ears?

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Duke

Psycho pup

Barked: Fri Dec 14, '07 7:56pm PST


	Does anyone know if you have to train a shelties ears to fold over or do they do this on their own as the puppy gets older?

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Duncan, CD,- CGN, RNMCL,- RACL,

velcro dog

Barked: Fri Dec 14, '07 9:54pm PST


	Some shelties ears naturally tip. Others need some help, like weighting them, or gluing the tips to the hair at the base of the ear (speed sew works best for this). Others, like my three, just don't work out! Unless the dog is going to be a show dog, there is nothing wrong with prick ears, if that is what you want. They are just a confirmation no-no in the ring. But so is an over-tipped ear.

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Duncan, CD,- CGN, RNMCL,- RACL,

velcro dog

Barked: Fri Dec 14, '07 9:55pm PST


	Sorry, double post Edited by author Fri Dec 14, '07 9:55pm PST

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Gio

CD RE (CKC)- RXMCL (CARO) FM- CGN SJATD

Barked: Sat Dec 15, '07 8:20am PST


	I'll ditto Duncan, and add a bit more Left untrained, a Sheltie's ears are often more wide set, placed further out to the side of their head instead of close in at the middle. Some will tip naturally, some will prick straight up. If you want to train the ears to sit close and tip over, it has to be done early, at a few months of age. Once the dog is 6 months or older, it is often too late to do any ear training that will last. So if they are still less than 6 months old, you can use a small piece of string and the sticky bits of bandaids to hold the ears close together and on the top of the head, then some kind of weight to weigh the tips down (about 1/3 of the ear should tip over). I like both natural ears and trained ears. Whatever the type of ears, it just adds character to the dog. Gio has natural ears, and I think with his larger size and fly-away ear hair, it really suits him! Romeo has ears trained for show standards and I think it looks super cute. But he has a "cute" face already, and when trimmed nicely, his tipped ears give him a little teddy bear head shape (minus the long point snout of course BOL). So both trained and natural ears can look very cute on Shelties. Training ears is purely for aesthetics and doesn't serve any purpose, but unlike cropping ears in other breeds, training doesn't do any harm so you don't run into the same stigma that many of the cropping/docking breeds face.

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Kiera

Did someone say- outside?

Barked: Sat Dec 15, '07 11:15am PST


	Kiera has one tipped ear and one that sticks straight up. Sometimes they both stick straight up. They were both glued when she was a puppy....the breeder offered to reglue them if it started to come out, but I opted to go au naturale.

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Gray Dawn- Treader

Don\\\'t Tread- on me

Barked: Sat Dec 15, '07 2:10pm PST


	My ears stand up, but they "almos" tip! Sometimes when I'm walking they bob up and and down!

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Chloe

You dont know- yet,but your my- BESTfriend

Barked: Sat Dec 15, '07 10:45pm PST


	I'd love to meet a sheltie whose ears tipped perfectly without a little help from their parent Maybe I'm just not lucky enough to know some super-show-dogs to see what some awesome bloodlines can do! Either way, the others covered how to do it, but I just wanted to chime in that either way works! Truthfully, my ears were set with...chewing gum! Can you believe it? This girl-next-store didn't get the fancy stuff...but it was look we were going for just to get around having the tallest ears ever, (they really overtake my face...I know - I just have to smile a little brighter & you'll never notice ) It's not the rigid perfection, nor the "let your hair down" alternative, but it worked for me! Oreo's ears are TINY - plus his hair is black...so half the time you don't notice his ears at all! But they're straight - yep!

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Raskolnikov

Monster Sheltie

Barked: Sun Dec 16, '07 2:17pm PST


	Rascal's ears were tipped when I first got him, then one stood up straight, then the other one. At this point I thought that he would have them up, but lo and behold, then one tipped again followed by the other one. My breeder had suggested fabric glue for holding the ears in the right position, but I never ended up doing it.

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Duncan, CD,- CGN, RNMCL,- RACL,

velcro dog

Barked: Mon Dec 17, '07 11:10am PST


	Mila has sraight up pricked ears. But her sister has lovely, natural, beautifully tipped ears. Her owner never touched them. Makes me sick! Just a warning about chewing gum. When we got Duncan, that is what the breeder had on his ears, and what she told us to put on, was non-stick (Denture friendly) chewing gum. Well, it worked to tip them, but he liked to play with the golden retreiver in the yard next door. She was just a pup. The slats in the fence were big enough she could get her paws through. Well, one day, he comes in, covered in green sticky stuff. OMD, he had it all over, head to tail, in long stings, like gum does. We tried everything under the sun to get this gum off, and we ended up cutting it out. Do you know how silly a sheltie looks when it has been spot trimmed? The balck tips cut off the hairs? He looked hilarious for weeks! Just as cheep, but less messy, is pieces of moleskin, or little magnets, glued onto the tips of the ears.

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Chloe

You dont know- yet,but your my- BESTfriend

Barked: Mon Dec 17, '07 12:12pm PST


	Awwww Duncan! You poor pup with little shaves here & there! I'm sorry you had to go through with that! Thanks for sharing your story though - just to meet another dog who went through the "gum method"

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