Give up on Ears standing??

Kaiser Wiser · #1 26th May 2012, 10:58 PM

Hi. We cropped our boxer, Kaiser's, ears when he was 10 wks old. He is now 5 1/2 months old and I am wondering when it is time to just call it quits. We have kept them consistently wrapped, definitely correctly, by the vet that does a local breeder's show dogs all the time (very reputable and good work). About a month ago, we started leaving the wraps off for a few days after each unwrap to see how they did. The first couple times of this, both ears would begin to fall around the midsection, and we immediately had them rewrapped. The last couple of unwraps, his right ear stayed up very well, but the left slowly gets lazy to where he can't get it up any more. I know that it can take up to much longer than 5 1/2 mos to get them both permanently erect, but he sleeps on them (especially the left) very weirdly, all crinkled up and folded against the side of his crate. Is it possible that it is the way in which he always sleeps on that one, that is causing it to not permanently stand?? <he has always slept what seems to us very awkwardly> He just had them unwrapped 4 days ago now, and just this afternoon, the left ended up flopping AGAIN!! Got my hopes all up for nothing... Might calcium be able to help?--I have read that some others have used it, but am not sure. Thank you in advance for any and all help and advice.

**Jan** · #2 27th May 2012, 07:21 AM

It could easily take for up to a year for the ears to stand. If you want them to stand, keep taping.

Calcium might help, but it's not a good ideas to give calcium to a growing dog. He should be getting adequate calcium in is food and too much can cause problems. If he is still teething, it could be part of the problem. I would just be patient.

My first boxer, Markus, was cropped. I taped him for a year. The right ear would stand up and left would not. He could hold it up if he was looking intently at something, but otherwise it would bend about halfway down. I used to call him the back alley brawler.

I gave up taping around a year of age. One day the ear stood up and never fell down again. Go figure. I think he was between two and three at the time.

joannaryan · #3 27th May 2012, 07:45 AM

We had our first Boxer Rebels ears cropped and I'm not sure how long it took and really the only time that they really stood up was when he was sleeping and relaxed! I just came to the conclusion that he just wanted to be a happy go lucky boxer,and didn't want the sophisticated look, lol, so we just stopped taping them and let em go the way they wanted to go. With Toby, we stuck with natural and floppy. Good luck

Draymia · #4 27th May 2012, 08:41 AM

Don't stop. At 5.5 months he is still teething. I have two 6.5 month old pups right now. The female is almost up. Just some light support tape is needed. The boy with a heavier ear leather is still in wraps. His will come up, but will take longer. Every pup is different, but your guy sounds pretty normal. Keep it up and it sounds like you will have nice standing ears, very soon.

Kaiser Wiser · #5 27th May 2012, 10:18 AM

Wow. Thank you for all of your advice and encouragement. His ear actually came back up again this morning, to my surprise! This is my first boxer and first ear cropping, so I guess I am just pretty unaccustomed to this... Is it common for the ears to continue to go down and back up again? I just figured that once it fell, it needed taping back right away, but like I said, after the night and part of the day went by, I looked over and it was completely erect again. Ear cropping is a little roller coaster, huh? Thanks again for the replies! This is a great website and forum.