His owner reports that he has a great laid-back temperament, and loves their 4 year old son. I love to get reports like this!
I heard from Maverick’s (now Ranger) family too, and I’m waiting on pics…. These reports are what make parting with my sweet puppies bearable.
Mustang, aka Chief, and, you guessed it, Ears
This nearly 6 month old Long-haired GSD puppy’s ears have been up and down. His owner tried the breathe right strips, but had to take them out because he had an insect bite that got sore and he kept scratching it and shaking his head. So, that day, his ears looked like this:
The very next day, without anyone doing anything to the ears, they looked like this:
I hope this gives us all hope! Thank you, Lou, for sending these pics of Mustang, I mean, Chief!
Breathe Right strips for GSD puppy ears
Some breeders have had success with using Breathe Right strips in ears to brace them. In my experience, this only works in limited circumstances. In order for this to work, the ear must be almost up anyway, meaning it is occasionally flopping. And the bend can’t be low on the ear, or at the top either. If it’s at the top, the weight of the strip will make it bend lower on the ear. If it’s too low, the strip isn’t strong enough to hold. If you put in multiple strips, the weight of the strips pulls the ear to the side. So I tried it on See See, because her bend was in the middle, and she did hold it up sometimes.
In this video you can see it holds up pretty well.
I will definitely post with results. Definite advantages with this method, as there isn’t really any likelihood of infection. Also, it is well tolerated. And if it doesn’t work, it’s pretty obvious if the ear is still flopping, or the ear is pulled to the side.
Clyde and See See playing and ears again
Here are a couple of videos of Clyde and See See playing in the yard. See See’s ears look great, even though I had to take the tape off sooner than I had planned due to an infection on the OUTSIDE of her ear. The heat and humidity really is a perfect environment for really hot and fast developing bacterial and fungal infections when there is limited air circulation. Please people, check those ears at least once a day with the sniff test and get that tape off if there is a bad smell. In these videos, the tape has been off about a week, and if you look carefully, you can see there is some hair missing at the base of the left ear. She is in the pink collar. I keep saying this, but I don’t think I will have to retape her ears.
Connie’s ears, retaped
Here is a pic of Connie’s ears after her vet retaped them. The vet watched my videos to learn my method of taping. Vets do ear cropping which is totally different than simply taping ears that won’t stand. I think the vet did a good job, but I would have liked for the ears to be a bit farther apart. The ears don’t need to be immobile, just upright and facing forward. She is such a pretty girl! Thank you to Connies’s mom for the nice pics!
Good news Bad news
Good news: Connie’s ears are up! After just 6 days of tape, the forms got a little dislodged, so her owner had to take all the tape off. And lo and behold, they look perfect! Yay!
Bad news: They fell back down…. They had to be retaped. I don’t have a pic of the retaping. They only lasted a day, and one started to flop. Boooo.
Clyde and See See meet Cash
I like this quick video so I can see the similarities and differences between Clyde and his sire Cash. I also really like Cash’s temperament. He basically ignores Clyde, as he is no threat.
Same with this video, although Cash is a little more interested because See See is female. I really like that See See is confident around a large dog she doesn’t know.
Maverick, aka Ranger
Just got these great pics of Maverick, now called Ranger. His new owner described him as “Seriously handsome. His ears are tall, his tail is long, and he eats like a horse. Well loved.” Thank you Tammy, for taking good care of him and loving him.
Connie’s ears
I have been communicating with Connie’s owner frequently about her ears. She is rightfully concerned that they need taping. After a couple of weeks of up and down , and now mostly down, at 5 months old, we decided to tape. In this video, you can see Connie, who is the only longhair, with her ears flopping around and down before we taped. The puppy with the taped ears is my See See, the male puppy with the ears up is my Clyde, and the smaller and a bit younger puppy with ears up belongs to Vera Symonds of Trademark Kennels. Her name is Meg, and she is a cousin to my litter, because her dam is a sister to Cash, the sire of my litter. The big gentle dog is Cash. Thank you Vera, for letting us meet there to do the ear taping. It was a great afternoon of socializing the puppies, and a perfect halfway point for us to meet.
Connie has had no trouble with adapting to the tape on her ears, her owner reports, after two days so far. See See’s ears have been taped for only about 5 days so far, but this is the third taping for her. Trying to leave it on as long as possible for best results.
Dressy, aka Greta
I really love to get pics! Dressy lives out of state so I haven’t gotten to see her since she left. I’m not sure how much time elapsed between these pics, but check out those ears! Also so glad to hear that she has graduated from her puppy class and learned basic commands, and she is another natural retriever!
