Taping natural Boxer ear the EBZ way
Let me start by saying I don't prefer the look of a floppy-eared Boxer. There is nothing as attractive for me as a beautiful Boxer head decorated by narrow elegant standing ears, and I will continue cropping my dogs' ears for hygienic, aesthetic and political reasons for as long as I am involved in this wonderful breed. I do accept that some Boxer owners are uncomfortable with the costs of a good ear crop and somewhat complicated aftercare and prefer leaving their Boxers all-natural, however it is beyond me why so many people think keeping their puppy's ears floppy will mean no work!
European Boxers were bred to be cropped, and very few of them possess soft thin ear cartilage which makes the job of posting the ear into the proper position easier. The majority of European Boxers' ears require consistent care in order to teach them to lie correctly, and those owners who fail to tape and massage their puppies' ears most often end up with a mess on their dogs' heads.
Some Boxers' ears tend to fly when left unattended, some break back in the manner of a Bulldog, yet some are quite successful in managing a nearly standing position. According to the Standard, a correct natural Boxer ear should lie flat and parallel to the cheek, with a distinctive break at the base. If you decided to leave your puppy's ears natural, please train them into the proper position. This can be achieved by regular taping which is best started at 9-11 weeks of age. Usually a European Boxer puppy needs to be taped for at least a few months; special care should be taken to keep the ears taped most of the time during teething. If taped often enough, most Boxer ears assume a proper position at approximately 5 months old.
There are several taping methods out there, most created for the UK Boxer ears, and many of them fail when it comes to teaching EB ears - they are simply too strong and stubborn to respond to the regular methods and often manage to break back even with the tape on. I have used all taping methods known to mankind over the past ten years, and none has worked as well as the one I am about to offer. This method works and doesn't cause any discomfort to the puppy. As I am not aware of anyone else using this method, I am calling it the original EBZ method of taping natural Boxer ear.
Puppy: Qualia v.Eurozone (Yamsie)
Age: 10 weeks
1
2
With a European Boxer puppy whose ears are destined to stay floppy, it is best to start taping at the age of 9-11 weeks. I use electrical tape with such young puppies, it is very gentle on their ears, doesn't pull the hair out when removed correctly and is light enough so that the puppies barely notice it. As puppies mature and their ears grow stronger, I progress onto regular cotton-based athletic tape obtainable at many pharmacies.
Most EB puppies start breaking their ears back at 7-8 weeks, and in a few more weeks many of them will have ears that stand 0.5 to an inch above their heads. As a guideline, begin taping when you notice that your puppy's ears started curling back onto his head.
1 - 10 weeks old European Boxer puppy
2 - ear that started curling back onto the head
3
4
Supplies needed for the EBZ taping method:
1.a puppy whose ears started looking funny;
2.electrical tape for the 2-4 months old puppy, athletic tape for the 4-6 months old puppy, please do not use duct tape!
3.a pair of scissors;
4.measuring tape.
In this article we will be using tape of different colors for easier understanding of the method. We suggest using tape of one particular color that suits your puppy best unless you want your neighbors to think your puppy is about to depart to Hawaii. Brindle puppies usually look great in red or yellow, while green is more suitable for red puppies. With a white puppy, blue is the color of choice. Use black on brindle, yellow on fawn and white on white if you plan to have your puppy's portraits taken - in this case the tape won't stand out as much.
3 - supplies needed for taping the natural ear
4 - a puppy in need of taping
5
6
7
8
By taping we will be trying to reinforce two folds in the ear that create proper carriage. First fold is located widthwise at the base of the ear. Second fold is located along the ear length right in the middle. If you are lucky, your puppy will have the indication of these two folds. If you are not, you will have to create the folds by hand to understand where to apply the tape.
5 - finding the two folds in the puppy's ears
6 - graphic illustration of the folds' location looking from the inside
7- creating the first fold by breaking the ear at the base so that its inner edge lies flat to the cheek
8 - creating the second fold by bending the ear in half lengthwise
9
10
11
12
Next measure your puppy's head from the first fold of one ear to the tip of the other one. Cut two pieces of tape 2-3 cm shorter than the measurement you just took. Cut two other pieces of tape 2.5 cm shorter than the first two. Cut two more pieces about 5-8 cm long for a young puppy and 9-11 cm long for an older one. Finally, cut a single piece 5-6 cm long. Stick all seven pieces to the edge of the table or another surface. Take care not to touch the sticky side of the tape with your fingers and not to stick the tape to your sleeves or the table as you manipulate with it. Handle the tip by the very corner of it - excessive handling will make it less sticky before you apply it to the puppy's ears, and we don't want this to happen.
9 - measuring the puppy's head
10 - measuring a piece of tape (keep the sticky side down to avoid touching it)
11 - cutting a piece of tape (don't touch the sticky side)
12 - all seven pieces ready. To make it more visual, we used tape of different colors. Yellow pieces are the longest - 14 cm, white pieces 8 cm, red pieces are about 6 cm long and the blue is 5 cm long. Once you get a hand of the method, use single color.
13
14
Let's roll! Sit your puppy on the table or a couch (having an assistant handy won't hurt), fix his head in your hand and find the two folds we discussed above. Stick the yellow tape to the inside of the ear. The end of the tape should be touching the first fold. Now find the second fold and notice how it breaks the ear into two equal halves - the one closer to the face of the puppy and the other closer to his neck - your tape must run parallel to this second fold and on the face half of the ear. It takes less time to do it than to describe the exact location of the tape - just look at the pictures and repeat this with your puppy. Let the free end hang in there, but take care for it not to stick to the puppy's neck or your hands.
13 - locating the folds
14 - attaching the yellow tape to the inside of the ear.
15
16
Now take a white piece of tape and stick it to the outside of the ear. Attach the tape in exact same location as the yellow piece (the end of the tape at the first fold, tape running parallel to the second fold at the face half of the ear), but outside. Stick the free end to the yellow tape. Now you have a pretty small sandwich with yellow and white tapes being the bun and the ear being the burger. Press the buns (yellow and white tapes) toward each other to secure the burger (the ear) by applying steady pressure all the way along the tape.
15 - sticking the white piece of tape in place and securing the ear between the two pieces of tape
16 - final result
17
18
19
Now repeat the procedure with the other ear, but stick the white piece to the inside, and the yellow piece to the outside of the ear.
17 - attaching the white piece of tape to the inside of the ear
18 - attaching the yellow piece of tape to the outside of the ear and pressing the tape and the ear together. Stick the free end of the white tape to the yellow tape.
19 - final result on the other ear
20
21
Now we will connect the two yellow tapes (one on the right ear, one on the left) together under the puppy's chin.
20 - this is what your puppy should look like now. Note that on the left ear the sticky part of the yellow tape faces outwards, and on the right ear the sticky part of the yellow tape faces inwards. Taking care not to touch the sticky part, slightly pull the ears down.
21 - stick the yellow tapes to each other under the puppy's chin. Make it a snug fit, but not too tight - you should be able to insert two fingers between the tape ring and the puppy's throat.
22
23
24
25
Now fold one of the ears in two at the second fold. Take the red piece of tape and position it under the ear as close to the first fold as possible. Fold the ear at the second fold and stick the ends of the tape together. This should be done relatively tight, but watch for wrinkles not to appear. Press the ends together well - this is the point where you whole taping construction will take most resistance at.
22 - folding the ear at the second fold
23 - placing the red tape underneath the ear close to the first fold
24 - sticking the ends of the tape together
25 - applying pressure at the ends
26
27
Repeat exactly the same procedure for the other ear
26 - placing the tape underneath the ear at the first fold
27 - attaching the ends of the tape to each other and applying some extra pressure
28
29
Finally, take the blue piece of tape and secure your ring of tape at the center from underneath.
28 - putting the blue tape at the middle of the ring
29 - sticking it over to itself
30
31
32
Believe it or not - all done! The actual taping time varies from 2 to 4 minutes depending on your skill. Don't forget to reward your puppy with something extra tasty for his patience.
30 - front view
31 - side view
32 - second side view
33
34
Keep the tape on for a minimum of three days, 5-6 days optimally. Once removed, you will be presented with a correct natural Boxer ear carriage. Leave the ears off tape for a few days, and tape immediately when you notice they started misbehaving. Do not leave the ears out of tape for more than a day if you notice any creases and folds that should not be there. Tape right away if you see your puppy pulling his ears back a-la Bulldog or attempting to fly them.
33 - correct ear position
34 - there isn't any reason for this picture to be here, but it was too pretty not to put it up
35
36
37
38
A few words about removing the tape. Taking the tape off is completely painless if you take care to pull it off with the direction of the hair growth. On the ears it means from the top down.
35 - untaping the red pieces first
36 - pulling off the yellow and the white pieces with the direction of the hair growth
37 - note the puppy is not at all stressed
38 - the piece on the right was removed with a direction of the hair, the piece on the left against it. Compare how much hair was taken off the ears in each case and draw your conclusions.
