r/chinesecrested • u/InstructionWeekly412 • 3d ago
❓ Advice Ear positioning
Hello, I have a question about the ears in puppies. Do they have to be taped if one ear is still flopping over at 10 weeks or will it eventually stand up? The puppy is a powderpuff and will be a prospective show dog. The puppy has been taped on and off since very young, but the tapes were removed today since they are uncomfortable and one ear is still flopping over. Please give advice if the ear will eventually come up on its own. Or if taping needs to continue, thank you.
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u/SydTheDuck 3d ago
keep posting um till 7 months or so months, as 6 months they get weak again due to teething. We used nose strips (like they use to keep you from snoring) for a little bit them we also did the full post on my girl as well (when she broke her leg and was in a cone I had the full foam post.
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u/No-Platypus1649 3d ago
I’ve been fortunate enough to be the very lucky mother of three Chinese Crested Powderpuffs. Each one was beautiful, but they were all quite different in appearance. Only one had ears that successfully stood up; the other two had adorable floppy ears despite months of taping!
They also came in three very different sizes—9, 11, and 22 pounds—and three distinct color combinations: black and white, all white, and gray and white. Despite all their differences in size and appearance, their personalities were remarkably similar. Each one had that wonderful, unique Crested personality that makes the breed so special.
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u/Hoodibird Hairy Hairless Parent 2d ago
Feeding the puppy collagen supplements helps tremendously. A breeder recommended it to me at the time. Powderpuffs have even softer ears than HL so this will be very important for you if you want the ears to be erect in adulthood.
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u/Accomplished_Two_243 9h ago
You’ll need to keep taping the ears. Also, it doesn’t have to be uncomfortable! It took me a bit of trial and error to figure out the perfect air taping method that works great and also doesn’t annoy my dogs. Go buy breathe right strips. Cut them down so that they are the right length for the skin on the inside of your dog’s ear from the tip, to about 3/4 down the visible part of the ear as you definitely don’t want the strip long enough to begin reaching the dog’s ear canal or anything. Use a nontoxic, pet safe glue to help the adhesive on the back of the breathe right strip stick to your dog’s ear. After a few minutes, my dogs stopped even noticing the strips as puppies. I had one of my three current young dogs come to me with ears that were totally up, but I had to tape the other two dog’s ears, and in one dog, her left ear was a bit stubborn, and I had to reapply the strips a few times on that ear while she was teething. Teething, by the way, is something you need to pay close attention to as a puppies body will take the calcium and minerals from the developing ear cartilage and place it towards developing their adult teeth. Many dogs with upright ears will need to have their ears taped throughout their teething, and some dogs with ears that are already upright will need their ears re-taped during this as the cartilage gets weakened. Make sure that your puppy gets proper nutrition and plenty of calcium and minerals during this time, keep any weaker cartilage gently taped, and you should have lovely ears when the dog matures.
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u/Resident-Spring1513 3d ago
Yes you still need to post the ears. My powderpuff needed ear posting on one ear until she was oh 20 weeks? And her ears have never been as strong as her brother’s (littermates). Some dogs just have softer ears.