Ears dilemma

[Fran101]

One of Merlin's ears is a bit.. wonky. Sometimes both lol well, usually both.

The dilemma.
I like his ears, well, I mean, I think he looks cute and I kind of like that they are kind of odd you know? lol he's odd!
I have been lagging and just being a bum and not taping them as often as I should.

Other dilemma, Merlin lives a pretty busy life. He works at a pet store with all his homies, he walks, he gets baths like everyday, the tape NEVER stays on! One of his friends takes them out, he does, and if I do it at night, he spends all night trying to get them off!

People have told me that while the ears suit him now, because he is a goober puppy, when he gets older/more mature, they might look "weird" and that I should fix them while I can. And I guess I'm a little scared of him growing up and me thinking "I should've taped them." but I don't see me caring you know?

Oh and his breeder of course would like me to tape them, so that would be another plus of fixing them.

Thoughts? Do you think I should tape them? and if so.. any tips on taping for the active pup with no respect for his ear tape?

 

[Saeleofu]

Are you planning on showing him?

 

[Laurelin]

Well they look pretty even to me. I personally prefer his ears to the fuller drop style ears many aussies have. Unless he's showing I personally wouldn't tape them. We tried taping Nikki's ears and failed- she had one up and one halfway up. Trey's were already pretty much done by the time we got him. I don't think I'll ever tape a dog's ears in the future. Just too much hassle and I see some dogs that I think look weird post-ear taping.

 

[sillysally]

If you are not going to show him, I would not tape them. My personal preference is to leave ears alone, regardless if they are uneven, wonky, pricked when they shouldn't be, etc. Honestly, I think his ears are great and don't even really see all that much wonkiness going on.

 

[CaliTerp07]

I don't understand. I think they look perfectly fine. Unless you are going to show him and he'd be disqualified, I wouldn't bother.

 

[Oko]

If you like the way they look, and you aren't showing him, I would leave them be. BTW my sister saw you guys the other day (from afar), she said Merlin looks adorable and soo grown up. :rofl1:

 

[Toller_08]

If you don't mind them I'd just leave them. Why go through the effort of taping if you like his ears just the way they are? I gave up taping Journey's ears because I got too lazy and thankfully they just fell properly on their own I think regardless of any effort on my part lol. It probably did, as it certainly helped with Dance, but their dad looks handsome even with wonky ears, I don't see why Merlin wouldn't, too! Taping Journey's felt like a full time job after a while, since she was always somehow getting it off. Plus eventually she seemed to be irritated by the tape (got a bit of a rash), so I stopped. The only reason I even taped Journey's at all for a long time was just my own personal preference for forward facing drop ears (no idea what the technical term is haha).

 

[Southpaw]

Clearly I know nothing because they look like normal dog ears to me lol.

 

[Beanie]

I don't really see it, but I'm used to looking at something different LOL.

I don't know about how the taping works but P had his ears glued almost all the time until he was a year old. He had them glued through all kinds of crazy stuff, wrestling matches with Georgie who LOVED to chew his ears, including our various trips to the lake... it came out semi-often and I just put it back down. He did not like it and neither did I (I love glue-eared PUPPIES but on older dogs it's not quite as cute anymore LOL) but I did it. Once he was over a year old I promised him NO MORE unless it's before a show. =P
I would ask his breeder for advice on how to tape for an active dog - he can't be the first active pup she's ever had!

That said, how old is he again? It might be too late already. Are his adult teeth all in yet?

 

[*blackrose]

Clearly I know nothing because they look like normal dog ears to me lol.

Me, too.

 

[Xandra]

They look adorable to me. His style of floppy ear is one of my favorites. Seriously, what's wrong with them?

 

[Kat09Tails]

Ears are triangular, of moderate size and leather, set high on the head. At full attention they break forward and over, or to the side as a rose ear. Prick ears and hanging ears are severe faults.

Hmm... I don't think his are wrong even by the standard. He just tends to more the rose than the break forward.

 

[Whisper]

His ears are adorable. <3 I would leave them alone. JMO.

 

[AdrianneIsabel]

Add me to the... huh? They seem a bit "droopier" than some aussies but I don't know that they look mismatched or abnormal for the breed. I would tape them if you're concerned though, better safe than sorry.

 

[Keechak]

They are a little low but taping them wont help them to go higher. They are roseing to the side which is perfectly acceptable.

 

[Fran101]

I got a better picture, honestly.. I think I'm just going to leave them alone.
I don't have plans to show him really (I mean, there were some tentative "maybe" but he has too many tentative plans/hobbies/jobs as it is)

His ears will likely always be a bit different lol but I like them. He is also 7 months old so taping would probably not do much other than give them a little temporary likeness.

Merlin has always had bigger droopier ears than standard/than normal and always had one that is "off", especially compared to his perfect eared sister Journey! lol but they suit him I think.

Even when he was little, his ears were a bit bigger

 

[Flyinsbt]

Yeah, if he's 7 months, those are pretty much what you're going to get. I wouldn't personally bother messing with the ear set on a dog that wasn't to be shown, anyway.

I diligently glued Tess' ears when she was a pup (because she was to be shown), and I don't think it made any difference. And she was about 14 weeks when I started.

 

[Beanie]

For the aggravation of taping them repeatedly, especially if he hates it and keeps trying to rip it off - meh, probably not worth it at this point. They aren't super uneven so it's not like you have something really extreme to try and correct. If they were TOTALLY weird I would say go for it, but it's so minor I just don't think it's worth the annoyance.

If they are anything like sheltie ears in terms of "stickiness," if you ever DID decide to show him, you could tape right before the show and then take it out day of, and it will stay basically for the duration of the show... and then his ears can go back to being themselves haha. So yeah. With such a minor thing to tweak and sounds like you're leaning to not showing him at all, just not really worth messing around with it.

 

[Shai]

Kim sez having the right ear more forward and the left ear sliiightly mored rosed is the coolest ear set in the world.

Of course, she's a bit biased

 

[Dogdragoness]

I don't see anything wonky about his ears but I really can't tell for the angles the pics are at. But I say don't fret & tape them & "torture" him with all that jazz lol.

I taped & put foam on bear's ears but they still ended up going a little wonky:

Of course I never did a diddly darn thing to Josefina's ears & they turned out fine :/