Ear Size

[Nisha]

Just two quick questions:
first of all at what age do cavs get their full ear size because my boys are now 1 year 4 months and their ears are not that long as what i usually see..
and secondly, i have noticed around my area and on websites that some cavaliers (aged 3 and over) have quite short ears which stay that size throughout their lives....do some cavs just not grow ears as long as the average cav?

Thanks in advance

[Barbara Nixon]

I think the breed standard says that the tip of the leather should touch the tip of the nose. This was/is so for Izzy and Teddy, but Joly's ears are very small. However, only this year, the hair has grown longer than before (actually it's almost as long as the ear), so his ears appear to be long enough to touch his nose.

As much of the length is actually hair, dogs who get their ears trimmed will apparently have smaller ears.

[Karlin]

Mine seem to have added about an inch of length to their ear hair each year. A lot of people trim the hair on their ears as it drags in food and gets matted easily so that is likely why you are seeing some dogs with short ears -- they do take a lot of grooming to keep them clean. Also some dogs chew on their ear hair and that might be why some is a lot shorter. A year and four months isn't very old -- Jaspar's ear hair was probably only about an inch longer than the leather at that time. Really long haired dogs are usually a lot older.

Generally the hair doesn't grow all that fast and it takes a few years to get any good length. Black hair tends to grow faster and fuller than any other colour as well so tris and B&Ts tend to have much fuller, longer ears than rubies or blenheims, on average of course with lots of individual variation.

I like really long ears so I have never trimmed the hair on them though I suspect the groomers took a bit off Lily's hair when I had her groomed (in desperation as her coat was such a mess! Other than that one time, I groom them myself). Leo has the longest ear hair of my three.

I know many cut hair offering reasons of comfort, due to heat, or ease of grooming, but I like natural coats and feel kind of sad when people shave down cavaliers and trim their hair -- a neighbour has two fat cavaliers she totally shaves and they are, excuse the term, butt-ugly after this for weeks. They look like fat bulldog/jack russell crosses. They are such beautiful dogs with their coats that it seems so sad to shear them like a short haired breed. She does this year round so it just seems to be that she doesn't want to bother grooming them (nor does she walk them much either...).

Personally, I doubt a dog benefits much from losing its coat in most sunny to hot climates and may benefit from keeping it. Having lived with a long haired breed in a part of California where temps regularly went over 100 F I can say we never cut our pyrenees's hair and she was never overheated (of course she had shade to retire to as well) -- not to mention that this exposes their skin to more sun rays that a longer coat protects against, thus increasing the risk of skin cancers. If you go to any hot sunny country you will notice the natives wear long protective clothes (think the middle east to Mexico) -- only the tourists are out roasting themselves and exposing their skin! So I don't get the logic of cutting off all their coat when it is protective, and most don't have a very heavy coat to begin with, and cavaliers don't even have the heavy double coats that a pyrenees has for instance.

Well that's a total digression from ears but just a thing I wonder about -- I think people feel the dog is happier because they think it should be happier when the coat is cut but I doubt it matters much except in real extremes of temperature. That means up over 105-110 in my book I guess, having lived for years in a very hot summer climate (which come to think of it often reached those temps) and never in my time there saw anyone shave a long haired breed like a retriever, spaniel, etc.

[IzzieBell&MommyBell]

Has anyone ever made a mistake in cutting the hair on their dog's ear lopsided? Some stupid thought came over me when I saw my puppy's ear were getting wet when she drank and I trimmed them (never again urg) a good 3/4'' off.

I'm trying to teach Isabelle to keep her head tilted for now. How long do you think it'll take to grow back?

I'm just so mad at myself for this!

[Nisha]

Oh ok thanks for that...it never occurred to me that people trimmed the ear hair so it looked short!

i know many cut hair offering reasons of comfort, due to heat, or ease of grooming, but I like natural coats and feel kind of sad when people shave down cavaliers and trim their hair

yea i agree....i think cavs look lovely with beautiful long ears...however its been quite rainy for the last month over here and its such a bother when i take the dogs for their walks that they come home basically black from all the mud...so i got the groomer ot trim the hair under their belly and their tail and legs so it would be easier...i didnt take much off...i thought they looked much more like puppies with the shorter coat..its only because of this weather though

Jaspar's ear hair was probably only about an inch longer than the leather at that time

oh good because thats about what my two have..actually if i think about it they have more than that so i guess its at an ok length

ok anyway thanks for clearing that up

[Nisha]

Oh ok thanks for that...it never occurred to me that people trimmed the ear hair so it looked short!

i know many cut hair offering reasons of comfort, due to heat, or ease of grooming, but I like natural coats and feel kind of sad when people shave down cavaliers and trim their hair

yea i agree....i think cavs look lovely with beautiful long ears...however its been quite rainy for the last month over here and its such a bother when i take the dogs for their walks that they come home basically black from all the mud...so i got the groomer ot trim the hair under their belly and their tail and legs so it would be easier...i didnt take much off...i thought they looked much more like puppies with the shorter coat..its only because of this weather though

Jaspar's ear hair was probably only about an inch longer than the leather at that time

oh good because thats about what my two have..actually if i think about it they have more than that so i guess its at an ok length

ok anyway thanks for clearing that up everyone

[Alison_Leighfield]

a neighbour has two fat cavaliers she totally shaves and they are, excuse the term, butt-ugly after this for weeks. .

What poor little cavaliers

Alison.

[Barbara Nixon]

I knew a cavalier who was left at his usual groomer, but got done by a new employee. When I first saw Percy, I didn't recognize him. He was close shaved and even his gait changed. I only realised who he was when I noticed the person walking him. He looked so miserable.

Izzy once wore off the bottom inch or so of one ear when it was infected, so ended up lopsided. I didn't trim the other to match and was pleasantly surprised that the hair grew quite quickly.