HELP! Did I hurt my pups ears while taping?

parisvee

Hello everyone! I'm a first time bull terrier owner and my 7wk pup Rei has begun ear training this weekend. I decided to get an early start since both her parents had floppy ears despite being adults. 

I used the tampon/wrap method that got great reviews on youtube last night and this morning I noticed one of her ears becoming a bit blue

:-SS . I took the bandage wrap and tape off immediately and her ears showed progress in perking up but I've noticed areas that looked bruised as well as one ear being a bit thicker than the other. Right now she seems normal but shakes her head around every once in a while. 

I want her ears to stand but if it's going to hurt her I rather use other methods like giving her Knox gelatine. Is there also another way to train her ears to prevent this from happening again?

*I've attached pics of how I taped her ears and a before/after comparison. 

parisvee

UPDATE: 

So I'm freaking out b/c I'm pretty sure her head shaking while the tape was on caused haematoma, so that can lead to ear deformation (looks like no perky ears for us). I'm going to call the vet tomorrow to see if any draining can be done but alot of people say don't waste my money for surgery since the ears just end up caving in. I'm bummed about the ear standing but I'm more upset that I hurt my pup  

philsergeant

Yes, It sounds like that's the case... they seemed fine up top but tight at the bottom and that apparently caused bruising and blood collection. You may be lucky and it drains, but a vet visit might be in order just to get a better opinion if you can find a vet that's not a shark. Don't be deterred on the ear fix though... do a search on the site for Bridge Method, and try that if you are a fraid of over restricting again. I am sure (hope) he will get over it.

BulliesofNC

From the photos of her ear without the tape I can see the bruise but I can't make out any significant swelling which would be considered a haematoma. How long did you leave the tape on for? As Phil mentioned, the tape does appear slightly tight on the base of the ears. Due to the ears being taped without a bridge going from one ear to the next ear and not drooping I can tell the tape is so tight at the base that it's holding the ears straight up without the need for a bridge.

Your Vet will be able to determine if your Bullie has a haematoma which may corrected without any effects to the ear.

parisvee

The swelling has gone down in the past couple of days and I'm so relieved!!! I'm nervous about trying since she manages to take the bandages off when I wrapped it loosely and I want to avoid hurting her again. I'm debating if I should take her to the vet just in case even though she's acting normal and hasn't shown any sign of being in pain (even when it was swollen).  

Any advice for perking her ears up w/o the tape/tampon method? I just prepped some knox jello cubes to give her as treats. 

Thanks  

From the photos of her ear without the tape I can see the bruise but I can't make out any significant swelling which would be considered a haematoma. How long did you leave the tape on for? As Phil mentioned, the tape does appear slightly tight on the base of the ears. Due to the ears being taped without a bridge going from one ear to the next ear and not drooping I can tell the tape is so tight at the base that it's holding the ears straight up without the need for a bridge.

Your Vet will be able to determine if your Bullie has a haematoma which may corrected without any effects to the ear.

parisvee

Thank you so much for the advice! Her ears are all better now so I'll start looking into the bridge method to perk up those ears! 

Yes, It sounds like that's the case... they seemed fine up top but tight at the bottom and that apparently caused bruising and blood collection. You may be lucky and it drains, but a vet visit might be in order just to get a better opinion if you can find a vet that's not a shark. Don't be deterred on the ear fix though... do a search on the site for Bridge Method, and try that if you are a fraid of over restricting again. I am sure (hope) he will get over it.

philsergeant

If you haven't found that string yet, heres a link:

http://www.bulliesofnc.com/BTforum/discussion/comment/23585/#Comment_23585