Aren't I a sassy looking Sable Merle boy.
 
Shown here at 8 1/2 weeks  Not a flying ear in the bunch. To ensure the up on head look we tape / brace;   here 9 1/2 weeks.

YES, you can bred for natural ears, but no one said it was easy. There are six sets, yes I said six sets of genes that control ears. We tape no ears till 9-10 weeks; only on the dogs we wish to use for the show ring. We prefer the tighter look, with the new tape method. It is possible, but easier with natural breaks from good beginnings. I find that many ears may be too heavy, so in that case bracing is more important than taping down. (but if you brace up, you better complete the job and tape the tips down). Never leave the tips or ears fly on a dog in training for even one day. After a different period of time, since each dog is different, you will never have to tape again.

This young man would not need his ears taped over, but braced UP. The hair has been shaved off the tips.
The puppy is a pet and his ears face forward but are not high on top of his head. He will be just fine and have good ears for a collie. If he were to be a show prospect, you would want to brace them across to pull them tighter on top of the head.
This young show dog and bitches have their ears braced across to bring the ears tight on top of  head and taped down so a permanent crease will cause the ear tip to stay down.
Even natural ears fly up during teething, puberty, heat cycles and cold weather. If left up too long, the cartliage will get stiff and you lose your break.
Just enough and ready to show.

It  works on Smooths too,  she had one hang down ear. Now a perfect look.  P.S. Won two groups ones last year.

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I use to use Moleskin and yarn and then we tried glue. Tear Mender  as a glue, etc.  But by far the best and easiest is the  "NEW" tape.
The placement is the same , the materials are the only different. Check with your breeder to see first hand how to clean ear, and position the tape.  Our last any where from four to six weeks. The puppy will not even know it's up there, if done correctly. Louisiana hot sauce will keep his litter mates from biting and wetting the tape area of the ears.
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