By Edith Izant

(This article written by Edith Izant was donated to the USKBTC by the Estate of Edith Izant and the Izant family. Edith passed away in 2005. She was always a great resource on the breed. We appreciate her contributions to the Kerry Blue Terrier and their owners.

There are many opinions on how to set a Kerry ears. Everyone should first check with the breeder of your puppy. Another article on setting ears, with a series of pictures, can be found on the USKBTC website

“Ears – V-shaped, small but not out of proportion to the size of the dog, of moderate thickness, carried forward close to the cheeks with the top of the folded ear slightly above the level of the skull. A ‘dead’ eat hound like in appearance is very undesirable.” So says the official Standard for the American Kerry Blue Terrier.

Nature, however, has decreed that some Kerries will be born with large heavy ears, which, if unattended, will result in the undesired “houndlike” appearance. Almost as often a small thin ear may occur, which at maturity will end up too far above the head, even more untypical of a Kerry.

Ears on the early Irish and English Kerries were not set; it was not until after 1945 that some English breeders started this practice. In the United States as early as 1935 the professional handler, Ed “Pop” Sayres, decided that the appearance of Kerries would be improved if the ears were set during teething as most of the other terrier ears were. At that time, most ears were large, so her set them on top of the head with the inner edges touching. This would be wrong for our modern Kerries with their smaller ears as it could result in a flying ear with tip above the top of the skull.

"Ear Pasting" Ear Pasting Diagram

Fortunately, improper ear appearance is one of the faults which can be prevented by the breeder or owner. Those new to the breed should not be misled by pet store dealers or even some veterinarians who may tell you ear setting is unnecessary; as they may have in mind the cropping such as is done in some other breeds. Pasting of the ears is painless and can be done by the owner with these directions.

Although opinions differ as to the proper way to set ears, the method outlined below is one that I developed many years ago, and which is responsible for good ear carriage on champion group and best-in-show winners in the Townshend line. Basically it consists of not pasting too early, and pasting them in the same correct place each time.

The ears should be pasted up at 12 weeks, when they will have begun to rise by themselves, and this is about 4 to6 weeks before the second teeth start to come in. It is logical to paste them at the time that nature starts to lift them. Other reasons are that what looks like a lift of ¼” at 6 weeks, may be an inch at a year of age, producing ears that fold over too high above the skull, and usually at 12 weeks some of the puppies have been sold, so there is not so much danger that in playing with each other they will pull the ears loose, resulting in a sore spot. However, if you see the ears folding back onto the back of the skull like a greyhound at about 10 weeks, paste them at once.

The ears are repasted every four weeks and are usually permanently set by 7 months; about 2 to 4 weeks after the last teeth are in. In the case of very large or thick, or very small or thin ear, it is safer to keep them pasted until about 8 to 10 months. You can then be sure that the cartilage is firm enough that the large ear will not droop and the small ear will not be too high. If the first pasting produced ears that seem perfect, some owners do not think they must repast. However these ears will not stay in position since at about four months the second teeth will start to come in. Humans have several years to produce their second teeth ---puppies only two months, so it is an immense drain on their system, and during this time they should have at least a heaping teaspoon of bone meal every day. If the ears are left alone, they will go up at 3 months, back down at 5 months, and then may or may not come back up at 7 months.

At 3 months, clip the puppy’s head, ears, chest, vent and stomach, edge the ears with scissors, pull hairs out of the ears, wipe out with R7 Ear Cleaner of similar drying ear cleaner, and give the puppy a bath. Do not clip with a clipper finer than No.10 as you need some hair on the inside of the ear and on the skull to make the ears stick to the skull. You can pull the hairs out of the deep part of the ear with your thumb and finger, or with a hemostat, available at most pet, department or drug stores. Brush and towel dry, then allow the puppy to run in the yard for a few minutes. Put the puppy back on the table, with someone to hold the head. Be sure the ears are dry inside by wiping out with Co-Ette, the compressed cotton pads. Wipe out again with R&, the best product we have ever used to keep the ears dry and non-smelly.

Knock on the wall or whistle to get the puppy to raise its ears, so you can see how they look. You should be familiar with the correct expression of a Kerry---read the Standard and look at pictures. The top of the folded ear should be slightly above skull level, and carried forward close to the cheeks – the tip close to the outer corner of the eye. Take the top of your adhesive, and have a helper lightly holding the muzzle of the puppy. Jiffy Sew from a notion store sets faster than Duo Liquid Adhesive which can be bought in a drug store. Do not buy more than one or two tubes as they spoil. Turn the ear straight up, and put a little of the adhesive at Point A, in the little dimple between the ear and the skull on the outside of the ear, and directly behind this spot on the inside of the ear. Run a narrow line of adhesive from there down the inner edge of the ear from A to C and cover the inside tip of the ear at C with a large dot of adhesive. Now the important point – with your thumb at A push the ear a little toward the center of the skull, perhaps 1/8” to ¼” and push the adhesive at A flat onto the skull, with the adhesive inside the ear holding the flap of the ear against the skull. Do not pinch the fold of the ear together from A to B, it should fold over easily with a very slight roll so that will look natural and not as if it has been cut. Be sure first that the fold is not much more than ¼” above the skull in a three-month-old puppy, although if the ear is very large, you may deliberately decide to set it a little higher in order to make it seem smaller. The inner edge of the ear from A to C should be parallel to the other ear and to the cheek, so now run your thumb down the edge of the ear from A to C pressing it to the skull. The point C should be just above the outer corner of the eye, but do not pull the ear forward, let it fall naturally. Some large ears will almost touch the eye, others will be farther back. In the case of an ear that seems very wide, you may turn the tip just a little toward the center of the eye to produce a slight fold in the ear at the line A to B, making the ear look less wide. The side of the ear from B to C is left open for ventilation. Repeat with the other ear.

The ear should particularly not stand up too high before folding forward, and the tip should point to the outside corner of the eye, not down on the lower part of the cheek, nor toward the inside corner of the eye. It is very ugly to have such a wide fold that a “hole” appears at the inner edge where the ear folds over, Nothing should be put into the ear from A to B, and do not put glue inside from A to B.

After pasting both ears, take hold of the puppy’s muzzle yourself, and look at the head and ears from the back of the neck, and from the front-the ears should look identical. If the ears do not look the same, quickly pull loose the one that seems wrong and reset. The ears should be separated from ¼” to 1” in the middle of the skull, depending on the width of the skull and the size of the ears. While the ears are drying, back brush the coat and do the scissor trimming. When you put the puppy down, keep it with you. If it tries to scratch at the ears, tell it, “No” and rub the ears a little.

Very occasionally you will shave a puppy that will continue to scratch at the ears trying to get them loose. Smell the ears, and look under the edges to be sure a sore is not developing – if there is a smell or wetness, it may be an allergy or clipper burn. Take the ears down at once by using cold cream, rubbed in slowly, and allowed to remain down until healed unless they can be re-pasted by putting the adhesive in a different spot. An antibiotic, lodex, or even Mercurochrome will usually heal and dry up a sore. However, if nothing seems wrong with the ears, then try and inch-wide piece of adhesive tape over the tips of the ears, and down the cheeks on each side. If you have to take an ear down, it is better to take them both down. Try not to have the ears loose for more than a day. You may be able to apply the adhesive around the sore spot, but not on it.

If the puppy is to be entered in a match, his ears should be free. Try to plan ahead and paste the ears up at least three or four weeks before the match so you can easily cut them loose. If there is not much space between head and ear when you want to take them down, try rubbing in cold cream to break down the adhesive.

The ears will stay glues for four weeks. Do not ever leave them pasted for more than this or the hair will be so long that the ears will rise with the hair and be set too high. Put the puppy on the table and do the clipping. At the end of four weeks, there will be enough hair between the ear and the adhesive and the skull and the adhesive that you can easily clip or scissor the ear and the skull and the flat, skin like piece of adhesive sill come away with the hair. Pull out the hairs from the deeper part of the ear with your fingers or a clamp. Kerry puppies have more of this inner hair than they do later in life. Clean with R7 on a Co-Ette, and repeat until they come out clean. Co-Ettes do not come apart in the ear, and are not as dangerous as a swab stick. After the bath you will be ready to repaste for another month. Do not change the placement of the ears each time you paste. If you pasted them correctly the first time, you should paste them in the same place every month.

If you pasted the ear with too much fold above the skull, as the puppy grows, you can lower it before he is six months old. If the ear is pasted with just the right amount of fold, but is hanging because of weight, or flying a little because it is small, continue to paste it in the same correct position, and you may expect that when the ear stiffens after the puppy is six months old, the ear will be correct. When the tip is pasted just above or back from the outer corner of the eye, it will touch the cheek as called for in the Standard. From A to B will be level and the flap of the ear below the rollover will lie flat.

Last Updated: 01/12/2006, 1:49 pm