# Almost 7 Months Old with Limp Ears



## Drose807 (Feb 7, 2016)

Hello All,

I have posted before but did not realize there was an actual section for the ear issues.

My story:

I have an almost 7 month old German Shepherd who seems to be very large for his age. He is now well over 70+lbs at the moment. When I took him to get fixed at the Vet at 5 months, they laughed at him because he still had 90% of his puppy teeth and they figured for his size, he would have lost them all by now. He didn't lose all of his puppy teeth until around 6 months, (month ago) and I know that's what people say is they have a relation somehow. 

That being said, he is now almost 7 months old and his ears are definetly showing more signs of standing. He does however have a crease in each ear that looks as though they are preventing them from standing tall. When I push the crease out, his ears go up better but the crease occurs when he pulls his ears back. 

Attached is a picture. Let me know what you guys think I should do.

(PS: Both ears have been up in the past for hours in a day and then would go limp. So they have been up before.) You can closely see the creases I mentioned with his ears erect.


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## Momto2GSDs (Mar 22, 2012)

What a CUTIE!!!!

Here are a couple of things you can do to strengthen puppy’s ears.
1.  Ear Exercise: Whistle or make a sound that will “perk up” the dogs’ ears. Do this about 30 times per day.
2. Give them large raw (not cooked) real bones: There are 150 muscles in the jaw that when exercised strengthen the ears due to the gnawing, tugging and chewing the bone. Introduce at short intervals as the rich marrow material or bone fragments could cause diarrhea. 
3. Feed a skinless chicken necks daily. It has naturally occurring calcium. *DO NOT* use a “Calcium” supplement. 
4. Gently pinch the base of the ears together and massage the base without bending the upper ear.
5. *Unflavored *Gelatin powder: Moisten the kibble with water and sprinkle 1 to 1 ½ Tablespoons on his/her food per feeding. A one ounce box contains 4 envelopes of Gelatin (each packet contains about 2 ½ tsp.). This is found by the “Jello” in the grocery store. It is made from animal collagen. The brand name is Knox Unflavored Gelatin or Great Lakes Unflavored Gelatin. Do this for at least 4-6 weeks. Great Lakes can be bought in larger, cost efficient packages here:



 

6. Make sure that his/her ears are not touching the top of the crate (crate pushes ears down) when sitting or standing.


Good Luck!
Moms


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## Rosy831 (Feb 27, 2016)

Well, for one thing he is a handsome fella! I have honestly never had this issue so I'm not speaking from personal experience, but have you given him things to chew? I have seen where some members suggest knuckle bones. I have also seen where gelatin is given, you can do a forum search on that.

Or hopefully someone who has gone through this will shoot you an answer. But he really is a darling!


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## Drose807 (Feb 7, 2016)

Yes my breeder mentioned giving him raw beef bones and we started doing it right away (5 months). He is actually chewing on one right now. We have also crate trained him but once I started getting worried I made the bold move to allow him access to the family room while we were at work and not home. I have a wireless camera feed to my phone to make sure he is not destroying my house but I was told to get him out of the crate so he was not confined. However he loves going in there anyways to sleep at times. 

They definetly have shown more signs as of lately (past two weeks). So I am hoping his ears are behind like his teeth were. 

Thanks for the replies and compliments.


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## justine.diaz (Nov 14, 2015)

My Lily is exactly the same way. :/ 


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## Drose807 (Feb 7, 2016)

justine.diaz said:


> My Lily is exactly the same way. :/
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


How old is she? We have started the Gelatin as others have mentioned to see if that helps.


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## justine.diaz (Nov 14, 2015)

She is 6 months on the 5th. I start gelatin about a month ago. Not sure I have seen a huge difference. When she runs and they are up. As soon as she comes in she alway put them back then when she relaxes they go down. She still has a lot of extra skin too, growing room? At least compared to her brother. All of her teeth have erupted but her canines are not done coming out. 







this was in the morning after breakfast and playing 








and this was later


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## carmspack (Feb 2, 2011)

make yourself a good stock pot of BONE BROTH.

bonus ! this will help other body cartilage and ligaments get some strength , not just the ears

American show lines? 
See a lot of these huge broad open ears. 

Good looking dog !


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## justine.diaz (Nov 14, 2015)

I'll try that. She is German (dad) and Czech (mom). My boy is the same but reversed. 







she is like mom. Her ears were up.










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## Momto2GSDs (Mar 22, 2012)

justine.diaz said:


> She is 6 months on the 5th. I start gelatin about a month ago. Not sure I have seen a huge difference.
> Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


Hi Justine!
I'm not sure but I thought I read in another one of your posts that you were only doing the Gelatin a few days per week??? You need to give it every day for 4 to 6 weeks to see a difference.


Carmspack suggestion of Bone Broth is a great one!

*Don't forget to add the vinegar to get all of the goodness out of the bones!

*Make sure you use a large strainer it to catch all of the cooked bones and pieces.

*Recommended dosage is 1/3 to 1 cup per day for a large dog. Note that some dogs may get soft stool so work up to the amount as this particular dogs gut indicates. It may take several days.

*Recipes:
https://transitionnow.wordpress.com/2011/02/09/the-healing-power-of-bone-broth/ 
The Benefits of Bone Broth for Dogs - K9 Instinct - Dog Nutritionist in Kitchener, Ontario, Canada. K9 Instinct Blog! Dog Nutrition consultations online!
http://theartofdog.com/articles/BoneBroth.pdf

*If you make a large pot and will not use up all of the broth within the week: after the broth turns to a hard jelly in the fridge, I scrape off the fat, and turn the jelly out on to a cookie sheet. Then I cut the gel in desired size pieces, separate the pieces a little, cover with saran wrap, and put the cookie sheet in the freezer. After the gel freezes, I kind of drop the pan of frozen pieces on the cupboard (to loosen them) and then place them in a Zip Loc Freezer bag and return to freezer. I then take out what I need daily.

Moms


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## justine.diaz (Nov 14, 2015)

I'll make the broth this weekend and try it  thanks. 


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