# Probably a stupid question, but...



## Halen (Feb 16, 2007)

Once your dog's ears are up, are they up for good? People always want to play with my dogs ears, and I'm never sure if that's a good idea or not. His ears have been up forever, but what is everyone's opinion about people playing with a GSD's ears?


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## Liljah (Jan 20, 2008)

I think it depends on his age and is his done with his teething stage?

Once Shane was done with teething and he got his full on canine teeth, his ears stayed up permanently.


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## Halen (Feb 16, 2007)

He's 11 months old, and I've no idea about the teething! Not sure what canine baby teeth look like as opposed to adult.


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## Liljah (Jan 20, 2008)

You can tell when they are teething, they chew anything in sight or you find baby teeth scattered around your home. But at 11 month, it's safe to say, he probably pass that stage now. At 11 months, Shane's ears were up...I believe his ears went up and stayed up when he was about 7 or 8 month.


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## DSudd (Sep 22, 2006)

Apollos ears have been up for the past few weeks. He is 9-1/2 weeks now so I dont know if they will go back down or not once he starts teething. I play with his ears, paws, tail, etc so he is used to people touching him everywhere.


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## mastercabman (Jun 11, 2007)

Once they up,they usually stays up.sometime they get a lazy ear!(goes down,goes up,goes down again)but it's usually temporary.
Oliver's ears were up since he was 9 weeks old!


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## Fodder (Oct 21, 2007)

to the OP and DSudd, once the ears are up they're generally up - but i've always heard that they cartilage isnt completely hard until 18mo or so. surely it depends on the size and thickness of ears, but i wouldnt take any chances. tildens ears have been up for as long as ive had him (got him just under 10mo) but when he's hurt, sick, swimming or sleeping with his ears bent or against the wall - his tips droop anywhere from seconds to hours. my female, gia (whose ears were still crossing over her head at 9months) does not have this problem what so ever.

so all in all, my boy is 18mo and i still discourage man handling of his ears even tho his face is adorable and its hard to resist grabbing his big ol gizmo ears.


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## doggiedad (Dec 2, 2007)

i didn't let people pet my dog on the head. people would ask me if they can pet my dog and i would say yes. i know they are going right for the head/ears so i would wait untill they make they're move and then i would quickly say "don't touch his head" and watch them jump out of their skin. then i would tell them you can pet him anywhere just not on the head because i'm worried about his ears. how old is your dog and how long have his ears been up? my dog is 1 yrs. old and i still don't like it when people play with his ears but i don't say anything. wow, can you imagine the reaction i would get now if i waited for people to start to pet him and i say "don't touch his head". now he's 90 lbs of Shep. i say don't let people pet his head depending on how old he is. i've had people ask me if they can pet my dog and when i say yes they reach down with both hands and take an ear in each hand. ooh, that just goes up my spine.


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## doggiedad (Dec 2, 2007)

i played with my dog all over also but at 9&1/2 weeks i didn't play with his ears at all. my boy is now 1 yr. old and you can pet him anywhere. he's not hand shy at all. i'm weird about the ears. just today we were in the woods and we stopped for some water some kids wanted to pet him. this kid when right for the ears so i looked over and said "ask him for his paw". the kid asked him for his paw and when Loki gave it to him he left his ears alone.


> Originally Posted By: DSuddApollos ears have been up for the past few weeks. He is 9-1/2 weeks now so I dont know if they will go back down or not once he starts teething. I play with his ears, paws, tail, etc so he is used to people touching him everywhere.


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## DSudd (Sep 22, 2006)

I think everyone has different things that they do with their dogs, differnet methods of traning them, socializing them, etc. I did the same thing with my 2-1/2 yr old. He has no issues with his ear being touched, cleaned, looked at or anything. 

Guess it doesnt make either one of us right or wrong, just our personal preferences.


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## butch33611 (May 4, 2007)

I seriously doubt peting a dog on the head has any effect as to wheather his ears will stand up or not. I can understand not grabbing and pulling on them or other such abuse but I dont see how normal interaction with people giving pets is going to effect his ears. 

How bout when thier puppies and tearin around with the other dogs, rolling over on thier backs, Other dogs biting thier ears while playing. The ears take a lot more punishment during play they anyone could do just petting the dog. 

But there's nothing wrong with being over cautious either.


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## DSudd (Sep 22, 2006)

Butch that is a great point. Maybe I should record the pups playing (yes they go after each others heads and ears) If they are still standing after that I guess petting their heads and handling their ears must not hurt them.

Funny enough, one of Rockys favorite places to be petted and scratched is his head between his ears. He will close his eyes with the biggest smile on his face and let you scratch until your fingers are ready to fall off.

I would not let a strange pet either pup on the head, however, for family and friends, the boys seem to enjoy it, so therefore until we see an issue present itself I guess that will be a favorite petting spot.

Guess it is just personal preferences.


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## GSDTrain (Apr 21, 2008)

my dogs ears were up @ 12 weeks, stayed up throughout teething but when she turned 11mo, her ears went down. She does put them up when she feels like it but for the most part they are usually semi-erect but never droopy or floppy.


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