Ears?

SpartanBoxer · #1 07-15-2008, 11:12 PM

My Boxer boy is now 11.5 weeks old. He had his ears cropped at almost 9 weeks. After the surgery the vet put a cup on top of his head with his ears taped up to it, and the lampshade on to make sure he didn't scratch at everything.

Last Thursday, which was 9 days after I picked him up from the surgery- he had his stitches removed. I left his ears alone for 4 days to let the stitches heal, the whole time his ears were just flopped on top of his head - inward. As of Sunday night the ears looked pretty much completely healed and I found a great website that had a Boxer ear taping tutorial. I gathered up the supplies and decided to have a go at it on my own.

It took a couple tries but I finally nailed the procedure down (I went with the poly foam backer method which is almost the same as the tampon method). Now, here's the thing... I took them off to re-do the taping tonight (it's hard to get the bases to stay intact for a long time). When I took them off to my surprise they looked great! Both ears were standing straight up and looked *almost* perfect.

I wasn't about to stop taping them yet. From all I've read, many Boxers stay taped up anywhere from 2-9 months. This is my first cropped Boxer and his ears are standing up after 2 DAYS of me taping? Seemed to good to be true. Regardless of how nice I think they look, I'll keep re-taping them for at least 2 weeks.

For those of you with experience, at what point are you absolutely sure that he is done with ear taping and ready to go on with nothing?

kayboxer · #2 07-16-2008, 07:42 AM

Well, I went back to the vet to have Buster's ears taped each time, even though it was an hours drive away. We didn't stop taping until he said they were done. His aren't show cropped, just a bit shorter because with a longer crop, you have to keep them taped for at least several months in most cases. Although they are standing straight now, I am willing to bet, even if you stopped taping in two weeks, they won't be done. You do need to let them breathe after each changing. You can leave the tape off for a day or several hours. I don't know what length you have, but if it is a longer length, I would plan on taping for several months. I know a couple of months won't be long enough.

Draymia · #3 07-16-2008, 07:45 AM

That is a great sign. Do expect them to drop around heavy teething time. That is usually between 4-7 months.

Once the bases are up solid, you can go to just supporting the ears where they are tipping over. Masking tape works great and doesn't pull out hair.

Until they are all done, just let the ears be your guide. When they start getting a little weak and tipping, it is time to tape back up.

SpartanBoxer · #4 07-16-2008, 08:41 AM

kayboxer, sounds like mine had the same cut as yours. I told the vet I didn't need the full "show-crop" but I definitely wanted them long and in the shape of a show cut, but that it didn't have to be the full-length. Well, they look outstanding. To my novice eye, they look just about as good as most show cuts but maybe a hair shorter, which is what the vet said he would do.

I am not stopping on the taping and I didn't expect to be able to yet. I will probably tape them another couple of times and then visit the vet again to see what he thinks.

I have heard that if you leave the tape off for too long that you will lose ground on a lot of the work you had previously put in... I took the tape off last night after 2 days, let them sit out for about 30 minutes then re-taped. One of the ears did flop over for a brief second, so I know they weren't ready. But man, I was so surprised that they were standing so beautifully in such a short time span.

punchinella · #5 07-16-2008, 10:26 AM

Punchie's ears were only taped for maybe a couple of weeks and stood beautifully. Our vet taped them for us, and I think only changed the taping once. However, Punchie's crop is shorter than most show crops, which may have made it easier for us. You can pics of her ears in my gallery.

SpartanBoxer · #6 07-16-2008, 11:50 AM

Yeah, Punchie's are a good inch shorter than Apollo's... I'm sure I won't get off as easy as you did on taping. Let's just say that I was pleasantly surprised at how well they did look after just 2 days.... And all of this coming from a complete amateur in ear taping. This was the first time I did it and I followed instructions I found off the internet so I was pretty proud of myself.

Draymia sounds like she knows this procedure very well and I'm just rolling with it now. I'll expect them to drop a little when she hits the teething stage as I've seen most other dogs follow that pattern. (I've looked in several galleries where the ear is standing straight up when they are very young and then they fall over a little when they are older).

kayboxer · #7 07-16-2008, 05:14 PM

I know when I took mine to the vet, he was there most of the day because they like to let him have the tape off for a few hours. I think if you let them air out a few hours they will be fine. Since it is the shorter crop you won't have to tape near as long usually. I say usually because the vet told me it all depends on the age and the cartilage in the ear. Sounds like his ears are gonna be great! You should take a picture while the tape is off so we can see!

SpartanBoxer · #8 07-17-2008, 03:33 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kayboxer

I know when I took mine to the vet, he was there most of the day because they like to let him have the tape off for a few hours. I think if you let them air out a few hours they will be fine. Since it is the shorter crop you won't have to tape near as long usually. I say usually because the vet told me it all depends on the age and the cartilage in the ear. Sounds like his ears are gonna be great! You should take a picture while the tape is off so we can see!

I did take some pics yesterday I'll see if I can add them to my gallery later tonight.
I'm not so sure they are shorter. After taking the pictures they look every bit as long as a show crop.

I took off the tape yesterday for his regular vet visit. Figured it was a good time to let them air out, and I wanted the vet to be able to check out his ears minus the tape. After a couple hours, the ears started to flop back inwards a little... so I retaped them. I plan on leaving them taped for 4-5 days this time and let them air out Sunday night.

SpartanBoxer · #9 07-21-2008, 08:00 AM

OK, I did get a couple pics of him w/the tape off from last week...

I taped them for a couple days after these pics, then took it off Friday night and let them air out until Saturday night. They held up pretty well for almost 24 hours... But I did notice them starting to flop a little, so I taped them back up. I did a really good job of taping this time (I get a little better each time I do it) and I plan on keeping it on for an entire 5 days (until Thursday) then I'll probably let them air out for another 24 hours and see how long they stand on their own for. We are definitely making nice progress!