Malinois ear concerns - Page 1

I have a 5 month old Mal, whose ears came up around 4 months or so.  Last week his left ear flopped and it hasn't come back up.  His sturdy ear looks like it's getting ready to droop soon. Is this normal?
I don't know if he's still teething, or if this is a sign that I'll need to tape his ears.
Has anyone else had this happen?  I put cottage cheese and yogurt in his food for extra calcium, but to no avail.

 

Yup, he could well be teething - or at least, if his adult teeth
are all through now, they could still be 'settling' in his jaw -
don't forget the head hasn't quite stopped growing yet, along
with the rest of his body.  Not much experience around Malis
but I know this definitely applies with GSDs, and have seen
it in some other erect eared breeds and crosses.  Provided
they have already been properly 'up' they should go up again
in due course.

Giving him calcium isn't going to do much for the ear cartilege
- and extra calcium is unwise in growing youngsters anyway, as
it can lead to detrimental bone changes / eventual arthritis.
 

OP:
I'm not sure if this is common. All I can tell you is my experience. My Mal's ear's came up quickly and always stood up. Never had any trouble with them falling.  Hopefully someone else will be able to say if they've had this problem before. I'm sorry I can't tell you more.

It's normal when they begin to get their adult teeth. If they were up before teething, they should come back up after. If you're really worried, give him something to chew on to help build the muscles that support the ears.

Yes, they were up perfectly only 3 weeks ago. I'm hoping they go back up. He certainly is still teething. His tug lure keeps getting blood all over it from inside his mouth, and he's lost 3 teeth just this weekend. I've taken to giving him a Glucosamine supplement with his food, and have given him pig knuckles to teeth on. For the most part, they have remained down. His left ear comes up every so often. but the right ear remains down pretty much all the time. I'll let it go until the 6 month mark. After that, I think I may have to tape his ears. I'm really hoping to avoid that.
Anyone else had this issue before?

My mal's ears were completely up at 13 weeks. Then they started flopping up and down during the teething stage. I did not give her any extra supplements or taped anything, I just let nature happen. At 5 months old, both her ears were permanently up. As others have said - if they were up once they will end up-up in the end.

Below is my pup at around 11/12 weeks and then 1 year old.

Remy's were folded backwards (which I haven't seen too often) at 4 months then they flopped forward at 6 months. One finally went up but the other one remained floppy. I taped it up and took it off 3 days later (meant to leave it on longer but dirt got in it) and voila, it was up and stayed that way. It probably would have just happened on its own anyway. His ear are on the larger side so maybe that's why they took a little longer than usual. Overall it was at about 7 months when they both popped up for good. It sounds ilke your guy is still teething so I wouldn't worry about it.