Ear Training - Creating tape forms LAST UPDATE 03/29/2016

Build the forms the day you're going to put them in the puppies ears.
Before you start building, clean your puppies ears one more time with a non-greasy adhesive remover.
They can be drying while you're building your forms.

If you're using 1" Japanese tape and 2" carpet tape, you need to put them together.
We use the back of a smooth cupboard door to work with the tape.
Any clean slick surface will work.

Two strips of Japanese tape sticky side on cupboard.
 

Cover Japanese tape with double sided carpet tape.

 

Cut tape back to 1" strips

Measure your dogs ears. This isn't an exact science so you have to experiment a bit.

Cross brace - We take a cloth measuring tape or a piece of paper for measuring.
Put the ears together and measure from outside of the ears across just above the back skull.
It will be a little longer then just the measurement because of the contour.
We are doing an older dog here. A 12 week old puppy would have a much shorter brace.
 
  Ear tape tabs - We measure from the tip of the ear down to just below the crease in the ear.
The crease is hard to explain but is down about 3/4 of the ear. Example below.


 
Example of a rough measurement that will be transferred to the tape on this older dog.

Transfer measurements to tape

Start cutting out ear brace tape.
Cut half way through tape then fold, so you don't have the sticky part of tape between ears.

Backside of brace below. You can trim the brace later if it's uneven like below.

Now round the corners so there isn't any sharp edges to irritate little ears.

Backside of brace with sticky side of the Japanese tape showing.

Now it's time to remove and then re-attach the film on front side of the double sided tape.
It's easier to do it now, rather than waiting until it's attached to a squirming puppies head. 

Use your finger nail to start peeling the film then cut like below.

Now re-attach film offset a bit so it's easier to grab once it's on the puppies ears. 

Finished brace ready to go.

Cut and round each one of the pieces that will be attached to the puppies ears.

Final ear tape with film on corner folded for easier removal later.

Finished ear forms ready to go.