by Rose Atwood
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July 16, 2008
Recently we have had a number of requests from both Veterinarians and fellow breeders alike (as well as questions written to Ask Striker!) interested in learning our procedure and techniques for ear gluing and ungluing on the Airedale Terrier. In response we have created a full set of instructions. However, we must reiterate:
Ear gluing and ungluing must be performed ONLY by an experienced professional (breeder, groomer, or Veterinarian). Please do NOT glue the ears on your own pet puppy as you can AND WILL do more damage than good.
This information is intended only for those already experienced with gluing to demonstrate the techniques we use ourselves. Different breeds of dog will have different techniques and rules about the gluing as will even breeders within the same breed. For this and other reasons we always recommend purchasing a puppy from a breeder within easy driving distance so that they can more easily assist you with aspects of raising and caring for your puppy such as ear gluing.
We would love feedback about the information contained here and would be more than happy to share the techniques used by others on the Airedale and on other breeds of dog with our readers here.
This is a long article, so grab your cup of Tang now, sit back and read on…
Ear Gluing for the Airedale Terrier
The purpose of ear gluing is to train the ear to set properly on the head and to train the crease in the ear. There are certainly dogs that will end up with perfect ears without any gluing. The owners of those dogs are lucky. It is very much a 50/50 chance whether they will turn out great or horrible without gluing. We recommend making the decision to glue ears very early as the cartilage in the ear will harden and gluing will become ineffective after a certain age, usually 6 months. As an owner, if you will be picky about the dogs ears when it is an adult we strongly recommend ear gluing as the best means of ensuring a good ear. If you don't care what the ears will look like in the worst case scenario, then you may choose to forgo ear gluing.
Gluing is NOT a surgical procedure and is common practice within the Terrier breeds as well as other breeds of dog. Gluing may cause minor annoyance and irritation to the puppy during the first few hours after gluing or ungluing the ears. Simply distracting the puppy and doing some fun activity should help the puppy to forget about the ears.
There is a small chance of infection of one or both ears while they are glued. The infection is typically caused by an allergic reaction to the glue. Ignoring environmental factors which certainly increase the risk of infection, in the last thirty sets of ears that we have glued, infection has only occurred in three puppies, so we will say about a 10% chance of infection. We mainly use a fabric glue called TearMender to glue ears. This is a latex based product. With the additional step of using Tincture of Benzoin to prepare the ear prior to gluing the chance of infection is decreased even further. Since we have been using the Tincture of Benzoin we have had no reports of ear infection due to gluing, but there is of course always a chance. Tincture of Benzoin has several uses, but is used commonly in medical application as an antiseptic and before adhesive or bandages are applied in order to protect the skin from a potential allergic reaction and also to help them adhere for a longer period.
When the ear is glued to the skull an opening must remain which will allow the owner to put a finger all the way into the ear and feel for wetness or smell that might indicate an infection. This should be done on a twice daily basis. The puppy should avoid swimming, baths, and as much as possible rain during a glued cycle as the moisture will surely cause an ear infection. The puppy should also refrain from digging or becoming overly dirty as the dirt in the ear may cause infection also.
When an infection occurs the ears need to be immediately unglued and the puppy will need to be treated by a Veterinarian with an antibiotic. After the infection has cleared we can glue the ears again. For the next gluing we always use a different type of glue in order to avoid another infection. Our second glue choice is called Copydex and is a product that must be shipped from England. We have never had an infection occur on a puppy where Copydex was used for the second gluing, although it is quite possible. If a puppy were to continue with infections during gluing we would recommend stopping the gluing process and accepting the ears as they are.
Ear gluing is a very subtle process best performed by an individual experienced with the breed and the gluing process. An improperly glued ear can cause more damage than good for the training of the ear and health of the dog. For these reasons we strongly recommend that the ears of any dog be glued by the breeder of that dog. Some Veterinarians may feel comfortable gluing and ungluing ears and we are more than willing to work with them during the process if you live too far away to bring the puppy back to us.
Ears are glued for two week cycles, two weeks glued followed by two weeks unglued, before the cycle is repeated. For a show dog we glue in cycles until the ear is just perfect. For pets, most owners choose to have two or three cycles of gluing performed. We allow the owners to make the call as to how many cycles they choose to perform. The main purpose of the two weeks unglued is to allow time for the hair to grow back which is necessary for the glue to stick.
The ears must be symmetrical, this is critical. If the ears are glued differently they will train differently. One person should glue both ears on one dog. If during the two week gluing cycle the one ear becomes unglued the decision must be made to either glue it down again or unglue the other ear as soon as possible or they will train differently. We send all owners home with a bottle of the glue in order to perform touch ups of the ears during the two weeks in order to avoid an ear becoming totally unglued. When a bit of the ear begins to lift, the owner should use a small amount of glue to tack it back down. Never glue down the opening.
Gluing Ears
First prepare the ear using the Tincture of Benzoin. Use a cotton swab to apply liberally to all areas where you will be applying glue. Allow a minute for this to set.
Use a small plastic plate to squeeze a good amount of glue onto. Allowing the glue to dry on the plate for a short time will make it less watery and adhere faster when used. The downside is you will only have one shot to place the ear correctly once the glue is applied.
Clean both ears thoroughly. Never glue an already infected ear, take the puppy to a Veterinarian to treat the infection and glue after the infection has cleared.
Trim (scissor) any frills of hair from the very tip of the ear to make the V, from the edges closest to the skull (where the crease will be), and the front of the ear opening on the skull side only.
Flip the ear upside down and use fingertip to apply glue to the entire upper edge of the ear and the tip as well as the section of the lower edge of the ear closest to the skull. Leave an unglued section on the lower edge of the ear which will allow the owner to put their finger up in the ear to check for wetness and smell of infection.
Quickly roll the glue off your own fingers and get ready to flip the ear over and place against the skull. You will only have one shot to glue it right. Make sure you have an assistant to hold the head of the puppy steady while you flip the ear over and place against skull.
First glue the crease together. For a measurement as to wear to place the crease, basically there should be one knuckle of the index finger hidden below the crease on the backside.
Next place the tip of the ear (the V) very close to the corner of the eye, but slightly below the eye. A smaller ear may not reach as close to the eye as a larger ear. The ear should lay completely flat against the skull the entire distance of the tip to the crease.
Check the crease top and bottom again to make sure it isn't loose or out of place.
If the ear hasn't been placed correctly the only fix is to pull the ear up off the skull, apply new glue and start over.
Apply pressure the entire length of the ear edge to adhere the glue to the skull. Press for a few seconds.
Make sure the hole for the finger check is still there and that you can reach all the way into the ear. If the hole has become glued shut you must open that section back up by pulling the ear away from the skull.
Touch up any edges that aren't quite glued down all the way (here we are putting more glue on the tip of the ear) by lifting the edge slightly and using fingertip to apply glue under lifting edge.
The finished ear should lay cleanly against the skull with a definable crease across the top and the tip pointing just below the corner of the eye.
Repeat with the other ear.
The ears should look symmetrical. They should rise above the skull at the same height. They should point to the same spot just below the eye. Symmetrical is key.
On the upper edge only of the ear behind the crease (the spot where the first knuckle of the index finger should disappear) now needs to be glued back against the head. Squeeze some glue into the area.
Rub the glue into the crease with your fingertip before pushing the ear firmly against the skull to glue the crease back.
NOTE: This area does not stay glued for very long, a few days top. The owner may try to touch the area up and re-glue, but this is the only section which may be allowed to remain unglued for the two weeks.
Finished.
Touch ups during the two weeks are recommended. When one ear becomes unglued the other ear must be taken down right away also or the ears will train differently.
Also, it should be noted that the glue, which goes on white, does turn brown and can be mistaken for guck indicitive of an infection. If it doesn’t smell like an infection, it is probably glue.
Please view our gluing flipbook video which demonstrates the gluing process, Direct Link: Ear Gluing for the Airedale Terrier (.wmv file size 14.4MB). It may take some time for the video to load as it is quite large in size.
Subtleties
There are many subtleties that affect how to place the ear for proper training. For example, a larger ear should be glued slightly higher (more crease), while a smaller ear should be lower. A thicker ear will be harder to train than a thin ear and may require extra gluing cycles to set properly. Exactly where to place the tip of the ear (the V) in relation to the eye is based on the ear size and shape.
Ungluing Ears
To unglue the ears the ear must be first pulled away from the skull. Next all the bits of glue must be pulled off of the ear. Scissors and clippers may be used to help get the glue off where necessary. We generally pull the glue off with fingers. Think like a bandage on a hairy arm or an eyebrow wax. The Airedale has a type of coat which is meant to be pulled out instead of cut. The follicle is different than the follicle on human hair and does not hurt the animal in general. If the owner is overly sensitive about the ungluing then we suggest that they finish with the gluing process and accept the ears as they are.
Please view our ungluing flipbook video which demonstrates the ungluing process, Direct Link: Ear Gluing for the Airedale Terrier (.wmv file size 10.4MB). It may take some time for the video to load as it is quite large in size.
Yes, products do exist which claim to dissolve the glue to avoid the pulling. We have not yet found a product which works well enough for our purpose. Generally these products simply make the entire area very greasy which just makes it harder to pull the glue off when the product doesn't work.
After getting the ear up from the skull pull the glue off by working your way around the ear from the bottom edge crease to the tip then from the upper edge crease to the tip. Pull in the direction of the hair growth and it should come out easier.
Every last bit of glue must be removed. Leaving glue in the hair of the ears can lead to infection and will certainly undo the good the gluing did to train the ears as they are weighted down by the glue.
After all the glue is pulled off of the ear and the skull it should look quite clean as in the picture.
Repeat with the other ear.
Clean the ears thoroughly. Apply Gold Bond Powder to any raw areas. If an infection is discovered when the ears are unglued the puppy must be taken to a Veterinarian and treated with an antibiotic immediately.
In two weeks, after the hair grows back, glue for another two week cycle.
Again, the information contained in this post is for demonstrative purposes only and should only be performed by a professional experienced with ear gluing. Please do NOT glue the ears on your own pet puppy as you can AND WILL do more damage than good.
If you have further questions about ear gluing please feel free to contact us.
