# Ear tattoo



## george1990 (Nov 24, 2008)

I never asked my breeder, and figured I'd get a faster response here, so how do you wash off the green? Will it come off on its own or should I wash it off? I tried just water and a hand towel, but it didn't work too good, but I wasn't trying hard as I wasn't sure I was supposed to be doing it anyway.


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## Chicagocanine (Aug 7, 2008)

I think it comes off over time on its own.


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## emjworks05 (May 30, 2008)

I think that you just leave it alone, it will come off over time. Correct me if im wrong but I thought I read somewhere that really your not suppose to wash it off because there is Anti-biotics in the ink?


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## Cassidy's Mom (Mar 30, 2003)

You're supposed to leave it on for a couple of weeks. Halo's wore off on its own because there wasn't that much ink to begin with. Dena's I washed off, and it took me several tries because she was squirmy and the only time I could scrub it with a soapy washcloth was when she was sleeping. As soon as I started she woke up. She had a LOT of ink, but I was able to get off a little at a time over a couple of days.


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## Alto (Nov 18, 2008)

A bit of hypoallergnic lotion (not soap or body wash) will usually work better at removing the ink - don't rub too vigorously as the skin is pretty thin; hypoallergenic lotion as the ear skin is a lot more permeable/vascularised (think of how rescue remedy works as an ear spray).


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## Cassidy's Mom (Mar 30, 2003)

Good point Alto, you definitely don't want to rub too hard - "scrub" was a poor choice of words.







I put one hand under the ear to support it while I wiped out the inside of the ear with a wet dishtowel and a little soap.


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## angelaw (Dec 14, 2001)

I've always let them wear off. Jaxson got done last weekend. Ink still there. Oh and the ink DOESN'T have antibiotics. You leave the ink there so it can be absorbed into the holes from the tattoo. Now if it's covering the whole ear then I'd probably go ahead and just do around the edges.


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## OkieAmazon (Jun 14, 2005)

I'd leave the actual tattoo alone, but wipe around the edges. You don't want to remove any teeny scabs and with it the ink. Not that the whole tattoo would disappear, but might make it much harder to read.


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## emjworks05 (May 30, 2008)

Thanks Angela, for clearing that up. I wasnt sure, but now I know.


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## Liesje (Mar 4, 2007)

I left Nikon's alone and it wore off on it's own in about a week. He had some extra at the bottom of his ear (see below) that I did wipe with a damp rag.










Since I show him and plan on doing SchH I wanted the tattoo to set as dark as possible so it doesn't fade, so I didn't clean it.


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## Cassidy's Mom (Mar 30, 2003)

Depends on how much ink is there. I left Dena's alone for 2 or 3 weeks and there was still a ton of ink left, no signs of it fading or starting to wear off on its own. The ear was really caked with ink. 

I believe her tattoo had been done right before we got her at 9 weeks old. In this picture, which I took a month later, you can see her tattoo is bright green and there's still a bit of ink around the edges that was caught up in the long hair. 










That was after I'd cleaned most of it off. If I had waited for it to wear off it would have been months!!! And this was winter, so if she were out in the rain it would get wet and the ink would end up all over my carpet. As an adult her tattoo was dark enough that you could read it clearly, even in photographs, so cleaning it off after a few weeks didn't have any detrimental affect.


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## AK GSD (Feb 27, 2008)

> Quote: And this was winter, so if she were out in the rain it would get wet and the ink would end up all over my carpet


I left Scout's alone and sure enough we had little green ink spots where her and Boss rolled around on the carpet playing. Came out easy enough with a little Simple Solution carpet cleaner. With Boss I had lightly cleaned his. Not sure if that made the difference but his is more faded than Scout's.


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## Barb E (Jun 6, 2004)

> Originally Posted By: Cassidys Mom


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