6 wk old Pups & Amy

Well the pups will be 6 wks old tomorrow. I just got some pictures taken of them this afternoon after I braced their ears up for the first time. I cannot tell you how thrilled the pups were LOL But surprisingly with the exception of the smooth tri boy, all of them have kept their tape in.... gotta redo smooth tri boys, maybe tomorrow...lol

Eye CERF checks are tomorrow afternoon....



Smooth Tri boy -- now known as "Bryce"


Smooth Blue Boy # 1 -- "Ronan"


Rough Tri Boy - "Cody"


Smooth Blue Boy #2 - "Finn"


Smooth Tri Girl - "Nexus"

Also... here are some pics of Amy, who is half sister to these pups.. same mother. I took her to a fun match to practice showing today, because she HATES to show... really hates to show, she will not use her ears... and she did just that at the match... stood there with her ears back lol which is really frustrating because she is such a beautiful girl!! Beautiful head and expression, and wonderful cute little body!... moves very well.... oh well, here are a few pics I took of her after we got home this afternoon...

They are really cute !
Could you show me how you do to brace the ears ? and they keep it more than one day ?

sure.. the basic way I do ears is like what is discribed here.... I cut the tape the sameway and put it in the ear the sameway: http://www.serenadecollies.com/EarHelp.html

But I use different supplies. I use Elastikon bandage tape to tape the ears. Its very sticky, and its flexable, so it moves with the ears, and can stretch so it seems to stay in longer.

First I clean the ears up really good with rubbing alcohol to get all the oil off the ears, so the tape sticks better. Make sure the ears are dry before you put tape in them.

Then I cut the pieces of Elastikon tape (like its shown in the above link)... and I used to use Skin Bond to put on the back (sticky side) of the tape to help stay in the ears, but they are no longer making skinbond, so until I can find something similar, that works as well, I went back to my old way of preparing tape..... I then sprayed the back sticky side of the tape with engine starter fluid.... I usually spray the tape outside and leave it sit outside for 2-3 minutes because it smells bad. After about 2-3 minutes the start fluid is pretty much dried up, but it makes the tape VERY sticky.... so I then apply the tape the brace to each ear, so it pulls the ears up on top of the head, then I tape the tips down with the rolls of tape.

And you end up with this... After I tape the ears I try to keep the puppy distracted by playing or eating or something so they leave the ears alone for a few minutes so they can set.



Surprisingly I did my pups ears on Saturday and 3 of the 5 still have original braces in... I need to redo the other two puppies... maybe today. When I do redo their ears I will take step by step pictures and post them here as well...

If done correctly, and if the puppies don't try to play tug-o-war with eachothers braces, this taping method can last in the ears roughtly 5-7 days.... once the tape comes out, unless the ears are still really low, or are prick, I will let the ears rest a day or two before retaping.... as long as they look good when the tape comes out.

Also, when you are putting the tape in the ears, make sure you don't get any of the hair that is in the ears stuck under the tape, that pulls the fur and makes it itchy so the dogs dig at their ears more....

Like I said, hopefully later on today I'll post step by step pictures of how I do ears...

So interesting ,l always wondered how it was done .

Pity we couldnt get a video to show steps ,but pictures will be great .
In the uk not many people brace ears but it is a useful skill to learn you never know when it would be handy .

Clever lady look forward to more

Thanks.. I'm getting read to post the step by step pictures of taping ears...

Here in north america, its pretty common for people to tape ears. Most of the time (though not always) if you do not tape the ears you will end up with a prick ear... though I have a rough male that pretty much has natural ears.. I hardly had to tape... they may be a bit wider set for some people, but they look pretty good to me...

Here are step by step pictures of taping ears... sorry about the poor quality of pictures, its hard to tape ears, hold the puppy and take pictures at the sametime... but it should basicly show how I tape ears..

First.. you need your supplies... here is what I use.


Elastikon tape, starter fluid, rubbing alcohol, cotton cleaning pads to clean the ears.. and after I get the ears taped up, I usually stray something on the ears, to try to keep pups from pulling on eachothers braces..

Step 1:

unroll the amount of tape you will need.. this depends on the size of the puppy and the age of the puppy. If you are just bracing ears on a young puppy for the first time (6-7-8 wks old), you want the ears to be fairly close together on top of the head... otherwise you may end up with wide set ears.



Step 2:

Cut the tape in half.. if you use elastikon tape, I usually cut along the line that runs down the middle of the tape (for the 3 inch x 2.5 yards roll)



Step 3:

After you have cut the tape in half, you take one half of the tape and cute out the brace that will go from ear to ear. Then you take the other half of the tape and cut it in 2 long strips which will eventually be used to tape the tips of the ears down.



Step 4:

After you have cut the ear brace and the strips to later tape down the ear tips you can spray the back, sticky side of the tape with the engine starter fluid.. and let it sit for a few minutes. I would highly recommend spraying the engine starter fluid outside. After you sprayed the braces, you can go back to the puppy and clean out his ears really good with the rubbing alcohol. Make sure you get all the oil off the ears and then let the ears dry really good before you start the taping process...

Taping...

Step 1:

By now the tape should be very sticky and the engine starter fluid should be dry. You put one end of the ear brace in the first ear..... as shown in the picture below.. I personally like to stick the tape low in the ear, and toward the inside edge of the ear.. which you can see from the pictures..



Step 2:

Then you put the other sticky side of the brace in the other ear... so it looks like this.. here are 3 pictures to show you what it should look like after bracing both ears together...







Step 3:

Now this is where those other 2 strips of tape you cut into play.... you take one strip of tape and place in long ways, up and down the ear.. starting with one end right on top of the brace you just put in the ear.... and placing it all the way up the ear.. so the end of the tape sticks out above the tip of the ear... as seen below in the picture..





Step4:

Then you take the tape that is sticking out past the tip of the ear and roll it so that its rolled with the sticky side of the tape facing out... so it looks like this:



Then you fold the ear over, so its folded over in half and stick the tape on the tip of the ear, to the tape on the brace at the base of the ear.. this will hold the tip over at a correct place, and if you keep on top of it, once the ear is set and you do not have to brace/tape anymore, it will give you a nice curve/tip to the ear..

[Step 5:[/b]

Then you repeat step 4, with the other ear...



Once finished, you should have this.....

Thank you a lot for this great lesson ! I have to print it or to save it. It could be useful one day !