We have a 6 month old Shiloh Shepherd (think German Shepherd) that now has one ear standing up and one ear down. This particular breed should have both ears standing up.
How do we get that second ear to stay up? We have taped her ear up but unfortunately we’ve been on vacation and the people taking care of her didn’t do that for her. We are afraid that she has grown enough that her body is done working on the ears and that further taping will be useless.
Any ideas? Continue with the taping? Vitamin supplements (calcium)? Staple them up? (Just kidding)
FTR: She is an adorable dog and we will love her to death no matter what. This is just a preference on our part and if it can be easily accomplished then great. If not no biggie.
I’ve heard that constant rubbing of the ear in an upward motion works. Or you can just take her to the vet and they can clip her ears and make them stand up. But I’ve personally never done the whole rubbing thing.
Her muscles have to be strong enough in the other ear to support the weight of her ear. Sometimes it just happens naturally when they reach adulthood. Other times (like in the case of my dog), you have to help make the muscles stronger.
Do what Golden suggested - think of it as massage therapy. That’s what our vet told us. And when (s)he said “constant rubbing,” (s)he means constant rubbing. We’ve been rubbing my dog’s ears off and on for two years, but they still flop over (it wasn’t really very important that his ears stand up…just that if it happened, it’d be cool). We’ve pretty much given up on him, though, because he looks so damn cute when they flop over. Oh well.
Have you talked to a breeder about it? Seems to me that it can take up to a year for GSDs to achieve proper adult ear set. She’ll keep maturing for up to three years…at six months she’s not even half way done growing! (I’ve owned Rotties since 1986 & know several breeders.)
I don’t know about GSDs, but show prospect Rotties sometimes have their ears taped for proper set as large puppies. Extra calcium is a bad idea for a fast growing large dog with potential for HD, panosteitis & joint problems. Better for cartilege & ligament formation is extra C vitamins; up to 2000mg per day until 1yr old. E is also good.
Also raw bones like chicken backs & turkey necks, if you want to go there…
We had a German Shepherd and her ears both started floppy and eventually stood up, but there was a while that one was up while the other was still floppin. I think they’ll both end up standing in a while. I thought she looked pretty hilarious with the lopsided look, so I’d say enjoy it while it lasts.
With my family’s doberman we posted his ears. We took small cylinders maybe eight inches long (think “the length of a tampon”) and maybe two inches in diameter and put them in his ears so that the base of the ear had the thing in it. Then we did the same for the other ear and taped them together so they “stood up”. We did this for several months, if I remember properly.
That might work for you; I don’t know for sure. I had a german shepherd who had the same problem as your dog, but it never seemed to bother her. That lasted into adulthood and never totally went away.
My dog’s ear folds about a 1/4 of the way up. Is the massage thing still relevant for her? On occasion she can actually lift the ear (with a bit of help from gravity or wind if her head is positioned suitably) but 99% of the time she has it laid flat back against her head.
I think cropping a dog’s ears is totally unnecessary. It’s cruel and it doesn’t help the dog one bit. If the dog could speak he’d say “Leave my ears alone you nut.”
You don’t know that. As a breed her ears should stand up. For all you know the one ear down drives her nuts and she’s happy for the help. Maybe she wants the ability to rotate both ears to focus on interesting sounds.
As for the cruel part I don’t see it. We haven’t and won’t do anything surgically to her (no cutting the ears or anything). The most we’ve done is tape them up and she only fussed over that for about ten minutes the first time we did it and hasn’t cared since. She holds quite still on her own when we tape the ears with absolutley no prompting from us and we haven’t beaten her into submission or anything.
She’s actually a bit headstrong…she fought off (no biting…just wrestling) two orderlies at the vet when they were trying to hold her down to place an IV prior to her spaying. These were largish grown men no less. They finally just knocked her ass out with drugs and popped the IV’s in after that (why they don’t do it in that order in the first place I have no idea).
Who says her ears should stand up? Does this defect make her a worse dog? Perhaps she wants BOTH ears down over the aural canal to prevent dirt and bugs from getting in there?
I think dogs with their ears perpetuly up look like they are on speed or something. Too damn alert.
Geez…what is up with you guys? Especially Wishbone…you need to get a grip (unless you’re that detective Jack Russell Terrier on PBS in which case I suppose your issues are understandable).
Please go back and read the OP. I already stipulated that I love my dog no matter what and was merely asking if there was some relatively simple way to get her ear to stand-up. I will be happy with her no matter what. It’s like someone wants to give you a Ferrari. You may prefer a red one but you’ll be just as thrilled with a black one.
Actually mother nature says her ears should stand-up. Not only as a breed specific trait but the ancestor all dogs evolved (devolved?) from had upright ears. Floppy ears are a human imposition onto dog breeds and is actually the more damaging to the dog. Floppy ear dogs, especially super floppy eared dogs such as Basset Hounds, need constant attention paid to cleaning their ears. Not only will it begin to smell funky if you don’t do this the dog can develop ear infections as a result.
Looking alert is practically a definition of a German Shepherd (which is basically what my dog is). Some people, including myself, like that look. Obviously a matter of preference don’t knock others because you prefer a different look.
I just came back from a dog show, because a friend of mine was showing two Rotties & her husband handles boxers. Boxers get their ears cut when puppies, & taped as they get older if the set isn’t correct. So do Dobes, Bouvs, & several other breeds I can think of. (There were adult boxers there with taped ears.)
GSDs never get their ears cut to conform to standard, I do know that much. Since the full adult coat won’t even come in 'till 10-12 months old, I still think that a six month puppy may end up with “correct” ears…Whack, have you asked a breeder about this, or your vet?
It’s true that dogs with hairy & floppy ears can be more prone to ear infections, though it’s often not so especially in dogs that are generally kept clean & healthy. But Whack is right, many breeds are supposed to have erect ears, & there is nothing cruel about taping them to acheive that.
Every dog I ever had growing up had floppy ears, and never once had problems. Not saying they can’t, but that in my experience it can’t be that widespread.
As for cutting, all I can say is, “not my dog, dammit.” Of course all my dogs have been “throwaway” mutts, so they have no breed standard to conform to.
Or she could be just doing it to be lazy and for the attention who knows. Maybe she thinks that she’s too cute to have the ear up and prefers it to flop around.
Yup…asked both but the answers are vague. I guess the problem is when does the dog’s development give up on the ears? She certainly has a good deal of growing left but I odn’t know if the ears are done developing. Once the ears are done developing is their state a done deal or can they still be coaxed into a new state (without surgery)?
I have been told that a puppy can get ears that stand up but when the adult teeth come in the ears will flop back down. I guess the stuff that builds ears builds teeth as well and the body devotes all resources to the teeth for a short while. After that the resources will go back to the ears and the ears will pop back up. Our pup had her adult teeth come in a month ago so we thought the floppy ear was normal but only one ear popped back up (for a week or so prior both ears had stood up).
I don’t think the floppy ears are much of a problem in most breeds with floppy ears such as Labs where the ears can partially standup. As I understand it the dogs that this is a concern for would be Basset Hounds and Bloodhounds (the really big floppy ear breeds).
Usually proper care of your dog will avoid any issues but this is something owners of those breeds need to be a bit more aware of than owners of other breeds.
Wouldn’t surprise me in the slightest. She’s already displaying intelligent behavior to the point of being a bit spooky. She’s trained us nearly as much as we have trained her ;).
I’ve heard the teething/ear connection discussed, but bdon’t know much about it…The only pure breed dog I’m knowleagable about is Rottweilers, & I know much can be foretold on ear set by the thickness of the leather at 7 weeks, when evaluations are done on seriously bred litters. Otherwise I’ve had mutts & rescue/foster dogs. She still has her adult teeth coming in for another month or two…they start at the front & the rear molars are the last to grow in fully.
Perhaps vague because they don’t know for sure…some things can’t be predicted. There are (I’m sure) a number of active Shiloh/GSD baords…I visit a Rottweiler one where any question will be answered within a few hours.
