Taping Natural Ears

[Meatos]

I think it is a good ear set, except WOW, those are some HUGE ears! I don't really see any need to tape them down.

[amanda.]

Hello,

In Australia we are not allowed to crop ears on our danes. (I do like the crop look though.) I have been told both my boys have lovely natural ears.

My blue boys ears are pictured below. He is a show dog too and has a lot of white on him!! Especially on his chest and feet. His sire is the same, but it didn't stop him beating a grand champion fawn at a champ show last yr!! Its the whole package and thats what I was looking for. We have only done about 3 -4 show training lessons and he is coming along beautifully. (I do have some help with an experienced showy though.)

P.S My fawn boys ears went into a real ugly stage at 4 months! My blue boy is yet to get there!!

Best of luck with your baby.

[DaneObsession]

My very first show dog(now a CH.) was a natural eared Harle and I never taped his ears. He had a very nice natural ear set.

If your Danes ears are 'really' funky; then yes, I would tape to encourage them to lay better yet more than once in the ring, my own boy, despite a lovely ear set would move his ears to a funny position if there was a sound he was honing in on.

More and more Danes are being shown natural and that is great to see!

I want to show her in the future, do you think I should tape her ears? Or just give it some time to de-funk.

[Hudson]

I have my guy's ears taped down right now. (he is just about 3.5 months old) I'm not so sure that he needs it, as they seem to lay naturally quite flat, but I just want to make sure they don't start going wacky!
and it probably can't hurt to tape them, can it?

He looks pretty goofy with them taped under his chin though..

[ndolezal]

how can I tape them again? any detailed instructions?

Roane is only 12 weeks today...but the one ear is going real crazy and they aren't naturally that flat to his head.

At what age should I start to tape? Now? How long do I do it for?

Thanks!

[Shotah]

OK, it's time to educate the newbie again
I'm kind of playing Devil's Advocate here, but . . .isn't the purpose of showing to have your dog's overall body, head (and ears) and breeding evaluated with the end result of breeding to better the breed? Isn't taping down natural ears sort of cheating then? Cos after all, you'll be breeding more pups with perky ears that have to be taped, instead of breeding for naturally good ear set. Right?
Not trying to cause trouble, just trying to understand

[Meatos]

My understanding is that there are many things people breed for, conformationally. The structure of a dog is always #1. You can breed for good ear set to complement the headpiece, but I think there are "more important things" to worry about than the ears, especially if it is easy enough to help the ears along with cropping or taping. My breeder's dogs tend to have a really good ear set, but the teething process can make them wonky so she has advised many of her owners how to tape them down. This doesn't mean they have BAD ear set, just means they need a bit of help to get them through.

If you look at it, it's the same as cropping. Cropping is altering the dog to look the way you want it to, as according to the GDCA/GDCC standards. Taping natural ears to lay flat is similar when you look at it that way.

And there are countless other ways to make your dog look better in the ring...shoe polish, mascara, the whole works. All just little tricks of the trade, and taping is just one of these.

That's my understanding anyway!