# Ugh, Infection!!!



## Drewberry (May 13, 2008)

I'm so upset and frustrated







Jager's ears have only been taped since Thursday and we discovered one of his ears is infected. We took all of the tape off both ears, this just isn't worth it. 

I feel so bad for him.. and unfortunately we can't get to the vet until at least tomorrow morning. 

I feel discouraged. I don't know if I want to tape again if the risk of infection is that high. I might just have a GSD with one floppy ear


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## GunnerJones (Jul 30, 2005)

to **** with taping, if your dog has soft ears let the breeder know they are producing dogs with soft ears and start playing with training your puppy. If breeder doesn't appear to change their breeding program, well, that's what the internet is good for


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## Drewberry (May 13, 2008)

Way to jump to conclusions. With all due respect, you know nothing about our breeder.. I have yet to say anything about her. I actually really like her and respect her. She has been with us every step along the way to help with advice for his ears, and this is her first puppy ever to have a weak ear. Now your next smart remark might be that she's just feeding that information, but I have enough reason to believe it's true.

Please stick with offering productive advice or sympathy.


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## Sashmom (Jun 5, 2002)

You have my sympathy. I have taped 2 Doberman puppy ears and wow, it is NOT fun however, they never got an infection. Im sorry about your pup. Can you put something like Neosporin on them?
The weird thing is: my Sashi ended up with ear infection probs, I battled for his last 2 yrs and went thru ear flushes, etc. 
Is the infection on the outside part where you are taping?


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## angelaw (Dec 14, 2001)

Personally, I know people who glue rather than tape because of the chance of infections.


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## Drewberry (May 13, 2008)

Thanks, Sashmom. I'm not sure where the infection is, I'm not familiar enough with them to be able to tell. He just has that odor and his ear is goopy. The inside of the ear does look quite red and possibly inflamed. I've done my best to clean it out with solution, but he doesn't want to cooperate, I don't blame him! We're off tot he vet tomorrow for them to check it out and possibly get on some antibiotics.

Angela, thanks.. I actually just started researching the glue through posts on here. Do you think it would work with a 6 month old?


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## lilysmom (Dec 27, 2000)

A few years back I used a product called "tents up" on my soft eared shepherd. They used glue instead of tape. I know we removed them every so often to swab the ear with alcohol. 

Unfortunatley they didn't work for us, not the product, but just the nature of the beast.


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## djpohn (Jun 27, 2003)

Is your dog crated alot? If so what size crate? This can inhibit the ears from standing it they are getting smashed against the top. I would give him lots of bones to chew on to work the muscles in his head. Play with squeaky toys, again to stimulate him and help strengthen the ears. some people use unflavored knox gelatin. I would add yogurt or cottage cheese for additional calcium and if you can find chicken feet they are really good for pups to chew on/eat as well.

You could try gluing some moleskin on the inside of his ears or use the foam pipe insulation tubes cut to his ears size and glued inside. You can use surgical glue. Another thing is the foam curlers glued or taped. If you tape, you only do strips around a few places and then tape the two together, leaving the base of the ear open. There are also forms from Germany you can use, if I can find the place I saw that carries them I will post it.


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## aubie (Dec 22, 2008)

I think MaxGunner was just saying if you pup has a floppy ear, it has a floppy ear and to just let your breeder know, in the meantime, just enjoy your pup...I don't think any conclusions were jumped to. 

Anyway, hope Jager feels better soon and that you have a great vet visit!


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## Emily (Nov 8, 2008)

Yeah, I don't think taping the whole ear up like that is a good idea. No air flow = asking for infections/fungal yuck.

Try one of the suggestions here that entails only propping up from the inside. Your vet may not be super knowledgable about GSD ears, but he also may be apt to tell you he can't/doesn't know how to do something


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## Doc (Jan 13, 2009)

Try the breath strip method - its fairly easy to do and no tape. Or the tee-pee method where the ears are glued together to form a tee-pee. Lots of ways to try besides tape. Good luck!


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## windwalker718 (Oct 9, 2008)

> Originally Posted By: GS MomIs your dog crated alot? If so what size crate? This can inhibit the ears from standing it they are getting smashed against the top. I would give him lots of bones to chew on to work the muscles in his head. Play with squeaky toys, again to stimulate him and help strengthen the ears. some people use unflavored knox gelatin. I would add yogurt or cottage cheese for additional calcium and if you can find chicken feet they are really good for pups to chew on/eat as well.
> 
> You could try gluing some moleskin on the inside of his ears or use the foam pipe insulation tubes cut to his ears size and glued inside. You can use surgical glue. Another thing is the foam curlers glued or taped. If you tape, you only do strips around a few places and then tape the two together, leaving the base of the ear open. There are also forms from Germany you can use, if I can find the place I saw that carries them I will post it.


Good point on the crate... I forgot to mention that. 
The moles skin suggested works well too... I've seen the ears shaved and cleaned with a bit of Alcohol to ensure that they'll stick.

If you want to consider my TP method... I take a roll from Toilet paper and cut it diagonaly so that one side is 1" the other side is 4". Then I prepare MANY short pieces of old fashion cloth adhesive tape, and stick it up within reach. Then I place the pup in my cumfy "doggie full nelson" where they're laying in front of me across one of my legs and my other leg is across the top of their body...This ensures that they're not going to escape, nor be hurt at all but provides me with at least one free hand at all times. The form gets placed inside the ear with it's base close to the pup's skull. I start with taping securely across the front of the form and around the ear close to the head. When satisfied that it's secure I tape that ear from the inside of the upper part of the form around the ear in both directions going all the way to the tape on the base. Then do the other ear in the same way. Now both ears are open to the air, but secure... I then tape a bridge between the base of the two ears to keep the forms from wobbling around and annoying the pup. Take care here that the ears are in the correct natural position for that pup, and not pulled towards each other.
The nice things about this is that the forms are free and can be replaced as often as desired. The ear remains open to the air and dry so little or no chance of infection.


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## Sashmom (Jun 5, 2002)

It sounds like the infection is on the inside, they will give you drops, antibiotics, etc. 
First Vet gave me some kind of ointment like stuff i had to drop in and antibiotics, that was ear infection #1. 
It went on and on. I will never know why he had such problems and the ironic thing is he had a beautiful ear set. 
Im not much help with getting his ears up because I did it in the 70's and it was waaay different methods and they were Dobe puppies. (never used glue back then)
I sure hope your dog gets over the infection that is the main thing for now. Im sure he will you are getting him to the Vet. 
Good luck to your baby, I saw his pic on the other post, he sure is a CUTIE.


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## Drewberry (May 13, 2008)

Thank you! I think he's awfully cute too.. and I kind of wish I would have just left his ears be, but hindsight is 20/20. He went to the vet this morning and the vet's response when he looked into his ear? "Whoa. Um, yeah.. ok."

Never like to hear that. But, yes we have a cleanser and drops plus pain killers for him. The worst part will be cleaning out his ears. Poor guy, through this whole process he has really developed an anxiety with people messing with his ears. I feel awful. 

And you're right.. taking care of the infection is of course our first priority. Once I'm sure he's healthy.. I might consider glue or hair rollers/glue. Certainly not using a taping technique again.

Thanks for all of the support everyone and such helpful advice!

P.S. To answer a question, he is crated.. but his crate is monstrous and wouldn't be a factor in all of this... interesting consideration though for other people facing these issues.


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## djpohn (Jun 27, 2003)

When he sits is his head near the top of the crate? You might want to try baby gating him in a bathroom or the kitchen for a while to see if this makes a difference. Boys seem to take longer with their ears than girls. I would give him lots of bones to chew on. I prefer beef rib bones to any cow leg bones. Also beef and pigs feet are great to chew on. And as I said before chicken feet are nice and crunchy and they are a nutritious too.


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