# Taping Ears - any proof that it works?



## Donny22 (Oct 14, 2012)

I have a 5 month old boston terrier who has some floppy tips, so I've been putting a strip of cloth tape on the inside of them as one website suggested. The tape does not bother him at all and he never tries to remove it, so I'm ok with that. My question is, is there any proof or evidence that this will make any difference? 

The site I used said it may be necessary to leave the tape on for weeks, even months. I'm curious if anyone has done this successfully. 

My only thought is, if they do stand up, then will I know if the tape helped or where they just late-standers? However, if they don't ever stand up, then I will know the tape did nothing. 

My brother raised a lot of german shepherds and I recall he had a few that had floppy ears, but I don't believe he ever taped them. 

Anyone have experience with this?


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## Amaryllis (Dec 28, 2011)

I think I need a picture of this border collie-eared boston terrier.

Anyway, I know people do it with GSDs, but I've never heard of anyone taping one ear and not the other to prove if it works.


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## Laurelin (Nov 2, 2006)

People tape all the time in multiple breeds and I've seen it work on a lot of individual dogs. I don't see why you'd assume it DIDN'T work. Of course taping has to be done correctly or it's pointless. We taped our second sheltie's ears but not long enough. She ended up with one up all the way and the other barely tipped. Our third sheltie had the perfect tipped ears and his were taped up until 11 months.

The biggest example being the long crop jobs on a lot of doberman. I doubt those would stand on their own.


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## Avery (Nov 22, 2011)

My parents were concerned that our Westie's ears wouldn't stand. So we taped them for a couple weeks. Only side affect of the tape was us laughing at him all the time because his ears looked HUGE compared to his head when he was a puppy. We took the tape off and his ears were standing.

Of course, no way for us to know if they would've stood up on their own or if the tape did it.


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## Donny22 (Oct 14, 2012)

Laurelin said:


> People tape all the time in multiple breeds and I've seen it work on a lot of individual dogs. I don't see why you'd assume it DIDN'T work. Of course taping has to be done correctly or it's pointless. We taped our second sheltie's ears but not long enough. She ended up with one up all the way and the other barely tipped. Our third sheltie had the perfect tipped ears and his were taped up until 11 months.
> 
> The biggest example being the long crop jobs on a lot of doberman. I doubt those would stand on their own.


Good to know, I wasn't assuming it didn't work, I was just asking for real life evidence since I haven't had to do this before. I guess I'll keep the tape on then!


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## Amaryllis (Dec 28, 2011)

Avery said:


> Of course, no way for us to know if they would've stood up on their own or if the tape did it.


That was my point. I know that you need to with crop jobs, but you've just removed a big portion of the ear. That might be different from uncropped ears.


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## PatchworkRobot (Aug 24, 2010)

As it's been said, many breeds have their ears taped to get them to stand (also, to get them to lay flat). Google "how to tape corgi ears" or "how to tape GSD ears" and you'll find a guide that will work for your boston.

As for proof of taping the ears working... the doberman is born with a floppy ear, like a lab. These ears would not have stood on their own. The ears were fully wrapped until the base became pretty strong. When they were close to done I used breathe-right strips (with the aid of a skin bond solution) until the tips of his ears, the weaker part, became strong enough to stand also.


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## Donny22 (Oct 14, 2012)

Patchwork - Good info, can you tell me more about this skinbond solution? Is this something I can get from walgreens or something? That could be helpful, right now I'm retaping his ears every 2 days because the tape loses it's residue and curls up.


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## PatchworkRobot (Aug 24, 2010)

I used Osto-Bond, which I had to find online. I would also highly suggest ordering the removal solution along with it. I used baby oil and it worked alright but I think that the actual removal solution would probably be better. 

What I would do is clean the ears really well with a wipe (like you'd find in a first aid kit) and then apply the osto-bond to the breath-rite and put the strip on the ear. Then I'd hold it on the ear with some pressure for about 30 seconds. I had to redo it every two to four days because my dog was crazy puppy. When I took them off, or when they fell off, I used baby powder to get the extra residue off of the ear before reapplying. 

I've heard of people (other doberman owners) having luck with the skin-bond solution used to apply fake eyelashes but I never tried it.


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