Taping, worked like a charm... - Page 2 - YorkieTalk.com Forums

My Dog Chopper · 01-15-2009, 06:28 PM

I have wondered about this too, but I was worried about putting the tape on his fur. Also, is it bad for them if their ears don't stand up. Chopper's ears stood up when he was a puppy, but then drooped at about 6 months old. They have been down ever since.

LilMissy · 01-15-2009, 08:27 PM

WOW! Did that ever work well for you! They are adorable!

LauraLove · 01-15-2009, 10:08 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by frecklesnfrills

I was sceptical about taping Piper's ears. When we got her on Christmas Eve. her ears were not up. I read several posts on here about taping, so we purchased blue painters tape and taped her for 24 hours. That's right, 24 hours and her ears have been up since.
Thanks all!

What method did you use to tape them? iv taped bentleys ears and they stay up once i take the tape off but then minutes later they are down again! I also have been using blue painters tape which i like because it is not too sticky.

frecklesnfrills · 01-16-2009, 01:04 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by LauraLove

What method did you use to tape them? iv taped bentleys ears and they stay up once i take the tape off but then minutes later they are down again! I also have been using blue painters tape which i like because it is not too sticky.

I folded the ear in half, long-ways (pinch it together) then tape with the painters tape.
Thanks, Jeana

jeanietoo · 01-16-2009, 01:52 PM

I have owned and bred yorkies for 20 years and never taped an ear yet. I think this a cruel to do. I know it's done by lots of people but if you keep the top of the ear shaved and massage it a couple times a day it will stand if it's going to tape or not. Sometimes during teething they will fold down a little but they will go back up. Some dogs never do stand but I've never had one puppy whese ears didn't stand by 12 weeks

Miao · 01-16-2009, 03:01 PM

I cut a piece of tall triangle out of a business card and wrapped that with masking tape to help keep it's shape and also keep the surface restick/peel-friendly. Place that near base of ear while the tip of triangle nearly reaches tip of her actual ear. Loosely stick a single strip of masking tape across the cut-out and part way behind her trimmed-short back ear hairs (inside of ear also cleared of hair). She doesn't notice a thing, and it's so loosely taped, her ear can breathe plenty well and it seems even with the lightest support, she keeps her ear up perfectly fine. I didn't want any sticky part on her skin and peeling it off didn't really pull at the hairs at the back of the ear much (and I know it didn't hurt her--though it did break off little bits of hair ends--because she used to complain about EVERYTHING). She gets more bothered by hair ties and hair clips but seemed not to notice the taping.

First test it for a few days, then see how well it stands on its own. If it doesn't stay up long, the next round, leave it on longer and resist removing 24/7. Eventually, when I removed it, I also made sure when she was sleeping to manually "correct" her floppy ear. She sometimes gets annoyed with mommy playing with her ears while she's sleeping, so she'd just flip to the other side to sleep so that her lazier ear stands up without any effort on her part. It's generally the one she lays on that gets weaker (the ear the breeder chipped the edge of from a grooming job), but her other ear stood strong because it was taped earlier/longer while I was alternating between the two depending on which flopped more at the time. Also made sure she didn't get to crawl under the covers during that period as I notice her ears get droopy afterwards. I got her late at 4.5 months and at that time her ears were both flopped. I waited a few weeks and decided that while as a puppy, she looked adorable, but I know I'll regret it later if I didn't try to get both ears standing. After watching one flop constantly, sometimes alternating, in her 5th to 6th month, I thought it might have been too late already, so I did leave it longer than before (2-3 days) since she was well over 6 months old by then. Good thing I did, because it makes me proud to see both her ears up all the time now. When I had to do both at the same time, I found putting another piece of tape to connect both ears gave it the added support for making it stand straighter.

At times, you can still tell her left ear is the weaker one as it flops a little when she runs, etc, but as time went by, it seems to have gotten stronger than it was before as long as she stays active and happy, it stays up for mommy. If mommy gets lazy, forcing her to nap more often out of boredom, she scares mommy by threatening to flop her lazier ear!

01-15-2009, 08:27 PM	#17
LilMissy Donating YT 1000 Club Member Join Date: Nov 2008 Location: BC, Canada Posts: 3,421	WOW! Did that ever work well for you! They are adorable! __________________ Shaunna with Missy (my princess) & Dora (my tomboy)

01-15-2009, 06:28 PM	#16
My Dog Chopper YorkieTalk Newbie! Join Date: Mar 2008 Location: New Hampshire Posts: 7	I have wondered about this too, but I was worried about putting the tape on his fur. Also, is it bad for them if their ears don't stand up. Chopper's ears stood up when he was a puppy, but then drooped at about 6 months old. They have been down ever since.

01-16-2009, 01:52 PM	#20
jeanietoo YT 500 Club Member Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: pennsylvania Posts: 783	I have owned and bred yorkies for 20 years and never taped an ear yet. I think this a cruel to do. I know it's done by lots of people but if you keep the top of the ear shaved and massage it a couple times a day it will stand if it's going to tape or not. Sometimes during teething they will fold down a little but they will go back up. Some dogs never do stand but I've never had one puppy whese ears didn't stand by 12 weeks

01-16-2009, 03:01 PM	#21
Miao No Longer a Member Join Date: Jun 2008 Location: Savage Garden Posts: 1,147	I cut a piece of tall triangle out of a business card and wrapped that with masking tape to help keep it's shape and also keep the surface restick/peel-friendly. Place that near base of ear while the tip of triangle nearly reaches tip of her actual ear. Loosely stick a single strip of masking tape across the cut-out and part way behind her trimmed-short back ear hairs (inside of ear also cleared of hair). She doesn't notice a thing, and it's so loosely taped, her ear can breathe plenty well and it seems even with the lightest support, she keeps her ear up perfectly fine. I didn't want any sticky part on her skin and peeling it off didn't really pull at the hairs at the back of the ear much (and I know it didn't hurt her--though it did break off little bits of hair ends--because she used to complain about EVERYTHING). She gets more bothered by hair ties and hair clips but seemed not to notice the taping. First test it for a few days, then see how well it stands on its own. If it doesn't stay up long, the next round, leave it on longer and resist removing 24/7. Eventually, when I removed it, I also made sure when she was sleeping to manually "correct" her floppy ear. She sometimes gets annoyed with mommy playing with her ears while she's sleeping, so she'd just flip to the other side to sleep so that her lazier ear stands up without any effort on her part. It's generally the one she lays on that gets weaker (the ear the breeder chipped the edge of from a grooming job), but her other ear stood strong because it was taped earlier/longer while I was alternating between the two depending on which flopped more at the time. Also made sure she didn't get to crawl under the covers during that period as I notice her ears get droopy afterwards. I got her late at 4.5 months and at that time her ears were both flopped. I waited a few weeks and decided that while as a puppy, she looked adorable, but I know I'll regret it later if I didn't try to get both ears standing. After watching one flop constantly, sometimes alternating, in her 5th to 6th month, I thought it might have been too late already, so I did leave it longer than before (2-3 days) since she was well over 6 months old by then. Good thing I did, because it makes me proud to see both her ears up all the time now. When I had to do both at the same time, I found putting another piece of tape to connect both ears gave it the added support for making it stand straighter. At times, you can still tell her left ear is the weaker one as it flops a little when she runs, etc, but as time went by, it seems to have gotten stronger than it was before as long as she stays active and happy, it stays up for mommy. If mommy gets lazy, forcing her to nap more often out of boredom, she scares mommy by threatening to flop her lazier ear!