# Maybe 1 ear is broken. :(



## Alpina (Aug 6, 2009)

My 3.5 months GSD Female has recently started to have standing amazing ears. They were not standing all of the time, but most of the time, specially when she is excited. 2 days ago she woke up with one ear down and the other is up. And since then this left ear didn't erect. Could it be broken?.. No1 is allowed to touch the dog except me, and no1 would have played with her. And i dont ever touch her ears. It might be that she slept on it or something like that. Is this something I should worry about?.. or just wait and see..?
Should I take her to the vet.? I dont want my "alpina" to grow up with one standing ear!


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## Jax08 (Feb 13, 2009)

First of all, their ears go up and down with teething. She may need help keeping her ears up but that isn't something I know anything about.

Second, why are you the only one allowed to touch her? You need to let others play with her and touch her or you are going to have a very badly unsocialized dog.


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## Alpina (Aug 6, 2009)

she is teething now, and my parents and little sis are sensitive toward her biting them whenever she is playing. And i am afraid of them touching her ears at this age!.. 
so is it normal that 1 ear dont stand up for 2 days, while the other does. ?


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## shilohsmom (Jul 14, 2003)

its very common.


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## Samba (Apr 23, 2001)

Ears go up and down at this age. If they were up once, they most often come up again. Teething will send once standing ears back down.


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## Chicagocanine (Aug 7, 2008)

It's normal. However you should be socializing her to interact with lots of other people/dogs so she should be touched by many people now...if you don't let anyone else touch her, when she is an adult you will likely have a lot of behavior issues and no one will be able to touch her (makes vet visits very stressful!)
I would suggest teaching your parents and sister what to do if she gets too excited and tries to play-bite them.


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## triordan (Dec 5, 2008)

as the others have said they will contniue to go up and down for awhile, if they are not up by 5-6 months then you can start worrying...usually if the ears have been up they will eventually stay up


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## zyppi (Jun 2, 2006)

Like this?









Love that stage... same dog as larger in my avatar..


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## Tbarrios333 (May 31, 2009)

I know what you mean about not wanting people to touch her ears. I HATE it when a stranger comes up and says "OH cute puppy!!!" and they ROUGHLY handle her ears. 
But I just suck it up because she needs the socialization more so than nice ears.


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## Alpina (Aug 6, 2009)

> Originally Posted By: zypLike this?
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Exactly! But in ur dog's case.. did this right ear stay down for a while?.. or it used to get up and down?.. coz my Alpina, is getting the other ear up and down, while her left one.. is like the one in the picture all the time. I understand that teething effects the ears, but could it effect only 1 ear?.. I mean even when she is playing and happy, the ear is still down. While the other is completly up. 
About socializing her, I do take her out on walks, and people come and play with her always, but i don't allow any1 to touch the head. She isnt afraid of people, and she likes being around people. My point was when i said i dont let any1 touch her, that It is not possible that her ear was broken because of this.








And thanks alot for your info!..


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## APBTLove (Feb 23, 2009)

You've gotten your questions answered, but I think it is an old myth that if you touch the GSDs ears they wont stand. I've had a know-it-all neighbor tell me that, so I promptly started rubbing his ears.

I have ALWAYS petted, rubbed, scratched, and playing with my GSD pups ears with no ill effects. I've actually heard of people massaging their ears to help them stand... And I' don't know how you would 'break' and ear, it's not bone... Ears are flexible, and really can't be 'broken'. Puppy ears will flop around, go different directions, and what not, for MONTHS in some cases. 

Touching her head is a good thing! If you don't let people do that, she may be weird about having people touch her head in the future. That could be a real PAIN for the vet, who has to examine her eyes, ears, mouth, ect. 

Wonky ears:


































Not trying to offend, but it is sort of obvious you aren't knowledgeable about GSDs in general... They need socialization from an EARLY age... Glad you have joined here at least, but get some serious reading done in these forums.


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## Alpina (Aug 6, 2009)

> Originally Posted By: APBTLove
> Not trying to offend, but it is sort of obvious you aren't knowledgeable about GSDs in general... They need socialization from an EARLY age... Glad you have joined here at least, but get some serious reading done in these forums.



Very True! i am not knowledgeable with dogs at all. This is my first puppy. I've been learning and reading! that is why i am here at this forum to take your advice and experience! I dont want to be one of those people hitting their dogs thinking its the best way to make them understand. I want to treat her just as a kid. And i am doing that as much as i knw and learn here.
Thanks for ur info, you made me comfortable with this. Now i am not worried! I will keep you updated with this ear problem.
Thanks for everyone for your help from me and Alpina


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## Brightelf (Sep 5, 2001)

I love love loooovvve her name!! Her ears will be fine, I bet! Ears go down, up, down, up, etc. until about 5 months or longer! Don't worry.







Good for you to being here and learning. I have learned, and continue to learn, lots here, too! Be sure to let LOTS of people pet, meet, talk to, and cuddle her! She will grow up to be a calmer, more confident, proud, relaxed dog who takes meeting folks in stride.


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## APBTLove (Feb 23, 2009)

Thank you for not biting my head off!

That is one thing you DON'T want. Those who treat their dogs like kids end up with dogs who think they are the boss, it send very mixed signals.. I'm not saying not to love your dog unconditionally! I'm saying look at her as an animal first, because she is... And boy do puppies act like crazy animals at times. I had the unfortunate task of dogsitting 4 dogs (a white GSD mix, a toy yorkie, a pit bull/pointer cross and a chesapeake bay retriever) who were treat like kids, and they are some of the worst behaved dogs I have ever met, they jump, they bite, they fight, they dig/chew/destroy out of boredom, they run, they don't listen, they go for the cats, and repeat. The owner is completely overwhelmed but will hear no advice because she thinks that to discipline a dog is to be cruel. ow I'm not saying hit your dog, shout at it, nothing like that. Even the neighbors said they couldn't believe how much better the dogs acted with me... Because I exercised them, worked on general obedience, and so on. They weren't going bonkers at people walking by, they weren't jumping/biting/pawing you for attention. Quite nice until the owner came home and undid everything. 

The best advice I can offer is be consistent with you rules... And google NILIF (Nothing in Life is Free), it is a great training program. 

My boy is about 3.5 months as well, and he's going through the snarky stage LOL Testing everything and trying to get away with as much as possible.


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## Jax08 (Feb 13, 2009)

Just a small tidbit of advice. You want people to pet her head and face so she's knows that's ok. If you tell ppl No then she will learn that it's not ok to be by her face. Then you are going to have problems with strangers and the vet.


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## Alpina (Aug 6, 2009)

> Originally Posted By: Jax08Just a small tidbit of advice. You want people to pet her head and face so she's knows that's ok. If you tell ppl No then she will learn that it's not ok to be by her face. Then you are going to have problems with strangers and the vet.


aha ok! I will make sure this doesnt happen
Thanks


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## elisabeth_00117 (May 17, 2009)

It is very common.. I guess pictures say a thousand words -

10 weeks old - 









11 weeks old -









18.5 weeks old -


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## Alpina (Aug 6, 2009)

hey everyone! As i said, i will be reporting to you any updates!.. Alpina 2day had her both ears up!.. Although it was only for few seconds, but it shows that there is nothing wrong with her left ear. As you guys said, its probably coz she is teething!.. 
Thanks alot.


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## Naven (Mar 4, 2010)

BTW - Make sure you play with her ears and toes a LOT! Every vet I have talked to and every book/magazine I have read says that this will allow for the puppy to get used to being touched in places that he/she normally wouldnt enjoy. As wrong as that sounded, you know what I mean.


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## FuryanGoddess (Dec 26, 2009)

I touch my dogs ears every day, as much as possible because it is truly my fav part of a GSD, those huge ears of theirs and Zeva's ears are some of the biggest I've ever seen. 

They ears are fine, I wouldn't worry... I do kinda worry about a GSD being your first pup and you having no real idea how to deal w/ one. 

I've had GSD's before, but all adults and a I can say, even as an experienced GSD owner, having a puppy is so different. She's 23 1/2 wks and there are days she really pushes me. Today, she got into 3 things that she wasn't supposed in about five min to all the while surrounded by a mountain of her own toys. 

She still mouths me and my kids, but she doesn't clamp down, she doesn't need to for it to hurt, those teeth are big and hard and a little pressure goes a long way. She comes when called, but still likes to jump. She loves everyone she meets, and I take her out quite often, but you have to be prepared because there are times she will bark at ppl, sometimes playful and sometimes, just once, she didn't like the vibe they were putting off. 

It's a matter of being consistent and constant. We never took our other dogs anywhere, they were home dogs, there was no need and one was really bad in the car. 

Expose them to as many new things and ppl as you can. That will have make a well rounded dog. Don't treat them like children. You can love on them, but when you need to be firm, do so. Don't give up if they're doing something you don't like... or say, whatever, I don't feel like doing anything about it now.. They will remember that and it makes it two times harder the next time. 

Don't give in. You give a command to sit, don't treat her or give up until she SITS or comes or speaks, whatever it is. 

Good luck w/ your pup and post some pix of her, we'd love to see her.


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