So you have brought home your beautiful new baby boy or girl. Maybe they still have floppy ears, and maybe they have already been cropped. Regardless, if you end up having cropped ears on your pup, the ears will need to be posted for several weeks. This will require changing the bandaging/posting materials probably every 3-5 days. If you are going to do it yourself, at home, then there are many methods available. We have tried several of them, and today I will describe our favorite one in seven steps.

Materials needed:

• Big, thick zip ties. These ties are pretty rigid. https://amzn.to/3Gp6DEq
• Dr. Sholl’s moleskin plus padding tape: https://amzn.to/3roUpan. 
• Torbot glue: https://amzn.to/3rqXLtm 
• Unisolve glue remover https://amzn.to/3GqKG7C
• Stretch athletic tape: https://amzn.to/3GpyGU9

Process:

1. Cut the zip ties about an inch longer than from inside the pocket in the bottom of the pup’s ear to the tip at the top. Make sure both ends of the zip tie is flat, not pointed.
2. Cut some of the moleskin foam, just enough to cover the tip that will go in the ear. I believe it’s self adhering. You should have a short plastic stick with a foam tip, now. You can make this as thick as is needed to help it stay in the ear.
3. Cut a strip of your adhesive tape that is long enough to go from the base of the front side of the ear, over the top of the ear, and all the way down the back. Cut several more straps about 5 inches long. 
4. Take the torbot glue, and thoroughly coat the smooth side of the zip tie. It must be the smooth side. Then take the glue and give the inside of the ear a good coat also. Be very generous with it. Place the foam covered tip of your stick in the pocket inside the ear. It’s the spot in the ear right in front of the ear canal. You hold both the glue side of the ear and the glue side of the stick together, firmly, for about 45 seconds. You want to keep the ear very taught, and put a little pressure down on the stick, all at the same time. The idea is to gently stretch the ear so that it will keep some pressure on the stick, down into the ear, once bonded.
5. Cut the excess plastic off the top so that it is only about 1/8-1/4″ taller than the ear. 
6. Take the long strip of tape and go from the base of the front side of the ear, over the top of the ear, and all the way down the back. Press to adhere. The goal of this strip is to hold some downforce on the stick. Take the shorter straps, and wrap them around the circumference of the ear. Make sure it’s covered in these horizontal strips from bottom to top.
7. At this point you’re done. If you did it right, it will hold until the next time you redo them. You will need to soak the inner layers in Unisolve, very thoroughly, before removing. This will make it super easy and keep you from ripping out the pup’s ear hair. The Unisolve will make it easy to clean off the excess glue.

The following video gives a good demonstration of steps 1,4, and 5, above. These are critical. Posting ears with zip ties

Hope this brief guide helps. We are happy to help you with support on ear crops, in any way we can. Please reach out if you need help.

-Republic Dobermans