

[JanS]

The ears are looking really good! I agree that you need to stop the center brace now so they don't want to start pulling in. I think I only used it once with Phoebe since she just didn't need it anymore and some people don't use it at all.

 

[swm_good]

Looking good! I think you are ready to lose the bridge. She's holding them up nicely!

Damn those ears look awesome!!

yes, lose the bridge for sure.

Safest thing is to post through teething which is about 6mths old. The cartilage will soften during this time. Better to post through just incase they flop and you have an ear with a fold. My boys ears stood strong after just a fee postings but I stopped at 7mths. Very similar crop to your girls.

The ears are looking really good! I agree that you need to stop the center brace now so they don't want to start pulling in. I think I only used it once with Phoebe since she just didn't need it anymore and some people don't use it at all.

Thank you all for the awesome comments!

I will re-post in a few days and will not bridge the ears from now on unless something changes.

I will definitely keep doing it for the next couple months. She has already started teething, I see little teeth creeping out of her gums. She has not lost any teeth yet but I figure that will happen soon .

 

[swm_good]

Hello all - Happy Friday!

I hope everyone is doing well.

Quick update at 5-1/2ish months old. Been self posting this whole time, backer rod method, no bridge as suggested back in August and she has been doing good.

The bell seems strong and the ears have little to no flop, even when running/jumping. They feel very rigid up until the very tip top which still feels a little soft compared to the rest of the ear. She has full control when I take the posts out and let her play for an hour or so. No issues turning them or keeping them up.

She is almost done teething, I'd say 75%-80% of the way there. All of the teeth have either fully come in or are half way through the gum.

My question to you - can I start half posting at this point? For some strange reason, the last two postings which I changed about every 2-3 days she has been itching like crazy. She itches the back of the ear bell so hard sometimes her nail cuts it and to bleed. I think the posts being inside of the ear is really starting to bother her. Also, on the left ear, there is a little bit of a curve shown in the picture. How do I fix this?

As always - any suggestions or feedback is appreciated.

Thanks!

Here are some pics:

 

[Ravenbird]

I'm not much of an ear expert, so I wasn't following this post - just now saw all your pictures & want to say what a nice looking girl you have & you've done a great job posting. I think I was using Breath-Right strips starting about 5 1/2 - 6 months. But for sure use something until all those teeth are in & set. And if you notice any weakening / flopping after a few days, go back to full posting. The tooth growth takes up calcium and that's what sets the ears from what I understand.

 

[Ddski5]

Agree with Ravenbird, I used Breathe Rite strips and finger nail glue. It worked well, you just have to be attentive to when the glue wears off.

I really would not be concerned with the slight curve in her ear. There is a good chance it will straighten out as her ears grow and harden.

She looks beautiful, you have done a great job on her ears.

 

[swm_good]

I'm not much of an ear expert, so I wasn't following this post - just now saw all your pictures & want to say what a nice looking girl you have & you've done a great job posting. I think I was using Breath-Right strips starting about 5 1/2 - 6 months. But for sure use something until all those teeth are in & set. And if you notice any weakening / flopping after a few days, go back to full posting. The tooth growth takes up calcium and that's what sets the ears from what I understand.

Agree with Ravenbird, I used Breathe Rite strips and finger nail glue. It worked well, you just have to be attentive to when the glue wears off.

I really would not be concerned with the slight curve in her ear. There is a good chance it will straighten out as her ears grow and harden.

She looks beautiful, you have done a great job on her ears.

Thank you @Ravenbird - I appreciate the kind words. I'll probably start the half posting in few weeks when she turns 6 months.

@Ddski5 - Thank you! I've been trying to stay on it and be meticulous. It doesn't look too bad, but glad to hear it should fix itself in time. Her head is still small compared to the size of her ears.

I'll keep updating this post with photos in a few weeks.

 

[Ravenbird]

I'll keep updating this post with photos in a few weeks.

You can post about all-things-puppy besides ears too! This forum went through a surge of puppies the past year or so, now it's all slowed down. LOL. Surely you have some crazy puppy stories to share!

 

[swm_good]

You can post about all-things-puppy besides ears too! This forum went through a surge of puppies the past year or so, now it's all slowed down. LOL. Surely you have some crazy puppy stories to share!

Haha, nothing too crazy in terms of puppy stories. She is well behaved for the most part. If she is ever left alone in a room or nobody is around, she tends to navigate to her place and sit, watch and listen. She is definitely an observer and reserved most of the time. She tends to only open up when she knows the people around her. I'm trying very hard to socialize her, taking her on trips to the pet store, big box stores, etc. One thing I will say about her is the older she gets, the more I realize, she is absolutely NOT a morning person. When I get up in the morning, she refuses to leave the bed... It takes her 15-20 mins sometimes to get up. She will just sit there and snooze while staring around the room, it's pretty hilarious.

The only thing that has honestly happened that kind of mortified me was the initial crate training when she was 12 weeks-ish. I had put her in for the night around 10 P.M. and she just would not stop whining and yelping. I told myself I'll check on her in an hour or two to see if she needs to go out.

Fast forward to about 2 hours later, she pooped in the crate and proceeded to step in it and smear it all over the place. It took a few hours to clean that mess. I don't know how, but it was all over her, the floor outside the crate, on the walls... EVERYWHERE. It was so bad, I ended up throwing the crate out. I bought her a new one that's like 5 ft high 4ft wide by 7ft long so she has room to stretch and move around and so far no issues. I am going to be removing the crate all together when she's a bit older.

I start actual training with a professional here in the next couple weeks. Hopefully that goes well. She already can sit, lay down, spin, both paws, speak, she stays and has a release command when told to wait/stay.

Ultimately, I do want to have her off-leash but I know that will take trust and some time.

I honestly didn't know what to expect but I will never go the route of another breed ever again, I've always hated the puppy experience but she has changed my whole outlook.

Dobermans from here on out for the rest of my life... lol.

 

[Ravenbird]

Sounds like you got, plus developed with proper training a well behaved puppy! Especially the not-a-morning person. If I so much as look at my clock in the morning mine is bouncing off the walls Let's Go Let's Go! - no rest for the wicked under this roof. LOL. We normally get up at 5 a.m. but with the time change she's stirring at 4 a.m. now. Ooof.

 

[swm_good]

Sounds like you got, plus developed with proper training a well behaved puppy! Especially the not-a-morning person. If I so much as look at my clock in the morning mine is bouncing off the walls Let's Go Let's Go! - no rest for the wicked under this roof. LOL. We normally get up at 5 a.m. but with the time change she's stirring at 4 a.m. now. Ooof.

Ouch - 4 a.m. is brutal. She probably wakes up earlier and patiently waits for you to wake up, before running out of patience and starts bouncing off the walls!

Hopefully, in time! We still have a lot of stuff to work on. She is a jumper, and is definitely a counter-surfer but aside from that the bad habits are slowly dying. When I would work from home, she would constantly nudge me with a toy, grab another toy and try again along with whining to come play with her. Now she notices that I'm on the phone or on my laptop and she understands. She will turn around and go chill on the bed in her crate. I can't complain though, she is just a baby. At first it was frustrating because everything was happening at once but she is so young, I can't expect her to pick things up in a flash or break bad habits immediately.

She is definitely super Velcro and attached though. I go to put on a pair or jeans or even step in my closet to change and she immediately comes running in, whining and crying like "hey, you better take me with you!". It is honestly amazing how fast they pick stuff up.

 

[swm_good]

The last couple of weeks have been interesting to say the least.

Just turning 6 months old a few days ago - she has become very well versed and developed a skill to removing her posts all by herself.

I'm finding myself having to post every day if I leave her alone for a few hours and am not around to hound her not to scratch .

One of her two canine's finally fell out after being loose for what felt like a whole month. The other one on the other hand is not even budging, sitting nice and flush right behind the adult canine. This last tooth is the final baby tooth yet to fall.

I've been doing the half post method for the last week but she is just so darn good at removing them! I'm pretty sure the ears are almost done but I want to continue to post for the next month just to be sure. They feel hard and developed except the tips, they stand, but I am unsure for how long because the longest she has been without posts was an hour or two. Maybe it's time for Torbot and Breathrite strips?

Also, the skin edge of the bells of the ears (where the crop is) are turning black and feel hard - almost like a leathery feel... is this normal or is it because of the vast amount of scratching she is doing? (See Photo)

Here are some pics of the half-posts:

 

[swm_good]

Hello all - hope everyone is doing well and Happy New Year!

Update at 7-1/2 months - I've been breath rite strip posting since I last posted and stopped posting all together a few days ago when I took her into the vet for the constant ear scratching.

The non-stop scratching, and her wanting to post her rear against the wall and go to town on her butt along with the following made me a little concerned:

https://imgur.com/D9CH7ZW

Anyhow - the right gland (side she would go after) was completely full and needed to be drained per the vet. Also, the ears were red, dry and irritated from all of the scratching.

She has been out of posts for a few days now and the scratching has stopped completely.

The ears are showing signs of strength after 5 days of no breath rite strips, no drooping or laziness.

I've still yet to figure out why she was doing what she's doing in the video (Any ideas)?

She was doing this multiple times per day and now has stopped completely.

Photo attached.

 

[JanS]

Ears are looking good and she's growing up so fast!

I've still yet to figure out why she was doing what she's doing in the video (Any ideas)?

She was doing this multiple times per day and now has stopped completely.

It looked to me like she had something stuck in her teeth or under her gums?