# Damaged Ear



## border57

My puppy is just 16 weeks old. About ten days ago he was bitten on the ear by my older GSD, and I believe that's what caused one of his ears to go down. He had his vet appointment for shots last Monday and the vet said his ear is not going to come back up.

The ear doesn't look bad, just has a crease where the ear bends, and I was honestly surprised that the vet said, nope, not coming back. And it's quite low on the ear, giving him a really lopsided look. You know what I mean.  

Anyway, my question is, will taping/gluing some kind of support fix an ear like this over time, or are those methods only for "weak" ears that need some support while the ear strengthens, and not for ears that sustained trauma.

If anyone thinks support will gradually heal the cartilage, is there a best method? Or is my vet right?

Thanks!


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## volcano

16 week old pups ears go up and down. I dont think your vet knows what they are talking about.


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## border57

Thanks for the reply, Volcano. I would like to believe this pup doesn't have a problem, but he did get bitten, and the ear went down very soon after. And to me it doesn't look like a "soft" ear problem.

How long do you suggest I leave the ear alone before doing some kind of tape on it? If they go up and down, how long a time do they typically stay down while this goes on? I'm pretty anxious about it, as you can imagine.


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## volcano

Im no expert, ive heard all kinds of stuff but it seems like wives tails. maybe feed her cottage cheese or glucosamine chondritin? My pups ears were up and down based on mood alot, so if shes timid from getting bit that may keep them down.


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## border57

No, this isn't a timid dog situation. His ears were up nicely, and the ear that is down now was his first ear up. The other one was a solid week behind coming up. The other ear is still up and fine.

I'm reasonably sure the ear is down because of damage done to it. It's not a floppy top of the ear, it's down towards the base.

I'm wondering how long you let something like this go before you try a "fix".


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## TigervTeMar

hmm I agree that the vet may not know what they're saying. you should politely email german shepherd breeders and explain what happened and ask their advice. I would guess that those who show their dogs would have more experience than most vets and most GS owners, especially about ears. since their animals are graded partially on their appearance. a show dog who had one ear go down I would imagine couldn't compete anymore unless they got it up again


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## Liesje

Do you have photos?

My pup got bit on the ear when he was younger and his ear is fine. They were up at 9 weeks, then teepeed for a few weeks, then one fell sideways for a while, and now are up (he's 5 months).


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## mydogs

Put a breathe rite strip and eyelash glue on sticky side of strip. Let it set for a minute and put it vertical in his ear where crease is. You may have to move it a few times to get it where it stands. Here's a pic









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## border57

These are photos. I took two this morning. You can see where the ear lops over, and you can see the horizontal crease where the lop over occurs about an inch above my thumb. The other picture is from three weeks ago, and you can see both ears then. Up until two weeks ago, his ears had been solidly upright until the bite occurred.

Jack looks a little concerned in this morning's picture, I've been messing with his ear and he doesn't like it. Something he's going to have to get used to, I think.

The breathe rite strip looks relatively easy, how long can it stay on? I only have two hands to do everything, and he squirms and evades pretty hard.

Is there any other recommended ways that would be better? 

Thanks, everyone! This means a lot to ask and have people respond.


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## GatorDog

Yeah that looks normal to me. I'd leave it alone and worry more around 6 months if its not up by then.


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## mydogs

The strip lasts a few weeks. My pups fell out on tues. His ear was up all weds and thurs. Today flopping again. Not sure what to do now. Strip again or leave it. He's 6 months next week


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## border57

OK, I'll get materials on hand and hold off for a little while and see if something wants to happen on its own. If it were normal "flop", I wouldn't worry so much, but it was the bite that concerned me. You could see the bite mark on the ear until a few days ago. The older GSD came down hard.

I've had five GSDs in my life, and none of them ever had ears that did anything other than go right up at about four months and stay there, so to hear that they can go up and down is weird!

OK, I'll try not to worry for a bit. Thanks, everyone!


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## Doc

id go ahead and tape it. it cant hurt anything.


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## volcano

His ears are so big that he has to grow his head bigger to hold them up. Ears like a bat, looks normal to me.


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## Eiros

All dogs have the crease! It's normal  


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## Jakesworld

I've never had any experience with taping ears, can't help you there. I just wanted to tell you how absolutely beautiful your pup is. Gonna be sooo handsome! Love his face. Oh, and vets aren't always right, in fact they are wrong quite often. So keep us all posted on his progress.


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## border57

Jakesworld said:


> I've never had any experience with taping ears, can't help you there. I just wanted to tell you how absolutely beautiful your pup is. Gonna be sooo handsome! Love his face. Oh, and vets aren't always right, in fact they are wrong quite often. So keep us all posted on his progress.


Thanks, I'll update on him as things go along. Yes, he's a handsome fella, but then any GSD I've ever had was really cute.


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## border57

OK, I got the Torbot glue today and the breathe rite strips and managed to get one strip into his ear. I'm not sure it was necessary as this morning the ear looked a little stronger, like it was thinking of coming up. Not too much, but enough to make me hopeful. Anyway, kicking and screaming (twisting and squirming) I did get one strip in, and it's holding the ear up weakly. Wasn't able to get the second one in, but it's a trial run at this point, just want to see how it goes. And if I'm lucky, his ear really does want to start coming back and it may not be that long. So here he is with the one strip in.








I have been giving him a lot of gelatin along with his puppy food lately, and hoping that brings things along.

Thanks, again, for the encouragement!


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## Lukapuppy

I have a gsd who just turned a year old. His ears have been up since 4 months and never went back down. Two weeks ago a cattle dog bit him and his ear fell. I got a betadine scrub, cleaned it daily and expected it to go back up. It didn't. I got breathe right strips and eye lash glue today and splinted it. It is standing beautifully with the strips in. I'm hoping as the cartilage heals that it will stay up. My dog hasn't noticed they're in. No shaking, scratching, etc. I think if you think it's from the bite that you should tape because there's no guarantee it will heal on its own and you aren't hurting the dog. Good luck!


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## mydogs

Lukapuppy said:


> I have a gsd who just turned a year old. His ears have been up since 4 months and never went back down. Two weeks ago a cattle dog bit him and his ear fell. I got a betadine scrub, cleaned it daily and expected it to go back up. It didn't. I got breathe right strips and eye lash glue today and splinted it. It is standing beautifully with the strips in. I'm hoping as the cartilage heals that it will stay up. My dog hasn't noticed they're in. No shaking, scratching, etc. I think if you think it's from the bite that you should tape because there's no guarantee it will heal on its own and you aren't hurting the dog. Good luck!



The strips work great! I hope his ear goes back up. The strips stay in for weeks. It does pull hair off when you finally take them out. 


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## mydogs

border57 said:


> OK, I got the Torbot glue today and the breathe rite strips and managed to get one strip into his ear. I'm not sure it was necessary as this morning the ear looked a little stronger, like it was thinking of coming up. Not too much, but enough to make me hopeful. Anyway, kicking and screaming (twisting and squirming) I did get one strip in, and it's holding the ear up weakly. Wasn't able to get the second one in, but it's a trial run at this point, just want to see how it goes. And if I'm lucky, his ear really does want to start coming back and it may not be that long. So here he is with the one strip in.
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> I have been giving him a lot of gelatin along with his puppy food lately, and hoping that brings things along.
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> Thanks, again, for the encouragement!



Give him a tub of yogurt to keep him busy or have someone hold a marrow bone with pb in it


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## The Stig

Hey Border57,

I just wanted to congratulate you on what a great-looking pup you have. What heartfelt eyes!

It has been years since I experienced puppyhood, but I do recall her ears going up a shortly after coming home and then one of them went through a flop when she was teething. I would not be too concerned till he is done teething, around 5 - 6 months. Usually if both ears have stood up before, it is usually a good bet that the flop isn't permanent. However, not knowing if there is damage done, I can't be sure. 

Did it flop right after the bite? 

You could also supplement him with Ester-C. It will help with that. 

Enjoy your young boy. He is so precious.


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## border57

Lukapuppy, thanks for the advice. From how Jack has been this afternoon, it looks like the glue and breathe rite strip was the way to go. I can't believe how he has absolutely no problem with that in his ear, doesn't act like he even knows it's there. I figured it would be a battle to have him leave it alone. Hope your boy's ear comes along, too. 

mydogs, those sound like good ideas. There's no one around to help hold him so it's a bit tricky trying to keep him under control! 

And The Stig, glad you like him.  I'm afraid that photo looks more like a mug shot than anything.  I've had five GSDs in my life, and in all of them, except this one, their ears went up and that was that, never came down. So this is new to me. As far as when it went down, I'd say I noticed it a day after the bite happened. It almost came down in slow motion, if you can understand that. I *think* it was the bite that did it, he yipped something fierce and the big dog was playing rough. Well, I can't blame the big dog, they were both going at it pretty hard. You could see the tooth marks right on there. If it wasn't the bite, it seems like a big coincidence. 

I'll put ester-C on the list of things to give him, too. I never think of vit. C for animals since they make their own, but maybe some additional right now wouldn't be the worst thing for connective tissue.

Thanks, everyone!


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## border57

Just an update on my pup Jack's ear: The Breathe Right strips didn't hold over a day due to the damaged cartilage being low on his ear. The strips couldn't hold up the weight of the upper part of the ear, so the ear started to lop again when the bottom of the strips kept pulling away. Regluing the strips bottom would not keep them stuck down. Anyway, the strips were left in because I didn't have a good way to unglue them without hurting him and while they weren't holding the ear up, they did "soften" the bend where the damage was. 

The BR strips came out on their own about five days later, and I still hadn't managed to get to a store to get any pipe insulation, which is what I'd decided to use next. So for the next three or four days the ear was left natural.

I'm happy to report that in the past three days, the ear has started to come up on it's own.  Yes!  It still is floppy and soft at that damage line, and it's still down more than the good ear, but it's been up more and more. At this point the damage line is still visible and the base of his ear is concave (base bending forward, like it does when they put their ears down) instead of convex like his good ear, but he can raise the ear when he's really interested in something. 

I'm going to get the pipe insulation the next trip into town just in case and if the concave ear base continues much longer I'll glue it to try and fix that.

Thanks so much for the help, everyone! I know in the scheme of things an ear down on GSD is should not be the end of the world, but it's an awful thing to be told by the vet that your dog will never look as nice again, especially when he's so young. The help here is great! 
+


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## mydogs

I put a thread on here on what my vet said to give for supplements 


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## K9POPPY

There's some pretty good suggestions under health, I think even a video on taping there- just using a business card cut into an oval and attached with some heavy- duty double-sided tape works wonders, just look for ear taping there - I have taped many ears over the years, and always had good results, IMHO! Bob


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## Sunflowers

If taping fails, I would go for these, if possible. 

PermaStay®
Ear Implantation For Canines
(Patent Pending)

Revolutionary PermaStay® Corrects Canines Ears Quickly, Humanely and Successfully

Neuticles.com


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## border57

Thanks, everyone. Sunflowers, I'll afford anything for my dogs for vet care, but I couldn't justify the expense of that kind of surgery. Having said that, if the ear were totally lost for 100% sure, I'd probably think about it. But I think there's hope yet. I'm watching him outside the window right now and his ear has been up most of the time, albeit with the base of the ear bent in the wrong way.

So I'm going to go the pipe insulation route this next week and see how that does. If I can get the base pushed back correctly with the glue job, it may be just the ticket.  I hope so!


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## border57

Hello, Everyone, I thought I'd provide an update on how this pup's ear has turned out to show how his ear progressed and to give others hope when their pup's ear gets damaged like this one did.

The bite happened about 2 1/2 months ago and I don't really know if anything I did helped a whole lot. He would not let me work the ear and since I live alone there was no help to hold him. The Breathe Right strips I do believe helped guide the ear back up, but he probably only had the use of them for ten days or so. The pipe insulation, that I tried next, did not stay in any length of time at all and at that point I threw up my hands and let nature take its course, just keeping up with the supplements of gelatin, cottage cheese, and biotin each day. He was becoming quite worked up over me trying to do anything with the ear, and I was afraid he was going to start not trusting me and I didn't want that more than anything.

His ear did come back to an extent, but I believe it's only because the bite was from just over the centerline of his ear and led across his ear towards the outside, which left about 1/3 or so of his ear cartilage as never having been broken and that ended up acting like a natural splint to the down part of his ear. It's that 1/3 of the ear cartilage that is holding his ear up. So it's not a perfect ear, but considering what it started out as, I'm pretty happy with it. If you don't look too close, the ear looks relatively normal.

His ear does behave a bit different than it normally would, for example, when he runs the tip of that ear will wave back and forth with his gate more than the other ear (the other ear is rock solid) because of the base that is compromised, and of course you can see that it does have a indented line where the bite/flop occurred. 

All in all, I'm really happy with it. He could have ended up with a totally flopped ear and as it is, he has an ear with some character to it, and he didn't have to be renamed "Flap Jack" instead of "Jack". 

So here he is now at six months.







His nose looks bent and his eye a little funny in the photo, but it's only a trick of the light. Please ignore all the trash in the kitchen behind him.


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## Sunflowers

That is great news! Congrats! :happyboogie:


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## K9POPPY

Great news, it will probably continue to get stronger over time, just gives him character- quite the handsome GSD!!!!!!!! Bob


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## border57

Thanks, both of you.  Yes, I'm hoping it will continue to improve. Of course, every time he is rough housing with the older GSD and yelps, I'm afraid his ear has been bitten again!


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## border57

OK, I guess this is the final photo. Jack is now ten months old, and here is his ear now:









As you can see, his ear is now fine. There's no trace of the dent that he had in it. His ear has probably looked this good for at least the last month and maybe even longer as I really just forgot that it had ever been broken at all.

So those of you that have a puppy with a busted over ear, don't give up hope because they can turn around and end up looking great!

Good luck with all of those ears out there!


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## Debanneball

Love those ears!


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## Danydlog

border57 said:


> My puppy is just 16 weeks old. About ten days ago he was bitten on the ear by my older GSD, and I believe that's what caused one of his ears to go down. He had his vet appointment for shots last Monday and the vet said his ear is not going to come back up.
> 
> The ear doesn't look bad, just has a crease where the ear bends, and I was honestly surprised that the vet said, nope, not coming back. And it's quite low on the ear, giving him a really lopsided look. You know what I mean.
> 
> Anyway, my question is, will taping/gluing some kind of support fix an ear like this over time, or are those methods only for "weak" ears that need some support while the ear strengthens, and not for ears that sustained trauma.
> 
> If anyone thinks support will gradually heal the cartilage, is there a best method? Or is my vet right?
> 
> Thanks!


Did his ear ever go back up ? My pup recently had ear up solid for a month and I also believe her mom or siblings may injured ear as it went back down and has stayed floppy .


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