Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hey--I am new to the forum but just got a new red dobe about 2 months ago. I absolutely love him and decided to get his ears cropped. I researched the place and looked at some of their pics and it all looked good. He just got them done a week ago, and one ear is folded down and lays on top of his head. The vet said this is just because he has a natural fold in his ear and it can be straightened by massaging. Is this true? Can it be straightened out or will it always look funny?
And also, Cato (my dobe) won't let me touch his ears to massage them, so do you have any suggestions? I just want them to look good no matter what the cost!!! PLEASE HELP! Thank you!

Ears need to be "posted" after they're cropped to make them stand,this is done to train the cartilege. No amount of "massaging" is going to get those ears up if proper support isn't provided by posts of some kind.

Even with the best aftercare, it would be unusual for ears to stand a mere week after being cropped. While the time it takes ears to stand can vary, generally you're looking at a couple of months of ear posting to achieve that goal. So I really don't think there's cause for panic yet.

So I've got to wonder about the vet who did this ear cropping for you.

Can your breeder help you with posting the ears correctly? If not, you might have to do it yourself, and it's really not rocket science. There are good instructions at www.dobermanpages.com , also the breeder education section of the dpca website has instructions for something like 12 different ways of posting ears. That would be at www.dpca.org

Thank you so much for your help! I will check out that website too. My vet did still want to do the taping, but wanted to wait 2 weeks(b/c the stitches are not removed yet). I just wanted to make sure that the folded ear wasn't a reason to panic b/c it looks terrible right now! Thanks again!!

WAIT!! If the stitches haven't been removed yet, you don't want to be posting those ears!

Use the foam and glue method. Do that, you are able to post the ears right away because it doesn't interfere with the stitches and healing.