Reptile & Amphibian Forums

i have a red and rust doberman almost 5 months old. i have been taping his ears regularly and there doing well. he can hold up his ears on his own sometimes but after a little while they start to droop a little. They are the long cut it was done by the breeders vet, but the vet where im from doesnt usually deal with dobermans and if he does he does the short cut and he told me that he didnt think my dogs ears would stand because they already should be standing. is this true. And i have been giving my dog calcium pills to help build the cartlige in his ears also. will that help? And one other thing about my dobermans skin. he has 2 spots on him that have no hair. one on his back and one on the side of his face. ive been keeping it clean but no hair will grow. what should i do? And does anyone know of a good vet that deals with dobermans in northern alabama or in tennessee? Thanks Nick

I wouldn't be the least bit discouraged about the ears not standing if your dobe puppy is still only 5 months old. It's not at all true that if the ears aren't standing by 5 months they'll never stand..for one thing, your puppy is more than likely right in the midst of teething, and that can cause temporary setbacks about ears standing. And the length of time it takes ears to stand depends primarily on the quality of the ear cartilege-some ears stand very quickly, others don't. It's not unheard of for some dogs to need at least one ear posted until 12 months of age or so.

Keep posting-the #1 reason ears don't stand is owners getting discouraged and giving up.

I agree with Murraydobe about keeping the posts in - most vets are not knowledgeable about cropped ears.

The spots you describe do sound like they might be mange - see your vet and don't panic.... it is not that uncommon!

Not a good idea..it can throw the mineral ratio off.

I'd take your pup to the vet and get some skin scrapings done of those bald spots..could be demodectic mange.