Ears!!!

[mkonieczki]

Hello!

We recently adopted a dog that is part pembroke corgi part german shepherd. When the shelter found her as a stray, both her ears were up. While she was at her foster home, approximately 3 weeks, one of her ears started to flop over. We've had her for about three weeks now, and both her ears are flopping over now! It seems that she can put either one or both up at moments, but they aren't staying up. The vet who examined her on her initial arrival to the animal shelter estimates that Dulce is about a year old. As far as I know, she's not teething, and she's fully grown. She's cute both ways, but i think she's especially adorable with her ears up and would like to encourage her to keep them that way if possible. Any suggestions???



Thanks ,
Michelle

[Fluffypants]

Welcome to the forum! +HIYA+

Ears have been discussed a lot here, though usually for young puppies. I'm going to defer to our more knowledgeable members & breeders on this one. Just wanted to welcome you to the site, and put in a shameless request for pictures of Dulce (cute name BTW!).
:CUTE:

[mkonieczki]

Thanks! Both for the welcome and the help! I just added some photos of Dulce to my porfile, hopefully they will start to appear!

[Jespah]

Hello and welcome,

I hope you'll introduce yourself and Dulce (I agree with Jess on the name) when you get the chance.

Yes, we have certainly had lots of ear discussions here. I am pasting a quote from a very experienced member, Glencorgi, to get you some good info right off the bat.

When ears are in the up/down/up/down mode around here; puppies get 500 mg Vitamin C (also good for pasterns), yogurt, cottage cheese, etc. We'll also give a vitamin, Sure Grow or Pet Tabs. I don't supplement with calcium as a stand alone supplement - afraid to. There are too many potential health risks that can arise just throwing calcium into the diet. That's one I will only use under vet supervision and recommendation.

[mkonieczki]

Thanks! That's very helpful! I'll pick her up some cottage cheese and some vit C after work and try it starting tonight!

[Jespah]

You may also need to tape at this point - again, one of our experienced ear tapers might be better to help you with that.

[Fluffypants]

You may also need to tape at this point - again, one of our experienced ear tapers might be better to help you with that.

Ah the tape . . . make sure you get pics of that too! It's funny!! :LAUGH:

[Bobbie]

You might also try adding some calcium to his diet. Jack's ear stands up better when he's had calcium (won't stay up but maybe if he'd had it as a younger dog it would.)

[mkonieczki]

How long should I try the calcium rich foods/ Vit C before i tape? Should I do these things at the same time?

I can just see Dulce's reaction to taping her ears... lol. She's mostly a docile girl, but she's head strong as heck, and not afraid to at least try getting what she wants before she does what she's supossed to! hehehe

[Fluffypants]

she's head strong as heck, and not afraid to at least try getting what she wants before she does what she's supossed to! hehehe

Oh yeah . . . she's definitely part corgi! :LAUGH:

[Jespah]

Yes, she's part Corgi-girl! Been there, still there! :LAUGH:

I'm not a taping expert, but from the ears I've seen here on the board, and considering they are both down, you may want to tape right now until they are standing on their own and the vitamin C kicks in.

This thread on Mac the Cardi's ear taping might help you figure out how to tape:

http://www.cool2bcorgi.com/forums/showthread.php?t=939&highlight=tape+ears

Also, do a search for Pixel - there are some photos of her with her ears taped recently.

Deb

How long should I try the calcium rich foods/ Vit A before i tape? Should I do these things at the same time?

I can just see Dulce's reaction to taping her ears... lol. She's mostly a docile girl, but she's head strong as heck, and not afraid to at least try getting what she wants before she does what she's supossed to! hehehe

[glencorgi]

Ear taping 101 :BIGGRIN"
http://www.phi-vestavia.com/EARTAPING.htm

All my other contributions have been contributed. <LOL>

Debbie

[Jespah]

That's a compliment Debbie!

Thanks for helping now and then!! :BIGGRIN"

[mkonieczki]

Thank you all! Dulce enjoyed some ricotta cheese with her kibble tonight, and we're giving her some kids chewable Vit C tabs. I think we'll try taping this weekend while we're home full time to monitor her... I'll keep you guys posted! I'm excited to give all these a go!

Again, I really appreciate the insight and advise!!

[Bobbie]

Does she look anything like Jimmy here?

http://i232.photobucket.com/albums/ee256/Bobbie54_2007/Jimmyfront2.jpg

[mkonieczki]

She kinda does... She has a smaller head, but the same type coloring and stature. Her hair is really short compared to corgis, but she's got A LOT of it, and it's really soft and cuddley! The pictures here show the 'reverse' progression her ears have taken over the last few weeks.
http://cool2bcorgi.com/forums/picture.php?albumid=35&pictureid=388
http://cool2bcorgi.com/forums/picture.php?albumid=35&pictureid=390
http://cool2bcorgi.com/forums/picture.php?albumid=35&pictureid=391

[mtoy]

Oh what beautiful eyes she has! I love the shape of her ears, too. Very elvish - when they're up, that is.

[mkonieczki]

Thanks, we love her to pieces; of course, we're biased. :-)

I've had large dogs my entire life, but Chicago/condo living doesn't really allow for that, this is my first time with a small dog, and we think she's great! We're actually thinking about getting her a corgi brother, maybe next year, so she'll have somebody to play with, besides her midday walker, Chris, while mom and dad are at work!

From what I've been reading corgis are incredibley AWESOME dogs! I'd never even heard of the breed before we got Dulce, but I'm glad I'm getting to know about them now!

[Jespah]

Obviously we are biased here - but there are a LOT of us with two Corgis (or more) and wouldn't have it any other way. I live in an apartment in Toronto - so it is very doable. :BIGGRIN"

Deb

[disraeli ears]

I lived in an apartment with two (in Houston and now outside of Washington, DC) for two years.

It is really great having two. Of course, now I only have one - but you just watch - I'll end up with a second one when the time is right. :WINK:

Corgis are really great dogs - both versions. They can be trying, but I think the benefits outweigh everything else.

[mkonieczki]

I could should go looking for the answer to this independently to this forum, since it's completely unrelated, but can corgis swim? Do they like water? I wasn't sure since their legs are so short, and all the sites say they're more land/herding dogs than anything else.:ROLLEYES

[disraeli ears]

Some do, some don't. The ones that do are great swimmers! My Rhys loved to swim! Quite a few of the Corgis on here are swimmers.

My suggestion would be not to force it, though - Rhys discovered swimming on his own. Andy, however, does not enjoy water.

[Jespah]

It's okay - I have had three Corgis now - one was a swimming freak! You could barely get her out - she'd fall asleep in the lake!

The two I have now LOVE the water, they were both taught with lifejackets until they got their sea-legs. They both will just swim to cool off or for the fun of it. The especially love water fetch with the Wubba.

This is Jemma - she never even saw water until she was 7 months old.

http://i165.photobucket.com/albums/u70/Jespah_corgis/th_JemmaRetrievestheWubba.jpg (http://s165.photobucket.com/albums/u70/Jespah_corgis/?action=view&current=JemmaRetrievestheWubba.flv)

[Fluffypants]

Jackie will only go in if other dogs are doing it - she's a sucker for peer pressure! :LAUGH:

And I only have one corgi because of townhouse rules . . . if not, I know I would have two!

[Bobbie]

She actually looks more like my foster last year, Neela.

http://i232.photobucket.com/albums/ee256/Bobbie54_2007/Neela12072.jpg

Or a cross between Jimmy and Neela.