How to get naughty ears in a German Shepherd puppy

Video: Cleaning My German Shepherd Dog’s Ears | How to

Content

Steps
Part 1 of 3: Deciding whether to tie the puppy's ears to set them
Part 2 of 3: Tying the Puppy's Ears
Part 3 of 3: Taking care of your puppy's ears before coiling
Tips
Additional articles

Observing the behavior of a German Shepherd puppy's ears can be quite fun. During the first year of life, his ears can periodically rise and fall again for no particular apparent reason. Eventually, the ears may finally get stronger and become permanently standing, or they may need some help from you to do so. Although it is recommended that the ear tethering procedure be done by an experienced professional if you are confident enough in your own abilities, no one forbids you to tie your puppy's stubborn ears on your own.

Steps

Part 1 of 3: Deciding whether to tie the puppy's ears to set them

1 Pay attention to the structure of your puppy's ears. Understand that the ears of German Shepherd puppies may not be the same. For example, thin ears with insufficient cartilage may not be strong enough to stand up without assistance. On the other hand, thick ears may have enough cartilage and developed muscles to stand up without much difficulty.
- If the ears of the puppy are set wide enough on the head, then he may have some difficulties with setting the ears.
- Small ears are more likely than large ears to stand up on their own.
2 Decide if it is important for your puppy to have ears. Although erect ears are the breed standard for German Shepherds, it is not necessary to strive for your dog to meet these standards. It just depends on your personal preference and desire to meet or not meet standards.
- Due to their structure, erect ears are less prone to ear infections than hanging ears. In addition, erect ears do not need to be cleaned as often as hanging ears (this should be done only once a month, not weekly).
- Hanging ears are prone to ear infections because moisture that gets into them evaporates less well.
- Be aware that not all German Shepherd Dogs have ears. This can be due to the so-called "soft ears", which often leads to other problems with the ears.
- If you are in doubt about your puppy's ears, consult your veterinarian or an experienced German Shepherd breeder.
3 Wait to see if your puppy's ears can stand up on their own. Although there is a possibility of attaching the ears of the German Shepherd Dog for setting, it is preferable that the ears stand up on their own without assistance. However, one cannot wait indefinitely for the moment when the ears stand up. If they haven’t stood by the puppy by 7-8 months, then it is unlikely that after that they will be able to stand up on their own.
- Remember that you cannot be 100% sure that your puppy's ears will fit naturally.
- Some puppies have ears as early as 8 weeks old. For others, only by 6 months. Also, one ear can rise earlier than the other.

Part 2 of 3: Tying the Puppy's Ears

1 Purchase the materials you need. Fortunately, a German Shepherd puppy needs very little to get the ears attached. In fact, you may already have some of the materials you need at home. The first thing you need is a large foam curler. You can buy them at the nearest beauty store.
- Large foam curlers are usually pink in color, however, when choosing the right product, you should not rely on color, but on the correct size.
- Alternatively, you can purchase a small electrical tubing from your local hardware store. If you decide to use an insulating tube, know that its diameter should roughly correspond to the diameter of large foam rubber curlers.
- You will also need a patch. The type of adhesive used is very important! It is best to take a white surgical patch for this purpose (Micropore patch, 5 cm wide), which can be purchased at your nearest pharmacy. You can also use masking tape, but this is a less preferable option than surgical tape.
- Not use duct tape or duct tape to cover your ears. These are overly sticky materials and can damage your puppy's ears.
- You will also need medical glue (it is recommended to use Skin Bond glue) and 1-2 pencils without sharpening. It is not recommended to use false eyelash glue.
- In addition, you will need a wooden ice cream stick, with which you connect the two ears strapped to each other.
2 Prepare the foam curlers to fit inside the puppy's ears. Take out the center axis from them. Then insert a pencil into the opened hole with a roughness of about 2.5 cm (this will help you stabilize the curlers when placed in the ear. Next, you need to treat ¾ of the curler circumference with medical glue.
- Apply the adhesive so that it covers the surface of the curler, but does not start to drip. Too much glue can enter the ear canal and cause irritation. In addition, glue can drip on your hands, making it difficult for you to work further.
- If you are uncomfortable with using glue, you can instead wrap the curlers with adhesive tape with the adhesive side out. When using the patch, you will not the need to use a pencil.
3 Insert the curlers into your puppy's ear. It is very important to place the curlers correctly so as not to block the ear canal or impair your puppy's ability to hear sounds. The curlers should be positioned at the bottom of the ear, but leave a two-finger gap between the puppy's head and the bottom edge of the curlers.
- It will be helpful to lightly press the ear against the curler so that the inner surface of the ear adheres to the glue or tape.
4 Cover the ear with the curlers with plaster. Hold the pencil sticking out of the curler and lean your ear against the curler. Continuing to hold the pencil, begin wrapping the ear in a circle with the tape (while moving from top to bottom to the very end).It is necessary to wrap the plaster around the ears tightly enough, but not too tightly, as this can not only cause discomfort for the puppy, but also block the blood circulation in the ear.
- Before the very end of the procedure for pasting the ear with a plaster, carefully remove the pencil from the curler.
- Even if the puppy already has one ear, it is recommended to tape both ears at once.
5 Stabilize your coiled ears. Place an ice cream stick on the back of both ears and secure with tape or glue. The stick will connect the puppy's ears, which will stabilize their standing position when coiled.
6 Take your puppy away from the ears. The puppy will probably try to free its ears as soon as you strap them on. If you can distract the puppy for about 5 minutes, that should be enough for the glue or tape inside the ears to adhere well enough. You can distract the dog with feeding or a few minutes of play.
- Puppies are naturally very active, so trying to force the puppy to sit quietly while the glue or plaster grabs may not work. If you attract your puppy to the activity he likes, it will (at least temporarily) distract his attention from his ears.
7 Keep ears tied for 10-14 days. It can take up to two weeks for the ears to stabilize while standing. During this period, the puppy will probably be able to get rid of the stick of ice cream glued to the ears, and he may even try to rip the patch off his ears. This is most likely in the first 24 hours after the initial ear wrapping procedure.
- If you notice that the patch starts to unwind or the stick that holds the ears falls off, fix the problem in time.
- If it starts raining when you walk with the dog, cover your puppy's ears with a plastic bag.
- Consider removing the headband from your puppy's ears after 7 days to check if the ears are standing up. If this has not happened yet, rewind them.
8 Remove the stick and tape from your ears. It is recommended that you use an adhesive solvent to remove the patch from your puppy's ears. You can find a similar product at a hardware store. Using the solvent supplied instructions, slowly and carefully remove the patch from the puppy's ears and remove the curlers from the ears.
- Do not sharply tear off the glue and inadvertently pull the curlers out of your ears. This will hurt the puppy and may also damage the inner lining of the ears.
- Don't worry if your puppy's ears do not stand up straight after the curling procedure. The ears may still be somewhat weak, but they will get stronger over time.

Part 3 of 3: Taking care of your puppy's ears before coiling

1 Do not tuck your puppy's ears too early. For attaching the ears of a German Shepherd puppy, it is recommended to wait until the milk teeth start to change (approximately at the age of 3-5 months). You can even wait until the end of the changeover period (up to about 7 months) before resorting to this procedure. Reattaching the ears too early can damage them to the point where they can no longer stand up.
- Due to the active consumption of calcium by the puppy's body during the period of teeth change, his ears can periodically rise and fall again.
- If you are not sure when exactly is the right time to tape your puppy's ears, consult your veterinarian.
2 Provide your puppy's ears with extra calcium. During the period of changing teeth, it is likely that the puppy will have an active intake of calcium in the body. Without adequate calcium intake, the puppy's ears may experience problems with positioning. Slightly increasing calcium sources in your puppy's diet (in the form of 1 tablespoon of cottage cheese or yogurt for each feed) will help manage calcium deficiency.
- Don't give your puppy calcium supplements, even if you really want it.Excess calcium can be deposited in the puppy's bones and lead to orthopedic problems in the long term (for example, spurs and arthritis later in life).
- You can consult your veterinarian for advice on how to provide your puppy with extra calcium.
3 Monitor your puppy's health. Your puppy's overall health plays an important role in the health and strength of his ears. First of all, you need to monitor compliance with the schedule of vaccinations and deworming. You should also feed your pet a well-balanced, high quality puppy food.
4 Encourage your puppy to use his ear muscles. If you notice that one day your puppy's ears stand up and the next day they fall down again, make the puppy use his ears more and more. The more often your puppy tries to lift his ears, the tighter his ear muscles will become, and this will increase the likelihood that the ears will stand up on their own. Try making sounds that are interesting to the puppy (for example, turning on the horn of the car, clapping your hands, ringing the bell), so that he starts to raise his ears.
- It is also helpful to have the puppy chew on bones and safe toys. This movement strengthens the muscles at the base of the puppy's ears.
5 Protect your German Shepherd puppy's ears from injury. Damage to the ears can prevent them from being placed directly. Contrary to popular belief, massage the base of the ears not contributes to their strengthening. In fact, massage, rubbing, and playing with your puppy's ears can cause injury.
- If your puppy sleeps in a crate, make sure that he does not press his head against the wall during sleep. This sleeping position can injure your ears.
- Puppies can drag each other by the ears during play. If you have more than one puppy, make sure that the pets grab each other by the ears as little as possible.
- Clean your puppy's ears regularly. You can buy special ear cleaners at your pet store. How exactly to clean your puppy's ears should be consulted with your veterinarian.

Tips

If you are worried that you will not be able to properly rewire your puppy's ears, consider contacting your veterinarian for this procedure.
It will be convenient to have someone hold the puppy while you wrap around his ears.