# Cheap solution to fix broken ears in an ADULT GSDs.



## Mickeynads

Hi All,

We already asked before about a solution to fix our girl's broken ear and everyone said it was impossible 

Just a reminder. Our girl had her ears up since she was a pup. Then by 6-7 months, one of the ears started to go up and down till about 14 months, it was completely down and never up. We tried everything (so we thought): chewing bones and toys, glucosamine and chondroitine tablets, cheese, yoghourt, rubbing her ears, and you name it and nothing worked. Our girl had a visible deep crease in her ear from where the ear was down for so long. Since cartilages are like bones and need to be held in place to be fixed, we decided to think of something that would hold the ear straight and remove the crease. So I came up with this very simple cheap way that perfectly worked for us and the crease has completely gone 
After a while, I did some research and found that some vet in the States has brought out a similar technique but charges nearly $300 or so for it!!!
In reality, this technique would cost you about $5-15 at max for 3-4 months of treating the ears!! Here is a video I've made for you guys and I really hope it helps and really sorry for the video quality, it's my very first upload 






Also, here are some pics of before the fix, during the fix and after. As you can see, our girl's ear is perfectly fixed and standing on its own for months now yet we started really late when she was about 14 months and she's now 20 months. We still keep applying it even though the ear is standing perfectly just to make sure the cartilage gets stronger and stronger.

I recommend doing it as long as possible, specially if your dog is not a pup anymore, at least minimum 8-12 months.
This technique is very suitable for puppies as well since it's very light for the ear. This may also work in other breeds too since the principle is the same for broken cartilages.

Good luck and really really hope this helps you with your dog's ears. Let us know


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## MaggieRoseLee

Thanks for making a video, hopefully this can help some other dogs.


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## Mickeynads

Your very welcome  Really hope it helps out a lot of people like it did for us


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## Msmaria

Great video, this will defintely be able to help others here with the same issues. Did your dogs teeth ever grow in? I have a dog also missing teeth.


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## Mickeynads

Thanks a lot Msmaria  Unfortunately Enakai has still 2 missing teeth (P1 teeth). I've read in another post someone had their dogs P1 teeth growing after 2 years of age, so I'll wait and see with fingers crossed


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## mkelley2

Thank you for the video very. 


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## mkelley2

Helpful 


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## Eiros

Sounds a lot like the problem we have with our pup... Ear flipping up and down constantly with no change from 6-8 months... Might give this a try! Thank you!


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## Mickeynads

Your welcome all 



Eiros said:


> Sounds a lot like the problem we have with our pup... Ear flipping up and down constantly with no change from 6-8 months... Might give this a try! Thank you!
> 
> 
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I think the sooner you start fixing your pup's ear, the better it is. We thought at the same age that the floppy ear would still stand on its own and instead it got worse and once it was fully down, it never went up again and we were told it never will.. At least your pup's ear is still going up so you should definitively start doing something now before the crease in its ear gets deeper (if it has one now), this will make things a lot easier for you guys, rather than waiting like we did. I really hope it helps you if you try it


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## LynnPritchard

This is wonderful. Thanks for taking the time to make and post the video! I'm doing the pipe insulation and paper surgical tape method now, with apparent success. However, if that ultimately fails, I'm going to try your plan next! Thanks!


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## HarrietHouse

*Thanks!*

Thanks for this video! We'll have to try this. We've tried everything too. Our Odin had both ears up before teething, then both ears down while teething, then only one came up. Looks just like your girl - and he's a long coated too. We've shaved his ears, tried breath right, we've done Tee pee method (which has worked for him, but his ear falls down in 1-2 days after). Even cardboard glued into his ear. We think he smooshed it while sleeping since he ALWAYS sleeps on his left side. He's 8 mo. right now - and we've been trying off and on since 6 mo. My husband, trainers, friends are adament that we don't mess with him anymore. It's "character". He's from a 30yr. old show breeder...and looks like a mutt (especially since he's long coated)  at the end of the day I don't really care because he is a goof and it fit him, but still - he just looks so good when both are up and alert.


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## LynnPritchard

*Ears!*

Harriet, he's ADORABLE! But, I'd be right with you in wanting that ear up. I pray that our puppy's will be okay. He'll be 6 months on the 13th of this month. We're doing the pipe insulation and tape route from the Leerburg site, and it appears to be helping. But, he knocks it all down at night and then his ears tend to be back down. So stressful. I'll bet that you've still go a real shot at 8 months. I'm going to try the method from the video if we don't have good result by 6.5 months, I think.

I attached a photo of our current efforts. Trappe is a large pup (69 lbs at 5.5 months) with huge, heavy, soft ears.

Good luck!


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## Eiros

Will look for the supplies for this in the next few days... We've been putting strips in the ear at night because it falls when he's resting, tired, or asleep and the strips keep the ear up all night long but don't seem to flatten the crease enough to make a difference the next day. Been doing this for a few weeks and his ear seems floppier than ever! It also flops all around when he walks and plays... It's just so soft. :-( 


























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## LynnPritchard

It's so hard to know what's going to happen! How old is your pup? SO cute!


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## Eiros

LynnPritchard said:


> It's so hard to know what's going to happen! How old is your pup? SO cute!


He is a little over 8 months! A sweet and cute boy but just so handsome with standing ears! I'm hoping if this method flattens the crease enough and stays in long enough, the ear can start to harden in the "up" position. When I go to put the strips in, he sits calmly but always folds his ear back, thus it's hard for me flatten the crease completely.

Never gone through this much trouble for ears before! 


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## LynnPritchard

It sounds a though you may need to pull out the stops and do everything you can at this point, since I've seen "7-8 months" as the outside time for having success. However, the person with the video seems to have achieved success well after that time. I'm totally with you....we have to get these ears right; they're too handsome to have floppy ears. Trappe is my fourth shepherd, and we've never had "ear issues" before. Nothing is ever easy, is it?? Have you read the ear article on the Leerburg.com site? It has some good information, and that's where I got the pipe insulation and surgical tape method. Breathe Rite wasn't even close: ears too heavy. Anyway, I'm going to try the video method if my current efforts don't work. He typically gets his ears mostly up for an entire day but then either one or both drops again.


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## Mickeynads

Hi everyone, 
Well we tried the pipe insulation and tape trick but it seemed to be really bugging and irritating for our girl. She would not leave it alone and kept on pulling it off and we also tried the nose strips but she got a rash from them. With the technic of the card and medical tape, it seems like it never irritated our girl's ear and it's not bugging her neither or make her scratch her hear since it's quite light and very easy to remove yet it keeps the ear straight and nice. Also it's very discrete.
It's taken a while to get the ear up on our girl and the crease to completely disappear. I've been keeping the card and tape in for 2 days max or if i see it's coming apart a bit i'll change it and i've done this for a few months non stop. Also try a thicker and wider bit of card for the first few weeks or if your dog's ears are heavy then move to a thinner piece after a month min. Make sure that you keep the crease straight. The card REALLY needs to stay in there all the time, take it off only to change it and put a new one straight away. Try not to let the ear fall back down (pre-make the change). With our girl we thought it was not going to work at first as after about 2 weeks we left it out to see how it was looking. It was staying up for about 2 / 3 hours then falling down, so i started to read up a bit about cartilage and healing times, from what i read cartilages take a real long time to heal due to having a deprived blood supply, which means that nutrients that help in healing are not readily obtainable. So once i read that, i was more determined to keep at it and get her ear up. It's been about 4-5 months I've been doing it and i am still doing it now even though the ear never falls down when i remove the card (even after a day without the tape) and the deep crease has completely gone. I keep on doing it because i want to make sure its healed up really good, just like a leg break or arm you have to keep it in place for a prolonged period for it to work. 
Really really hope which ever technic you try, it works for you


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## HarrietHouse

So cute. it's those **** BIG ears!! Odin is the same. Just huge ears + hair. It was a travesty for me to cut a lot of his hair off around his ear. My breeder was happy, but I was sobbing. I like his fluffy, crimpy hair around his ears.


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## LynnPritchard

Mickey, you're wonderful! What would we do without help from our online friends? Many, many thanks for the additional information and your terrific encouragement. I continue to think that Trappe's ears may yet just be coming up on their own, but I don't dare take the chance and miss our window for getting them right. I think that I'll make up a stack of the cards in advance and have them at the ready.

What was the brand/width of the tape you used in the video?

Thanks!!


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## Eiros

Here's Warden's ear using this fix. It's been in since last night. Will use this method for the next few months and go from there... Yesterday his ear would hardly stand! 

























I wasn't able to find the tape in the video though, even after contacting 3M (which looked like the brand) so I used moleskin. So far it's holding.


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## LynnPritchard

I just ordered some self-stick tape called Mefix (4" wide and 11' long roll), which I believe may be what the gentleman in France used in his video with the tape and card. Good luck with the moleskin! Which moleskin product exactly are you using?


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## LynnPritchard

By the way, I found this particular tape, Mefix Self-Adhesive Fabric Tape - 4" x 11 yds. - Molnlycke 311099, by talking to a medical supply business and describing the tape as best I found. She thought it might be this product, which comes in several different widths. I ordered it yesterday from Amazon.com. I'll let you know if it appears to be the right thing. Amazon says that it has been shipped.


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## Eiros

LynnPritchard said:


> By the way, I found this particular tape, Mefix Self-Adhesive Fabric Tape - 4" x 11 yds. - Molnlycke 311099, by talking to a medical supply business and describing the tape as best I found. She thought it might be this product, which comes in several different widths. I ordered it yesterday from Amazon.com. I'll let you know if it appears to be the right thing. Amazon says that it has been shipped.


Oh great! Very anxious to hear! The moleskin is just dr scholls, it comes in sheets so it's easy to cut. I got it bc I'm a runner and use it because it sticks well. Basically the stickiness is my biggest hurdle so far... Nothing seems to stay very long! The moleskin is ok but is a felt material on one side so taping the card to it doesn't seem to be working that well. Hoping you have good luck w the tape!! 


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## LynnPritchard

I'll let you know for sure. I just grabbed some of the moleskin. Might we be able to "layer" the moleskin with the card in between? Maybe even with three layers of moleskin, stuck to itself? I'm going to see if that would work while I await the Mefix tape.


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## Eiros

LynnPritchard said:


> I'll let you know for sure. I just grabbed some of the moleskin. Might we be able to "layer" the moleskin with the card in between? Maybe even with three layers of moleskin, stuck to itself? I'm going to see if that would work while I await the Mefix tape.


That might work?! Try it out and see if it's too stiff... I just changed the insert because the card fell off and the moleskin was lifting at the bottom a little... Plus I wanted to try making it smaller. But two layers of moleskin sounds like it might work, because the edges around the card would be flexible but the card would still hold the ear straight!


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## LynnPritchard

Well, that was a bust for me! The moleskin didn't stick to Trappe's ear! I expect to receive the Mefix tape this week, so I'll give it a try and let you know. Will take a photo, too. Trappe is still teething and will be 6 mo old tomorrow, so I'm still praying that I'm unnecessarily worried and that this will sort itself out.....but we'll see. Tired of worrying about ears!!

Good luck at your end!


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## Eiros

LynnPritchard said:


> Well, that was a bust for me! The moleskin didn't stick to Trappe's ear! I expect to receive the Mefix tape this week, so I'll give it a try and let you know. Will take a photo, too. Trappe is still teething and will be 6 mo old tomorrow, so I'm still praying that I'm unnecessarily worried and that this will sort itself out.....but we'll see. Tired of worrying about ears!!
> 
> Good luck at your end!


You've got a lot more hope than I do... Mine is 8 months! Odd about the moleskin, mine sticks no problem as long as I clean the ear first! 
Let me know about the tape!! 


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## LynnPritchard

Well, the man in France whose process we're chasing around, had success considerably after your 8 mo, so don't despair!


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## LynnPritchard

And I don't know why my moleskin didn't stick. I cleaned his ear ( as directed by the video!). I wasn't sure about the set of his ear after I got one in, as the piece sort of made his ear stick out to the side a bit. So, I had decided to go back to my pipe insulation with the "goalposts", which keep everything in perfect alignment. When I got ready to remove the moleskin, it came right out very easily, so I don't think it would have held up. Did you use the moleskin "padding" or some other version? Maybe I had the wrong thing.


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## Eiros

LynnPritchard said:


> And I don't know why my moleskin didn't stick. I cleaned his ear ( as directed by the video!). I wasn't sure about the set of his ear after I got one in, as the piece sort of made his ear stick out to the side a bit. So, I had decided to go back to my pipe insulation with the "goalposts", which keep everything in perfect alignment. When I got ready to remove the moleskin, it came right out very easily, so I don't think it would have held up. Did you use the moleskin "padding" or some other version? Maybe I had the wrong thing.


Yeah it was the moleskin padding I think... it feels like a felt. It's Meijer brand... you might not have Meijer where you are. Im really hoping the tape works for you, my pup also has a vet visit to see if there's anything else that would work better. The moleskin is ok but when I go to peel it off, some areas are really "stuck" and I dont want to irritate his ears. I peel off the support when changing it, when one area "pops" off or creases due to his crazy ear movements, or when he goes to daycare, because I need to talk to the owner about letting him play with it on.

SIGH! Such ear drama


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## LynnPritchard

You've probably found most of the same things I have on this site, but I found this from several years ago this AM:

_You don't need to buy fancy forms to do the ears, I use pipe insulating foam. You can get it at most hardware stores in the plumbing aisle, Home Depot, Ace Hardware, etc. You will also need Johnson's Sports Tape, you can purchase it at Walgreens, make sure you use Johnson's, I have tried other brands and gotten skin reactions, never with Johnson's. If you intend to glue, you will need to purchase a can of skin bond, or I believe it's called "Osto Bond" now, you can usually find that at any medical supply store, some pharmacies also carry it, but you won't find it at the drug store (like Walgreens or CVS). You'll also want to have an exacto knife available. So, to begin with , you will want to take the foam and cut a piece the length of your dog's ear, making sure you cut it long enough to fit down into the base all the way to the tip of the ear. Coat the back of the foam with the skin bond, also coat the inside of the ear with the glue. Firmly press the foam into the ear, making sure you get it all the way into the base, smooth the ear around the foam. Now the tricky part, you'll want to cut the foam with the exacto knife to the shape of the ear, so when you're done, the dog will just have a piece of foam glued to the shape of his ear, not a big round piece hanging in there. (wish I had some pictures!!) Next, use the sports tape and wrap it around the ear to secure the foam, it will be itchy while the glue is setting, the tape will help secure it for a couple of days. I always like to do the other ear as well, even if it's standing, them brace them together while the glue sets up. So for the good ear, you can use the foam, cut an appropriate length, use the sports tape and run it down the foam, then turn the tape so it's sticky side out and wrap it back up the other way. Place that in the dog's good ear and wrap the ear with tape. Now you need to cut a longer length of tape, start at the base of one ear with it, go accross the top of the head and wrap the base of the other ear, back accross the top of the head to the 1st ear, this braces the ears together. Make sure you are careful with the set of the ears while bracing, don't pull them too tight together so they'll be overset, try and get them in a natural position. You can also add another strip of tape on top of the 1st piece that's at the base, just to make sure it holds. I will usually keep the tape on for a couple days, just to make sure the glue is set. You can then remove the tape and form from the good ear and the tape that you have around the bad ear, the foam will remain glued in the bad ear for several weeks. Just watch that he's holding the ear properly on the head, if he starts hanging the ear, you will want to brace them together again. Also, try and have someone available to help you, you will definitely need the extra set of hands!!! Good luck, I have been taping ears this way for over 20 years with good success._

I've been running around like a chicken with its head cut off, buying every product which sounds promising. Tape didn't come today. Will let you know.

I tried the Breathe Rite strips early on with no success, because Trappe's ears are so large and heavy. However, I didn't think to glue them in or to use multiplex in X patterns or whatever. I may also revisit that, perhaps in combination with the Dr. Scholl's molefoam padding, if the other doesn't work.


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## Eiros

Haha I feel the same way, running around like crazy. I dont feel like I can do the foam pipe with tape goalposts because he goes to daycare 3-4x a week!! So thats a no go... Im not sure how to balance taping the ear and getting him to daycare... he wont be able to play with other dogs with a crazy ear setup. 

I used to cut the breathe-rite strips in half and place each piece in the ear side by side along the crease. It would last overnight and then in the morning I'd take them off and he'd come home after daycare and I'd put new ones in.

Ward's ear STANDS, but not all the time. It's up when he's training, walking, (unless he's pinning them back) chewing, etc. If he's at rest in any way, down it goes, and down it stays!! If I dont reinforce the ear at night, I have a heck of time getting the ear to come back up in the morning.

I've been doing moleskin with card on top, and more moleskin to cover the card. Then I tape over the whole thing, with the tape being larger than the bottom moleskin layer. So the tape covers more ear and yet isnt so stiff and heavy that he scratches it out, but holds the moleskin-card rig in place. So far only doing this at night and all the time on weekends.

I'm honestly not sure what else to do because of his daycare schedule. Going to see what the vet says too. 

SIGH!


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## LynnPritchard

It's so hard when you're either not with the dog all the time OR if he has to be in a crate at night. Whenever Trappe is in his crate, he comes out in the AM with insulation and tape and ears flying every which way, which cannot be helpful. Fortunately, he seldom has to sleep in the crate anymore. In thinking this through, I imagine that were the insulation and goal posts a more "fixed" arrangement (such that it didn't come down quite so frequently and easily), it might be as good as any other method for holding the ears up. I can get the whole contraption nicely in place with good ear set. The "glued in" plans seem good, but the whole glue thing makes me nervous, for fear I'll do it wrong and be stuck with whatever I did (no pun intended). I also worry about ear set: when I briefly tried the tape and card, his ear sort of went out to the side, which is not a good look. It seems I'd have to do the card/tape along with some sort of lateral support for proper set.

My email is [email protected], and my cell is 804-241-3053. If you can send me your email, I'll send you a photo I found of a tape or moleskin/foam with Breathe Rite strips AND lateral support. I don't know how to send it through this website. Or, I can try harder to figure that out, too! Looks like a good plan, if I could make it work. I think that I'd set it up so that the strings could be tied in the middle to adjust ear set.

LORD....all of this is too complicated and stressful! And I can just see other dogs diving with glee for this contraption at doggy daycare. Can your "handlers" keep that from happening??

I'm attaching a photo of Trappe with his insulation and goalposts. Probably sent earlier, but just to be sure.


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## LynnPritchard

I figured out how to attach the other photo. This is NOT Trappe but is from something I found while searching this site for earlier posts. It is my understanding that this person used the Breathe Rite strips sandwiched within the tape or foam or whatever it is. She (or he) also sandwiched the string as well. Seems very labor intensive but may work! Boy, if it falls out, another few hours shot to ****!


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## Mickeynads

Hello everyone,

I have to apologize first for the delay in replying to you all about the tape i use (you can all give me an ear bashing if you want  )
Here is a pic of the tape I'm using: it's called "Medipore Soft Cloth Surgical Tape on Liner". It's a very soft, light tape that will not irritate your dog's ear but in some cases, you might want to remove some of the hair inside your dog's ear to make sure it sticks good enough.
Here's a pic of my dog today (without the tape  ) and as you can see, her ear is perfectly standing nice and firm.
Also, we've been taking her to the river to swim, she's been completely soaked from head to toe and the weight of the water on the ear didn't make it drop down so we're really happy about it. 
Please let me know if you need any more info and we'll try to reply ASAP.
Good luck all


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## LynnPritchard

I just posted a reply without logging in, so you may see it or you may not. In any case, another woman on the site and I have been madly corresponding via email and phone and have tried a number of variations on your theme. We have generally been successful, and you sent us in the right direction. We actually ended up going the glue route, as we couldn't identify a tape which would hold consistently. We watched your video endlessly trying to identify the type of tape you were using. I ended up using foam pipe insulation cut into the appropriate length, wrapped with adhesive tape, and glued into the ears using a surgical glue. It worked well for the most part. Both ears are up, though one is weaker than the other, and both "bounce" at the tips when he runs. But, they're UP! My friend's dog had one ear down, and she has used your method to success and for the most part has the ear up. We'll keep you posted!


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## LynnPritchard

And great news on your girl's ears being up!! Well done!


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## Mickeynads

Lynn so glad you found a way to get them stuck up and again i am really sorry for the late reply. So happy for your friend as well make sure you tell her to keep it in and never let the ear go back down for a min 6 / 7 months. We have just stopped using it now and that's been about 8 months never leaving it out and its bouncing around when she runs as well, but she's been swimming jumping in and out the water and it never went down once and that's been 2 / 3 times i've took her down the river and i think the more time its up the more stronger it will get. Congrats to you as well getting yours up.


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## mydogs

Mickeynads said:


> Hello everyone,
> 
> 
> 
> I have to apologize first for the delay in replying to you all about the tape i use (you can all give me an ear bashing if you want  )
> 
> Here is a pic of the tape I'm using: it's called "Medipore Soft Cloth Surgical Tape on Liner". It's a very soft, light tape that will not irritate your dog's ear but in some cases, you might want to remove some of the hair inside your dog's ear to make sure it sticks good enough.
> 
> Here's a pic of my dog today (without the tape  ) and as you can see, her ear is perfectly standing nice and firm.
> 
> Also, we've been taking her to the river to swim, she's been completely soaked from head to toe and the weight of the water on the ear didn't make it drop down so we're really happy about it.
> 
> Please let me know if you need any more info and we'll try to reply ASAP.
> 
> Good luck all


How long total did it take taping? My pup is just 6 months and I'm using breathe right strips on his left ear for about a month now. It fell out last tues ear was up for 2 days then tip flopped again. So strips back in. He's still teething as well. Thanks!



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## Eiros

Hi Mickey, I'm Lynn's friend! Thanks for posting the tape info and for messaging it to me as well! It's been a long road with these ears! The cartilage in the "bad" ear is still soft compared to the other, but the inserts have helped because the ear stays up at night, when it used to crease badly and fall. Here are some pics for comparison! I used your method, and gluing. The last one was taken just yesterday, and you can see the crease is not visible sandy more! The ear is still soft, and I've since put the insert back in. 


































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## HarleyTheGSD

This video was extremely helpful! 
I couldn't hear very well, could you tell me what supplies you used? 
My 19 month old male's right ear is not completely broken, but it doesn't stand completely erect either.


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## Mickeynads

mydogs said:


> How long total did it take taping? My pup is just 6 months and I'm using breathe right strips on his left ear for about a month now. It fell out last tues ear was up for 2 days then tip flopped again. So strips back in. He's still teething as well. Thanks!
> 
> 
> 
> Sent from Petguide.com Free App


Hi,

We've been keeping it in for the past 8 months (our girl is 2 next week). I'd really keep it in till he's done teething and maybe a bit longer to make sure the cartilage gets strong. Hope this helps.


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## Mickeynads

Eiros said:


> Hi Mickey, I'm Lynn's friend! Thanks for posting the tape info and for messaging it to me as well! It's been a long road with these ears! The cartilage in the "bad" ear is still soft compared to the other, but the inserts have helped because the ear stays up at night, when it used to crease badly and fall. Here are some pics for comparison! I used your method, and gluing. The last one was taken just yesterday, and you can see the crease is not visible sandy more! The ear is still soft, and I've since put the insert back in.



Hi,
Your welcome 
Soo happy you managed to get his ear up. I know what you mean by it's been a long road. Never thought we were gonna see the end of it. The ear is gonna be softer than the other one but longer you keep the ear straight, and stronger the ear will get. It takes some time so i'd keep it in longer. 
By the way your dog is gorgeous


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## Mickeynads

HarleyTheGSD said:


> This video was extremely helpful!
> I couldn't hear very well, could you tell me what supplies you used?
> My 19 month old male's right ear is not completely broken, but it doesn't stand completely erect either.


Sorry for the bad quality of the video, I'll try to make a better one. The tape is called "Medipore Soft Cloth Surgical Tape on Liner". I use a bit of card and place it in between 2 pieces of the tape (like in the video) and I trim it to an oval shape to fit the ear.
Use dog wipes to clean the inside and make sure the ear is really dry before you put the tape in.
Some people had some problems with the tape sticking so you might want to remove the hair inside the ear before taping or use surgical glue.
Good luck, really hope you get it fixed.


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## Eiros

Mickeynads said:


> Hi,
> 
> Your welcome
> 
> Soo happy you managed to get his ear up. I know what you mean by it's been a long road. Never thought we were gonna see the end of it. The ear is gonna be softer than the other one but longer you keep the ear straight, and stronger the ear will get. It takes some time so i'd keep it in longer.
> 
> By the way your dog is gorgeous



Thank you! Yeah, he's 11 months now, and I'll continue to work on the ear until it behaves like the other one! Hopefully it's not much longer!


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## Daisy

Wonder if this would work on a hematoma damaged ear? My male had surgery for one and the tip of his ear did not go back up. I'll watch this. Thanks.


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## Mickeynads

Eiros said:


> Thank you! Yeah, he's 11 months now, and I'll continue to work on the ear until it behaves like the other one! Hopefully it's not much longer!
> 
> 
> Sent from Petguide.com Free App


Oh he's only 11 months, he's got loads more growing to do so it should be up just like the other one.
Keep us updated


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## Mickeynads

Daisy said:


> Wonder if this would work on a hematoma damaged ear? My male had surgery for one and the tip of his ear did not go back up. I'll watch this. Thanks.


This method should work for any damaged cartilage-based ears problems. Can you tell us a bit more about your dog. Do you have any pics?


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## mydogs

Mickeynads said:


> Hi,
> 
> 
> 
> We've been keeping it in for the past 8 months (our girl is 2 next week). I'd really keep it in till he's done teething and maybe a bit longer to make sure the cartilage gets strong. Hope this helps.



Thanks! I plan on keeping it in. He's teething pretty bad last few days a lot of teeth missing and bloody gums


Sent from Petguide.com Free App


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## Mickeynads

Hi all  how is everything going with the ears? Enakai seems even better now. Her ear appears to be stronger and stronger. Here are some pics of her this morning running and we stopped using the tape for almost a month now


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## LynnPritchard

*Ears*

We've had the appliance out of his ear for weeks now, and all is well. Trappe is 10 month old, and we worked on the ear from age 4 mo to probably about 8 mo. His ear is up virtually all of the time and appears to be getting stronger all the time. Strangely, if he is nervous or unhappy, he will let the upper part of the weak ear drop to the side, but he quickly brings it back up. Both ears are still bouncy when he runs, and maybe that will improve or not. He looks great though, and your general plan is what got us moving in the right direction. Thanks for your wonderful help!


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## HappyFurKid

Beautiful dog and beautiful ears! lol


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## LynnPritchard

Thank you!! Much work went into this result!!


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## Mickeynads

LynnPritchard said:


> We've had the appliance out of his ear for weeks now, and all is well. Trappe is 10 month old, and we worked on the ear from age 4 mo to probably about 8 mo. His ear is up virtually all of the time and appears to be getting stronger all the time. Strangely, if he is nervous or unhappy, he will let the upper part of the weak ear drop to the side, but he quickly brings it back up. Both ears are still bouncy when he runs, and maybe that will improve or not. He looks great though, and your general plan is what got us moving in the right direction. Thanks for your wonderful help!


That's a great job Lynn, I'm so happy for you  I think with more and more time, it should get a lot stronger. Keep us updated


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## workingk9_Ohio

Thanks so much for this! I just got a 20 month old bitch and her left ear will go up sometimes, but is usually down, like the first pic of your girl. I'm going to give this a go.

Carey


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## critterlady

Thank you for posting this video! I'm going to try this on my 9mo old gsd Zeus, I couldn't find the tape you used, I saw someone else post they were using moleskin since they couldn't find the tape, so I used moleskin. Zeus got a sore on the outer part of his ear where it creases and now has a scar from it, the inner part of his other ear got sore at the crease, my vet told me to use antibiotic ointment and there wasn't much else to do, so I hope this works! Zeus' ears have been up and down, but never for very long, I've included some pictures of him prior to applying the fix and after, really praying this works!


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## LynnPritchard

You can do this! Another member and I spent weeks talking on the site and then ultimately on the phone and directly via email, and we have both of our dogs with their ears fully erect. It's a laborious process, but it works!! If you read through all of the posts on this particular site/link, you will see our thoughts and process. She did one way and I did another, but we both achieved success. Please feel free to call me directly on my cell if you like. I'm sure that the other member would be happy to help you as well: Lynn Pritchard 804-241-3053. Good luck and persevere!


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## critterlady

Thank you, so far so good, I haven't noticed any skin irritation from the adhesive and he doesn't seem to mind them being in his ears, so we're going ahead with it, I didn't mind his floppy ears, but when I saw the sores on the creases I knew I had to do something!


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## workingk9_Ohio

*4 month update*



workingk9_Ohio said:


> Thanks so much for this! I just got a 20 month old bitch and her left ear will go up sometimes, but is usually down, like the first pic of your girl. I'm going to give this a go.
> 
> Carey


My girl is 24 months old now and I have been posting her ears with moleskin and a piece of those snore strips for 4 months. There was a period of about 4 days a couple weeks ago where they came out and her ear stayed erect the entire time...so I put the moleskin/nasal strip back in and plan to keep up the process for a solid 6 months to ensure her ear stays standing. You have to be vigilant, but I really think it will work....her left ear was completely flopped in half at 20 months when I got her and now at 24 months, they are both standing fully erect after 4 months of posting.


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## Mickeynads

*Update after 7 months*

Hey All,

Your very welcome  How are your dog's ears? Here is an update of Enakai after 7 months of stopping using the tape. Her ear seems a lot stronger now.


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## Abbey'sMom

Will this process work on an older dog, she will be 3 in April, soft ears im convinced because she had underlying health issues that were unknown to us at the time her ears would have normally gone up. Since being diagnosed in May and treated, back at a good weight, do you think it may still work?

still likes to chew on Nylabone etc...on a great diet.

or should we just let this go because of her condition and age?


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## dolf

Hi! Is it possible to fix my german shepherd's broken ear after a surgery? He is 6 years old. The surgery was in July 2014. I know it's too late to think of fixing this ear, but the vet told me that it will recover in some months,but it hasn't imroved at all. Or is there a surgery,that could fix his ear?
http://www.img-share.eu/f/images/64/Picture-743oNwPo8C_sredna.jpg
http://www.img-share.eu/f/images/64/Picture-1174wFcZUkb_sredna.jpg


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## Mickeynads

Abbey'sMom said:


> Will this process work on an older dog, she will be 3 in April, soft ears im convinced because she had underlying health issues that were unknown to us at the time her ears would have normally gone up. Since being diagnosed in May and treated, back at a good weight, do you think it may still work?
> 
> still likes to chew on Nylabone etc...on a great diet.
> 
> or should we just let this go because of her condition and age?


If she's all ok now, I can't see any harm in trying. But remember you will have to keep the ears up for a good 5-6 months and take a look to see if the ear seems to be stronger. If it does get any stronger then you're going to need to keep it in for another 5-6 months to make sure the ear will be strong enough to stand on its own. 

It's been more than a year and a half since we took the card out of Enakai's ear and it's not gone down since. Fingers crossed if you do try it, it works for you. Best of luck


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## Mickeynads

dolf said:


> Hi! Is it possible to fix my german shepherd's broken ear after a surgery? He is 6 years old. The surgery was in July 2014. I know it's too late to think of fixing this ear, but the vet told me that it will recover in some months,but it hasn't imroved at all. Or is there a surgery,that could fix his ear?
> http://www.img-share.eu/f/images/64/Picture-743oNwPo8C_sredna.jpg
> http://www.img-share.eu/f/images/64/Picture-1174wFcZUkb_sredna.jpg


Hi Dolf,

I'm not sure if there's any surgery to fix the ear. However, as long as there's no medical problem with the ear, there's no harm in trying it. I remember speaking to a vet about Enakai's ear and he said there's no chance that it will be up now since she was too old at the time but we still managed to fix it with this simple procedure. It's a long but cheap solution and I think it's worth trying it. Just make sure to regularly check the ear for any infection. Best of luck and please let me know if you do try it how it turns out.


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## Lisa Brooks

I know this thread is a lil bit older but if anyone reads this post like I have I want to say this is an amazing way to get the ears up my gsd flash has somewhat floppy ears so I tried everything from gluing tp style t breath right strips to mole skin nothing helped I kinda feel like it made his ears worse but I decided to try one more time and I came a cross this thread I told my self it doesn't hurt to try and it doest hurt to try so my steps were this 


I purchased adhesive remover 
I purchased the tap feels more like a soft fabric and some 99 cent playing cards I glued to playing cards together cut them to the right size then I put a lil glue on the back of the card because the non sticky part of the tape wont stick to the back of that peace then I cut it to shape and placed it in the ear held for about 2 days and when I noticed it was giving I used wipes to remove and did process over its been a week his right ear is up but week and left ear is still a lil floppy but u can tell its going to go up too just keep at it I sware it will help no matter age my pup is 9 months


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## Nurse Bishop

Excellent video


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## Sanjay007

I have a 2month old GSD his left ear is good and standing.
But his right ear is floppy. It stand for a day then went down.
He also have a crease in his ear, to show you i attached a pic of my GSD ear.

And the ear is bending from that crease. 
I want to know that the ear is broken??????

And the ear will stand without taping??


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## Pawsed

As several other people have told you, the ear is not broken. It's perfectly normal and you have a very young pup. Puppies ears go up and down for several months, so please stop obsessing about this. We have had 2 dogs over the years that didn't have erect ears until they were at least 9 months old, and others here have had their dogs' ears take even long, as much as a year.

You are going to drive yourself crazy about this. Just relax and have patience, a lot of it. It's probably going to be several months before you see both ears standing, but they will. Please stop worrying and believe the people who are trying to help you. I think your breeder is mistaken. There is no problem with your pup's ears, period!

Please, please do not interfere and tape that ear. It's just going to fall again soon anyway when the pup starts to teethe. Don't be surprised if the standing ear falls, too. It's perfectly normal and doesn't require anything more than time and a lot more patience than you seem to have.


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## tim_s_adams

Here's my puppy at 3 months of age, her ears didn't stand up consistently for 2 more months...

If you puppy's ear is broken, all the worry in the world won't fix it! If it's still not up at 6 months or so, talk to your vet about options. For now, you're worrying about a non issue!


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## McGloomy

What is it with you and ears...... Your pup's barely 3 months...........


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## Sabis mom

Shadow at 4 months both ears up and at 3 months one ear down. At 6 months both ears were down. They will do what they do.


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## LynnPritchard

Four years ago, another online member and I were absolutely determined to get our beautiful puppies' ears up. My pup was, as I recall around 5-6 months when I got deadly serious. I don't recall her pup's age. We never met except online, but we worked together and shared ideas for weeks, and we both achieved success. In both cases, our pups had large, heavy and "soft" ears. I could probably find a photo in my files in I worked at it. They were completely flopped. 

In any case, I tried many, many methods, and the one that worked beautifully and permanently included the use of short lengths of cheap pipe insulation, Johnson's cloth medical tape, and Osto Bond surgical glue. I'm happy to share the method if someone wants to chat. My dog didn't mind it at all, with the exception that inserting the supports tickled briefly and required my encouraging him to hold still. Let me know, and I'll provide a cell number.


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