# Ear Cropping Questions



## BoSS_809 (Jan 17, 2012)

Hey guys, new to the forum, but been reading a lot even before I got the pup...

Pup is now 9 weeks old and got his 5 in 1 Distemper vaccine.

On Friday 1-13-12 took him to get his ears cropped and was worried that his ears will not stand up.

Done some research and getting some mixed opinions/instructions for taping the ears.

Its not been 3-4 days after the cropping and only 1 ear is kind of sticking up. I've been feeding him the antibiotics daily on a timely schedule.

My questions is will his right ear be standing up if I leave it alone since its still a fresh cut and a little swollen? Or should I do something about it right now?

Here are some pics:


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## angelbaby (Feb 4, 2010)

wait till the stitches are out and healed , if they dont stand then there is a thread on here that shows how to tape them.


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## BoSS_809 (Jan 17, 2012)

angelbaby said:


> wait till the stitches are out and healed , if they dont stand then there is a thread on here that shows how to tape them.


I mean if I wait until the stitches are out, would that be too late to fix since it is already healing like that already?

Or It can still be fixed after stitches are out?

I mean judging from you experienced fellas, you think his right ear will stand on its own after the swelling goes away a little bit?


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## angelbaby (Feb 4, 2010)

you have to tape most likely thats how they get fixed and you cant tape until the stitches are out. You dont get them re cut you tape them.


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## Indie (Sep 29, 2010)

some ears stand right away, but others require a few weeks (or more) of taping to get them there. You CANNOT tape them until the stitches are removed, but you CAN use mole foam to give that ear extra support, and get it on the right track from the start. This page shows you how to use the molefoam. MAKE SURE you do not cover any stitches with it!!!
No Tape Ear Standing Method - mole foam


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## BoSS_809 (Jan 17, 2012)

Indie said:


> some ears stand right away, but others require a few weeks (or more) of taping to get them there. You CANNOT tape them until the stitches are removed, but you CAN use mole foam to give that ear extra support, and get it on the right track from the start. This page shows you how to use the molefoam. MAKE SURE you do not cover any stitches with it!!!
> No Tape Ear Standing Method - mole foam


Yea I read that already also, and I tried looking for that in cvs and they didn't have the molefoam... anywhere else I can get it?


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## BoSS_809 (Jan 17, 2012)

Also, just noticed that his left ear split open a little bit, what should I do? put peroxide? Please help!!


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## angelbaby (Feb 4, 2010)

walmart, pharmacys , grocery stores. Its with the insoles for shoes and the foot supply stuff like powders and such , atleast it is here.


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## angelbaby (Feb 4, 2010)

its called mole skin here.


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## BoSS_809 (Jan 17, 2012)

ooo thanks... anything I can do about the splitting open part?


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## angelbaby (Feb 4, 2010)

you can use a vitamin e cream or poly sporin , but id check with your vet 1st. Our 1st gurl we used poly with our others it was a diff vet and he wanted nothing on them.


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## BoSS_809 (Jan 17, 2012)

so no peroxide or anything? 

Also when it split for your first girl, after it healed was there scars or it came out perfect?


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## Kingsgurl (Dec 16, 2011)

Contact the vet that did the crop, he may want to take a look at it. Please don't use peroxide, it will kill off a lot of the newly forming tissue. There are going to be scars, do you mean is it going to be more noticeable? Like on most really good crops, the scarring is so uniform it looks very smooth and even and on some crops it's uneven and choppy?
Cute pup, good luck


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## BoSS_809 (Jan 17, 2012)

Thanks for all your help.. I will post up pics when its healed..


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## rodrigo (Jun 28, 2011)

more pics please.

i swear the last pic the lack of shadows almost makes your beautiful pup look like a bull terrier.

he s a cutie.!!!


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## angelbaby (Feb 4, 2010)

just making sure where you said its splitting a stitch hasnt come out or anything has it?


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## SMiGGs (Jul 6, 2011)

This method will get the ears up, and you need to fix them right away before the ears starts healing itself.

Get the mole skin (dr scholz foot padding), cut out triangles the size of the ear. You are then going to glue them with nail glue or krazy glue(it safe ive done it on my three dogs), your going to glue them to the back side of the ear.

When you put it down hold it firmly for about 30 seconds to insure it stuck. Next on the triangle point, the top of the ear. Get a needle with some fish string(recommended), or a strong string of sometype. Your going to bridge the molds together, and itll bring the ears up together.










i didnt find this one at walmart, but they had little small ones. Heres a picture for reference.









The string between the ears is suppose to be straight(tension), but my dog was able to stand his ears up since he was young.


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## SMiGGs (Jul 6, 2011)

I sent you another pic, check your inbox. 

You only use peroxide once, and thats at the very beginning to clean the wound. 

To clean the crop you can use alcohol, but it stings them a bit. You also want to clean inside, and around the ear to insure killing bacteria around the cut.

Neosporin works wonders, and makes the whole healing process faster.

You also want to do the cleaning every other day. Your dog will begin to be disobedient or even get scared of you because the cleaning process hurts them.


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## angelbaby (Feb 4, 2010)

I wouldnt use alcohol that would hurt plus alcohol can dry out the area causeing more cracking. You usually dont have to put anything on the ears just keep them clean and let them heal. A bit of poly wouldnt hurt but Id ask your vet before anything just to make sure.


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## SMiGGs (Jul 6, 2011)

My dogs are outside all the time, so i have to clean them and get the gunk/debris out, but if the dog could be crated, i would say the neosporin would be sufficient.


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## Indie (Sep 29, 2010)

DON'T use alcohol.. it is unnecessary, and just causes your pup unneeded pain. Neosporin 2x a day is fairly painless, and it will help the ears heal quickly. Your pup should NOT be left out to play in the dirt until it is healed. Keep the cone on unless your pup is being directly supervised by you.. one scratch to his itchy ears, and you've gotta go back to the vet for a ripped suture. Crate when you can't supervise, so he's not running around bumping into things. The ears should be healed well enough in 2 weeks to go back to normalcy.. then it's all about getting them to stand right.


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## BoSS_809 (Jan 17, 2012)

Thanks for all the help.. Smiggs, I replied to your pm before I checked your post on here.. I just bought the mole foam today, but i noticed today there was EXCESSIVE scabbing, and when he was walking around he shaked his head and the whole scab came off, now i see fresh wound...

Angelbaby: the stitches are still intact, but it just looks like a fresh cut..

Here are some picture... Is it a serious issue? Do I have to bring Boss to the vet asap? Or just let it heal?

Leave the scabs or peel them?


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## SMiGGs (Jul 6, 2011)

You want it to scab up, thats the process that the ears heals itself. Thats why i use alcohol to clean the cut, because dirt and gunk sticks to the crust. As soon as you put a damp cotton/paper to the scab itll fall off. When it falls off you'll see the raw skin, and it sometimes bleeds a little. If the scab doesnt come off, DONT PICK IT OFF(itll take longer to heal)

Just put the neosporin to remoisture the cut. On my current pup i clean once a week. If you dont want to use alcohol thats fine, the neosporin will make the scab come off as well. I use it as a precaution because my pup had an ear/skin infection, so i took extra precaution steps(using alcohol).

The longest the stitches are suppose to be on the ears, is for two weeks. If you leave it any longer, bumps with puss will form, and they will scar.

Dont be alarmed thats normal, this is my pup. Ive done the same process to my three dogs, and 3 others from fam/friends.


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## BoSS_809 (Jan 17, 2012)

So from the way my pups ear looks in that pic... is normal because the scab just came off..? its bleeding a little bit also..

With neosporin, put it on the scab or the raw skin?


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## SMiGGs (Jul 6, 2011)

Yeah just put it on there nothing will happen. The neosporin will stop it from bleeding since its an oily ointment. Itll seal the cut.

Put it everywhere, on the scab, around the scab, on the cut, on the raw, you basically want to make a barrier from bacteria/germs from getting into the cut, and itll also help heal the tissue around it.


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## BoSS_809 (Jan 17, 2012)

Thanks man... you just made me feel so much better, I was worried the whole day... 

So that fresh part don't need to be stitched up right? or it wouldn't scar up?


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## SMiGGs (Jul 6, 2011)

If the stitch came out, you would have to get it restitched, but it doesnt look like it from the pic you posted. It looks like its open because the ear is kinda folded on it self. Either way, that fresh part would dry up and scab too.

Even if the Stitch came out, it would still dry and scab up. I promise. That happened to my pup too check the pic, and youll see how it heals. You can see how itll eventually dry up.


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## BoSS_809 (Jan 17, 2012)

hmm.... thanks again man... so relieved now.. you think he can take off the stitches on the 10th day? thinking about going back to the vet sooner.

The vet is REALLY far from me.. I live in NY and this vet that cropped his ears is in NJ, heard many great feedback about him and alot of ppl over the web had recommended him so I went there... I don't want to go back for him to tell me to come back in a couple of days... what you think? right now its the 4-5th day


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## BoSS_809 (Jan 17, 2012)

and your puppy is ADORABLE!!! how old is he/she in that pic?? blue nose?



SMiGGs said:


> You want it to scab up, thats the process that the ears heals itself. Thats why i use alcohol to clean the cut, because dirt and gunk sticks to the crust. As soon as you put a damp cotton/paper to the scab itll fall off. When it falls off you'll see the raw skin, and it sometimes bleeds a little. If the scab doesnt come off, DONT PICK IT OFF(itll take longer to heal)
> 
> Just put the neosporin to remoisture the cut. On my current pup i clean once a week. If you dont want to use alcohol thats fine, the neosporin will make the scab come off as well. I use it as a precaution because my pup had an ear/skin infection, so i took extra precaution steps(using alcohol).
> 
> ...


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## SMiGGs (Jul 6, 2011)

Thanks! You can take the stitches off yourself, its really easy.

You want to take them off, from the day they cropped them + 2 weeks exactly. Anything over that date, will make the bumps come out. The bumps dont really mean alot, but they scar sometimes.

I take the stitches off my self. Get scissors, and snip the string. Get a needle, or something really narrow, and pull through each loop, and the stitches will undo themselves.


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## BoSS_809 (Jan 17, 2012)

hmm yea someone told me that also, but i rather go back.. 

so you wouldn't recommend on the 10th day?


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## angelbaby (Feb 4, 2010)

yes my vet said day 10, bring your pup in, if some arent ready to come out they will leave them in. i think mine had a couple stitches they left in for a few more days they werent quit healed. 
i dont know if its just me or if its the pic but that one shot of the ear at the bottom just before the last stitch it looks open to me, was there not a stitch there before,


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## BoSS_809 (Jan 17, 2012)

Yes the stitches are all still on.. can't see it that clear from the pic, but none of the stitches broke off so still good, Clean/damped his ears today and few scabs came off and I put neosporin, hope it heals by the time I bring him back to the vet!!


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## SMiGGs (Jul 6, 2011)

Thats great! Call your vets office, and ask them if theyre going to charge you to unstich the ears, if they do charge, just do it yourself.


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## BoSS_809 (Jan 17, 2012)

Yea, I'll call tomorrow,

But now there is another problem, it scabs up everyday and comes off everyday... he keeps shaking his head with the cone on and it keeps getting a fresh wound after the scab comes off, is this going to be a big problem? or this is normal?


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## SMiGGs (Jul 6, 2011)

BoSS_809 said:


> Yea, I'll call tomorrow,
> 
> But now there is another problem, it scabs up everyday and comes off everyday... he keeps shaking his head with the cone on and it keeps getting a fresh wound after the scab comes off, is this going to be a big problem? or this is normal?


Normal, just dont pick at the scabs to much, or it will take longer to heal.


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## BoSS_809 (Jan 17, 2012)

okok.. thanks man


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