Gluing Ears At AfterAll

• Do all Wire's ears need to be glued?
  No, but most of them do. The longer you wait to begin, the less likely it is that it will be successful.
  

• What happens if you don't glue the ears?
  One or both of the ears may lift and stay up permanently. Some people think this is cute on a pet Wire. The choice is yours. You can see what it looks like on this site: http://www.foxterrier.com/earclub/ 
  

• Who can help me do this? 
  If your breeder is a show person, he should be able to help you or perhaps put you in touch with an experienced person in your area. Many times, however, you may live too far from an expert and must do it on your own. These photos will show you how we do it here, but everyone has their own preferred method.

	Ears need to be glued when the puppy begins teething. If you miss this window, you may never get the opportunity again to have them set well. Small ears are harder to work with. Wide set ears may need a different technique.
	Although most breeders use a fabric glue like TearMender, we prefer CopyDex (from England or Australia) It is MUCH easier to get off! Order CopyDex on ebay.An oil based product like Avon Skin So Soft or even baby oil will help remove glue after sitting for an hour or more. We use a small, metal flea comb to get under the glue but with CopyDex, most of it will roll off or pull off with just your fingers. The photo shows Avon Skin So Soft but now we use Uni-Solve, a human medical adhesive remover.
	This puppy's ears still look fairly good but they will be glued to set the crease and to make sure they do go up. An ounce of prevention and all that....
	The crease should be fairly tight and the tip should point slightly toward the corner of the ear. Exactly how each ear is glued depends on how high or wide set they are naturally.
	With CopyDex, we don't need to leave too much hair on the ear, so we start by stripping the extra off. Many people leave all the hair on.
	Before gluing, apply Tincture of Benzoin over the entire inside flap of the ear with a Q-tip. This protects the skin and helps avoid infection. Your pharmacy may carry it or may have to order this non prescription product.
	After the Tincture of Benzoin is completely dry, begin spreading the glue evenly over the inside of the ear flap with a Q-tip.
	Continue until it is completely covered in glue and then carefully fold it over where the crease should go.
	Ah...this is the tricky part. Gently pinch the outside edges of the flap together. There is no need to pinch the middle as there is no cartiledge there. It's important to pinch it exactly where you want the crease to be.
	After setting the crease, press the tip down so it points toward the outside corner of the eye. The entire ear may not be pushed completely flat on the head. It depends on the ear shape, size and it's natural placement. However, this is a good rule of thumb.
	Here is the puppy with one ear glued and the other not.
	This photo shows Pam folding the ear back over her finger so she can spread the glue clear onto the tip
	Almost done. This puppy was so relaxed that she fell asleep!
	We repeat the whole process with the other ear. With both ears now glued, puppy's Mom tells her what a good girl she is!
	Pam pulls off two  pieces of duct tape long enough to go half way around the puppy's head. She folds over the ends a bit to make "pull tabs."
	Here is the tape with the pull tabs shown. Have a second piece ready.
	The first piece is set just under one ear and under the jaw. It ends in the same place on the other side.  The other piece of tape will go over the tabs shown here.  When it is time to remove the tape, we pull it off the bottom piece so we don't lift the ears at the same time.
	The second piece of tape (also with pull tabs)  is applied and goes over the bottom of the ear with just a tiny piece of the tip still showing.  The tape should be long enough to go across the head and cover the other ear in the same way. It should overlap the first piece by an inch or so on each side.
	Sleepy pup with her "head band" on. This is just left on for a few hours. If she decides to rub or scratch her ears, she won't pull them up. When the tape comes off later, it feels good and in most cases, the pup will generally leave the ears along.
1. We leave ears glued for 3 weeks and then we remove the all the glue, carefully clean out the ears and let them "rest" and get air for 3 days. The process is repeated until the puppy is done teething and the ears stay where we want them.	2. If an ear begins to come loose before you are ready to take the glue off, you can add a little glue, usually to the tip of the ear, and "tack" it down. You will easily be able to see where it needs to go.
3. Sometimes the ears begin to lift again and if so, we glue them again and repeat the process until they stay. Small ears are more likely to lift. We have even glued ears for a second rotation when pups are 6 months or a bit older. This probably won't work nearly as well if the ears weren't glued when he was younger.	4. Keep in mind that the process shown above is just a guideline. The exact method depends on the ears, their thickness, size, natural crease and how far apart they are.  However, these pictures should help you if you don't have an expert to do it for you.