# Back from the Vet



## Helly (Mar 31, 2008)

Jasper needed his shots...vet said that at 3 months if his ears are not up they won't ever come up and I can try taping but it won't do any good. She said his ears are too heavy and the cartilage isn't strong enough. She did recommond using tampons and masking tape.

I really don't know what to think now. This goes against everything I've read here.


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## Lilie (Feb 3, 2010)

Have the ears come up at all?


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## Helly (Mar 31, 2008)

The base of the ears are up, he looks like the flying nun


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## crisp (Jun 23, 2010)

Has he finished teething? Some pup's ears don't stand until 4 - 5 months, after they finished teething.


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## Elaine (Sep 10, 2006)

Three months is still very early. My current dog's ears didn't come up until five months while some of his litter mates' ears were up well before eight weeks. I wouldn't even consider messing with the ears until five months.


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## ken k (Apr 3, 2006)

Heidi had one floppy ear at 4 months, so rather than tapeing and all that i decided to massage that ear a couple times a day, she loved it and it finialy stood up after a couple weeks, now she has 2 nice satellite dish`s


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## Whiteshepherds (Aug 21, 2010)

I think he still has time too. Both of my dogs went through that flying nun look, our female still does when she's tired. I wouldn't worry too much, I bet they pop up when he's done teething.


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## Lilie (Feb 3, 2010)

Hondo's didn't stand till he was 9 months old. He never went through the tepee look and rarely did both stand at the same time. One would come up and the other would flop, then they'd switch places. Most of the time they were both down like a lab's ears. 

I did try different things with them, but nothing stayed on for longer than a week. Even now at 11 months, one will flop every so often. I can tell when he has a tummy ache by the floppiness of his ear.


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## Helly (Mar 31, 2008)

see that's the thing. I had really backed off worrying about the ears because he is only three months old. Then the vet just volunteered that they would never come up.

She also said he should be neutered immediately. At three months????


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## LaRen616 (Mar 4, 2010)

Helly said:


> see that's the thing. I had really backed off worrying about the ears because he is only three months old. Then the vet just volunteered that they would never come up.
> 
> *She also said he should be neutered immediately. At three months*????


No way! They should be at least 6 months old before they are neutered/spayed.

I got my boy Sinister neutered at 15 months old.

My boy Rogue is 17 months old and he will be getting neutered next month.

I would wait until he/she is physically mature before neutering/spaying.


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## Helly (Mar 31, 2008)

LaRen616 said:


> No way! They should be at least 6 months old before they are neutered/spayed.
> 
> I got my boy Sinister neutered at 15 months old.
> 
> ...


 
I would really prefer to wait until he is 18 months old. I have used this vet before and really liked her, but I'm not so sure about going back. She was just so dismissive.


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## LaRen616 (Mar 4, 2010)

Helly said:


> I would really prefer to wait until he is 18 months old. I have used this vet before and really liked her, but I'm not so sure about going back. She was just so dismissive.


I dont think she knows much about GSD's. Sinister's ears didn't go up until he was 5 months old. Some can take longer. At 3 months old it is just way too early to tell. 

18 months is a great age to spay/neuter. Anything earlier than 6 months is ridiculous to me. 

If you have a bad feeling about her or your unsure then I think you should go elsewhere.


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## Whiteshepherds (Aug 21, 2010)

We wait until 18 months also. (for neuturing)

Maybe your vet was in a hurry the day you went in? We're really happy with ours and she seems to really like shepherds so that's a plus.


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## LaRen616 (Mar 4, 2010)

I think it's a money thing too, Vet's want money, if they can get money for neutering your puppy right now then why wait?

My Vet was on my case about neutering Sinister, every single time I came in there she would bring it up, even when I was only bringing in my cats. It was so annoying.


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## Helly (Mar 31, 2008)

They did have a full clinic today. I do think its a money issue too. I'll let her neuter him at 18 months and not a moment before.

and if his ears droop, so be it...he is gorgeous either way.


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## Jax08 (Feb 13, 2009)

A full clinic is NO excuse for bad information.

My vet won't do a spay/neuter before 6 months. I got Jax from a shelter at about 13 weeks. The shelter wanted her spayed immediately. My vet sent a letter saying no way, no how.

Teething can play a huge part in a GSD puppy's ears coming up. My understanding is the thin ears are bad. Heavy thick ears are good. Jax's ears were up when I got her and never had an issue but most advice I see on here is to not tape until about 5 months. Check with your breeder or search this forum for better information. There are lots of threads about ears.


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## jakeandrenee (Apr 30, 2010)

I would find a new vet, the advice on the neutering should give you an idea on the smarts this vet has on the ears standing.....come on what vet would suggest such a thing at three months? I wouldn't listen to a word this vet has to say.....

If you are that worried use a little tear mender glue....but do your homework on the neutering. It's a great topic on this forum and there is a ton of great information available to you so you can make a better educated choice then the vet you just went to see.


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## Samba (Apr 23, 2001)

I went to see young some pups the other day. All the pups ears were on the way up except for one. His were extra large and floppy. Glued them together with a bit of tearmender. The next week they were standing tall on their own. I didn't have any problem making a little intervention. As they get older, it can be harder to get them up if there is a problem.

Currently working with a one year old owner relinquish whose ears didn't stand. They tried a little bit to work with them but were not persistent. Now it will take luck and work to get them to stand, if they ever will. 

I have found people want a GSD to have its ears up so that it looks like the breed. I am not so patient with flopped ears.


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## Helly (Mar 31, 2008)

Samba said:


> I went to see young some pups the other day. All the pups ears were on the way up except for one. His were extra large and floppy. Glued them together with a bit of tearmender. The next week they were standing tall on their own. I didn't have any problem making a little intervention. As they get older, it can be harder to get them up if there is a problem.
> 
> Currently working with a one year old owner relinquish whose ears didn't stand. They tried a little bit to work with them but were not persistent. Now it will take luck and work to get them to stand, if they ever will.
> 
> I have found people want a GSD to have its ears up so that it looks like the breed. I am not so patient with flopped ears.


I told my husband that if Jasper's ears stayed floppy that might work in our favor. Sure he wouldn't look quite as "regal" but then people probably wouldn't be scared of him either. My first GSD's ears were up at 8 weeks and I got a lot of good information from this board, that's why I came here with this question. I appreciate everything that has been said.

All I know is he is a love and I wouldn't trade him for anything. I just felt like the vet was irresponsible.


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## VegasResident (Oct 4, 2006)

12 weeks old and ears never go up? neuter or spay at 12 weeks? this vet does not know about GSDs.

None of my GSDs had ears up at 12 weeks and as you can see from my profile pic and the picture album of my dear sweet Binky (RIP) her ears were beautiful yet at 12 weeks they looked like a disaster! She was on Ester C and up they came on their own!

My current little guy is going to be 11 weeks old this week and he is at the flying nun stage.

Neuter? 16 months or more unless there is a specific reason it needs to be done earlier. They need to hormones for the growth plates to close on time.


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## Lucy Dog (Aug 10, 2008)

Get a new vet


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## Whitedog404 (Mar 25, 2010)

I agree about getting a new vet, but if the ears aren't up by 5 months, then you should be proactive.


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## GSDAlphaMom (Jul 20, 2010)

I think I would find a new vet. Three months is very early. It doesn't become iffy until 5-5.5 months.


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## Stosh (Jun 26, 2010)

My vet wouldn't even consider neutering before 9 mos and only if I wanted to because of behavior issues. And the ear thing, who knows? Like you said, he's gorgeous just the way he is.


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## vomlittlehaus (Aug 24, 2010)

I had a female pup from my first litter whos ears were up at six wks and never came back down. She was a smaller pup. I had most of the rest of the litters ears up and down at 8 wks. The bigger pups (sire bigger than dam) came up later. So my experience was, the larger the pup was eventually going to be, the longer it took for the ears to come up and stay. Teething will cause them to come back down, loss of calcium. Make sure the diet is the best you can afford and they should be up soon. I also agree about not neutering until much later.


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## selzer (May 7, 2005)

don't worry at three months. Your vet is telling you what they tell the average pet owner. they push early spay neuter to get the money out of the owner before the newness of owning a puppy wears off. Disgusting. 

Vets are not experts on individual breeds, but they should see enough shepherds to know a thing or two about them. Ears are such a concern of so many people, that I would expect they would have some experience. 

I feel neutering or spaying a dog at three months old is irresponsible. If you want to stay with this vet, it is fine, just become deaf about several topics, like yearly vaccinations, Science Diet, spay/neuter, etc.


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## Lauri & The Gang (Jun 28, 2001)

I see no reason NOT to go ahead and tape the ears now - especially since you will not be using him for breeding. It's can't hurt and it _might_ just help.

Please do NOT use tampons and masking tape. Oi - what a doofus vet!!

If the base of his ears are up then he just needs help with the top. I would use Skin Bond, moleskin and some first aid tape (I prefer the cloth type).

I just got back from my breeder where I had my Chinese Crested puppies ears taped. They are only 7.5 weeks old but two of them will need the extra help to get the ears to go up and stay up.

I can take some pictures and show you how she does it. It's the same (just bigger) for GSDs.


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## Whitedog404 (Mar 25, 2010)

I guess tape is ok, but it seems painful to remove. Why not use ear forms and Pattex glue that the German breeders use?


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## Helly (Mar 31, 2008)

Jasper is loving him some cottage cheese. In fact, I was giving it to him separately, but my husband puts it on top of his food. Well, this morning I got his breakfast and he sat there and looked at me...I said "go ahead Jasper"..and he just sat there...I finally got the cottage cheese out and put it on top...Geesh, he went to town on it.

Spoiled rotten dog.


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## Helly (Mar 31, 2008)

Lauri & The Gang said:


> I see no reason NOT to go ahead and tape the ears now - especially since you will not be using him for breeding. It's can't hurt and it _might_ just help.
> 
> Please do NOT use tampons and masking tape. Oi - what a doofus vet!!
> 
> ...


I would definitely like to see those pictures


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## JakodaCD OA (May 14, 2000)

I would also find a new vet, and tape those ears


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