# Could I get some ear-pinions?



## saraja87 (Jul 12, 2011)

We got our little girl at 11 weeks after she was already in the full throes of teething. We believe she was the last puppy in a backyard breeder's litter, as she was dumped with a note around her neck in a random front yard. She appears to be a full GSD, definitely coated although I'm not sure which type of coat she has, be it long stock coat or long coat. She definitely has the ear fringe and right now her puppy coat is very soft and silky. 

She's now almost 16 weeks and her ears are "tippy" with one being floppier than the other and we've been wondering if we should consider gluing them. She still seems a little young at only 4 months as I've read and seen photos on here of much older shepherd's ears going up later. They're very mobile, they go up and down and she turns them left and right depending on the direction of a sound or her mood. 

What does everyone think? Will they go up on their own or will they need a little help? Any opinion on coat type?

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## KZoppa (Aug 14, 2010)

She's a long coat. The ears floofies give it away pretty heavily. As for her ears, she's still young and with GSDs their ears can go all kinds of crazy until they're totally done teething which is around 6-7 months. She certainly looks purebred to me but i cant get the pictures to zoom any further. Do i see a great deal of while on her feet? That would lead me to believe she may be mixed but has a high concentration of GSD in here genetics but i would still lean towards purebred. 

Some GSDs have heavier ears than others so it will take longer for their ears to totally stand. Something that can prevent the ear from standing can be ear damage to poor genetics. I'm sure you'll love her no matter what. She's definitely adorable. 

Welcome to the board.


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## saraja87 (Jul 12, 2011)

@KZoppa Thank you for the response! I thought she might be a long coat, she's very soft and I don't _think_ she has an undercoat, at least not like my Sheltie had. I'm sorry for the not so great photo quality, I've been snapping photos with my first gen iphone and they're not very good quality :blush:

The only actual white she has on her body is a small patch of hairs on her tail tip and a small patch under her chin. The rest is a tan color that's washed out in the photos, I think this one might show her coloring better. Her belly is also a lighter color than her top coat.



We don't mind either way about her parentage, though knowing would help us keep our eyes open for GSD prone problems like hip dysplasia, especially since she most likely came from questionable stock. We even find her floppy ears quite endearing but would be open to helping them stand since it seems to be such a concern for GSD owners. Her ears have definitely been doing crazy things while she's teething so we're happy to let them be for now as long as we're not damaging her in any way by not helping them stand early on.


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## fuzzybunny (Apr 29, 2011)

She is such a cutie!


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## saraja87 (Jul 12, 2011)

@fuzzybunny Thank you! We think she's pretty adorable  She has a fantastic temperament, very easy going, good with kids and our cats. We can't believe she was dumped!

I know this is the ear forum so I might need to post this inquiry elsewhere, but does anyone think her long coated status could have led to her being dumped? Thus far our vet guesses that she was from a backyard breeder, so they may not have cared either way, but it seems that a long coat is an AKC disqualifier that a breeder might not want in their litters.


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## MaggieRoseLee (Aug 17, 2001)

I think she is ADORABLE and love the middle picture with her head cocked!

Since there are tons of GSD's dumped and in shelters/rescues, not sure if you can say it's cause of her long coat. Specially cause there are some that prefer that long coat whether it's in the standard or not!

Good luck with her and her ears and keep posting! Look at other posts in this 'ears' section I think some people think supplements to the diet may help...


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## KZoppa (Aug 14, 2010)

she's adorable. its possible she was ditched because she's a long coat but not likely. Most cases with puppies is people realize just how much work they are and dont want to deal with them so they ditch them or something happens financially and they think the puppy will stand a better chance being dumped than at a shelter situation. It could even be possible she came from a good breeder and they didnt want to return her so they didnt look bad. Only they really know. 

We definitely look forward to see more pictures as she grows and hearing the puppy war stories!


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## Stosh (Jun 26, 2010)

Stosh is long coated and he has the same ear floofies along with the furry feet that look and sound like bunny slippers. And his fur was incredibly soft, now just his ears are super soft. Your girl is just adorable!


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## koda00 (Apr 27, 2009)

fuzzybunny said:


> She is such a cutie!


:wub:


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## saraja87 (Jul 12, 2011)

More gratuitous photos  She's too cute to keep the iPhone camera away :wub:


11 weeks - exploring our friend's yard


11 weeks - fluffy from a bath


11 weeks - getting her first collar


13 weeks - conversing with our cat 


15 weeks - sitting with her daddy

Her coloring seems to be getting darker and richer in some places as she gets older, especially the places where she had more white as a pup. Is this common for GSDs? 

She's also just starting to lose her baby teeth, and while she hasn't chewed anything she shouldn't have, we aren't sorry to see those little alligator needles go! 

Her ears are totally funny, floppy and straight, tipped and upright. I was looking through all the ear progress photos and thus far hers haven't done the tip together phase but have moved to the one mostly up and sometimes tipped and the other floppy stage. They're really entertaining to observe and since they're still big and soft I expect they'll probably flop about for a few more months before deciding if they want to stand


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## saraja87 (Jul 12, 2011)

Milou is now 21 weeks and her ears at still dancing all around. She can put them up, usually when she tilts her head back or hears something interesting, but the tips are still pretty soft. She's really adorable regardless and we love her either way, but I do wish those ears would stand up! I'm not sure if we want to intervene in any way, but would most people consider her to be at an age where intervention would be necessary for her ears to stand? She's still a little girl, just hitting 34lbs at 21 weeks but she's solid and healthy and since she's raw fed I'm not too concerned.


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