Puppy's ears - Page 1

Any ideas how to help a pup into erecting its ears ? Mother's ears are soft. Stand correctly but soft to the point that they bend when she runs. Puppy is now 8 weeks old and looks like its having big ears.

I'm far from an expert, but 8 weeks is way too early to be worrying about them standing.

I would give this puppy another eight (8) weeks before I was a bit concerned. Aside from a balanced diet, make sure the puppy has many chew items and an occassional raw chicken neck. The chewing action helps to strengthen the same muscles that make erect and position the ears.

If the puppy is crated for long intervals, make sure the crate has sufficient height so the puppy's ears do not touch the top of the crate. A daily gentle massage of each ear between thumb and finger is also good. The ears will not be stable until the puppy has most of its adult teeth. During the teething process, the ears may droop alternatively but you should see some promise. I can e-mail you some bracing templates and instructions if you wish, but I certainly prefer that you raise the puppy correctly and let nature do its part.

The only time to become alarmed about ears is if the puppy attains twenty-four (24) months of age and the ears are still floppy. At that end something must be done, and in my opinion that puppy is perhaps not a good breeding candidate. While certain breed lines or combinations produce an excessive amount of soft ears in the progeny, the condition is an inheritable one that occassionally appears even from excellent lines with little history of this fault.

Give the puppy a great environment and sufficient time, and perhaps all will be well.

Regards,

Bob-O

The ears standing up can be a long process with german shepherds. Sometimes up to 7 months old. Your puppy is much to young to be concerned about the ears at 8 weeks. When they do start to stand they will only go down again during teething . This is common. However if the mother has soft ears that could be passed on to the pups as it is genetic but it is not always the case. good luck

ATARTHS...With all the puppies I have had and raised...I have never had one where the ears wouldn't stand after awhile...If the ears don't stand...Like Bob-O said...Just gently massage them daily...this stimulates the blood flow to the ears and helps with them standing...But don't worry too much about them for a good while...They will go up and down with the growth of teeth...This growth takes away vital nutrients from the ears to other parts of the body such as teeth to grow...So just do the massage thing...and then hope for the best...Good Luck...

~Bob~

P.S. Even for puppies where the ears seem to be standing ok...I still massage them...it feels good to the puppies and it also teaches them to let you do things to him...So whether or not you have a problem with the ears...I still gently massage them just like the feet and other things...just so you can groom them later on....

Thanks guys , all comments appreciated. By the way tha mothers parents are both VA!!!!

A correction for a sentence in my post: "The only time to become alarmed about ears is if the puppy attains twenty-four (24) months of age and the ears are still floppy. "

The sentence should have read: "The only time to become alarmed about ears is if the puppy attains twenty-four (24) weeks of age and the ears are still floppy."

Regards,

Bob-O

I'm with Bob-O. In the probably hundreds of pups I have bred and imported over the years, I've never had a puppy whose ears didn't stand at 24 weeks. It happens, especially in show and American lines, but is very rare.

SS

Added note will be,  just be GENTLE with the massage... mine had too much, I thought they have become pulled inwards... Got them UP  by five months... ears side-by-side (as opposed to the V-position when relaxed) if the pup is alert... ears tend to pull inwards... At 10 months... as the skull widens... so does the side-by-side ears... Now, after more than a year... the "coning" ( inward fold at the tips ) helped made the tips stronger... at present, almost NO INWARD PULL... and the tips are opening wider... I was concerned about the big ears also, but when his face widened... I think his ears are not as wide or as long as they were before... And JELLO and Vit. C helped a lot together with the CHEWING... Hope this, somewhat helps.

Have a nice day...