Dobie "experts" give me your advice

[theGOOCH]

This is my second Dobie and therefore my second time going through the ear taping process. When I took her on Sat for her first taping (she just came off the cup) the thing that kept coming to my mind is that ear taping/posting isn't rocket science and I've seen it done (and in fact helped do it) at the breeder countless times.

I'm considering doing it myself (with my wife's help since it is helpful to have 2 sets of hands) Do you think its as easy as I think or could I be missing some subtle nuances that wouldn't be obvious to the novice? H

[Carrie]

http://dobermanpages.com/taping.htm

That's the method I used, but I didn't use a brace across the top of the head. My breeder said it isn't necessary and I see that she's right. I also did not use that strong, terribly sticky tape on the outside of the ear to wrap it. I used paper tape and over that vet wrap. However, if you use vet wrap, you have to be extremely careful not to let it get too tight because it will tend to tighten up while on the dog. I would cut the wider size down the length to make it narrower and then I would stretch the livin' daylights out of it before wrapping. Then, after wrapping....about 1/2 hour later, I'd check. If I felt unsure, I'd unwrap the vet wrap and re-do it to make sure. Don't pull on it at all while wrapping. The advantage of this is that you don't have to rip off that strong, sticky tape which pulls their hair and hurts like crazy. This stuff just sort of sticks to itself. And once it's wrapped around, I'd stick one little thin piece of tape to hold it. But again, I caution to be extremely careful and watchful that it is not too tight. This will cut off circulation and the ear can be lost to gangrene. This can happen with any tape, but vet wrap is a thing which tends to tighten up once on. Just check it and don't pull taughtly when you wrap....but enough so it holds, of course.

This tampon method is good. You do need the sticky tape to back-tape the tampon. And you do need to pull it off the ear at changing time. But what happnes is after a few times, the hair in the ear is pretty much not there and there's no more pulling.

To have the ears turn out right, the tampon (the soft part) has to be down in the well of the ear, the floor. And not where the ear canal hole is. It must be seated well and the ear pulled up taughtly around the tampon. The natural little fold on the inner side of the ear must remain with the little fold. Don't flatten it out. Wrap the ear going from the outside of the ear toward the inside...that direction so you keep that little fold intact.

I changed them anytime they got wet from rain and otherwise every 4-5 days, cleaned with soapy water and while he was airing out, prepared the clean posts etc.

When I pulled the end of the tampon out of the cardboard...just a tad to make a soft base, I took some little strips of tape and taped just a tiny bit of the cotton part of the tampon to the adjacent cardboard part to keep the cotton part from pushing back up into the cardboard part. And a little strip in the middle to keep the two parts of the cardboard from slipping....got them just the right length and taped that middle section together. Then back taped.

When the dog gets older, it may be that the tampon isn't long enough to reach the tip. That's when you have to get creative and find something to use as an extender...something to slip into the cardboard end and tape in place, then modify that extender to be rounded and match the size of the tampon.

Some people use weather calking or stripping.....I guess foam rubber? I don't know what this is exactly or if it's fim enough. But you might be able to find out.

The reason I wrote all this is that I haven't looked at that site for a long time. I think she'll go through the directions well. It's an excellent description, I know that.

I had my niece help me the first few times. She held the dog and I was nervous about not getting it in there well enough or wrapping too tightly or too loosely. I was very unsure at first. After about 4 or 5 times, it was a breeze. We were sure to have yummy treats on hand and try not to make a big issue out of it. I would say, "hold it....hold it" lol until he got really good at holding still. Soon, he got so he could be asleep on the couch and I could fix his ears while he dozed. It wasn't a big deal.

The biggest thing to watch for is to make sure you don't get pockets...where the tampon doesn't stay seated down against the floor of the ear or it pops out. You have to fix it right away if that happens. Airing out while you fix the new tampons at changing time is fine. Don't over do it. As time goes, the ears will look like they're standing pretty nicely. Don't get too confident. If they begin to wilt at all, get them posted asap. Keep on posting.

I had to go over these instructions a few times to make sure.

Good luck with your new pup.

[Carrie]

Here are a couple of pictures which show the vet wrap which is over the paper tape.

[theGOOCH]

Thanks Carrie, I'll look over this info. I'm more familiar with the tape and tongue depressor method.

[Carrie]

Personally, I'm afraid of using anything that hard or stiff in case of something happens and having the stick jam down into the ear. Plus it's flat....or do you wrap it so that it is rounded? I like the tampon or the foam calking idea because it's softer. But I know they use to do it that way a lot. Anyhow, best of luck!

[theGOOCH]

It doesn't go in the ear. She does it like this:

1. stretch and tape the ears (just tape)
2. lay the tongue depressor on the outside of the ear (over the tape)
3. Tape around tongue depressor and ear
4. situate ears in upright position and connect the two at the base (like the link you posted)