# Has anyone hears of this before ??



## Germanyshowdogs (Aug 13, 2015)

When I bought my puppy from the breeder we talked for over two hours as I had a lot of questions from waiting 5 years after our other GS before getting our new GS puppy. Our new puppy was also from a different lineage ( Germany show ) but anyway the breeder was saying how if as a puppy you pet his ears down when giving affection the cartilage wont be strong enough to stick up straight. It made a lot of sense but I had never heard this before. Has anyone been told this ? My puppies ears stood up as we did not pet his head as a puppy, but I was wondering if it really made a difference or if they were always gonna stick up ?


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## wolfy dog (Aug 1, 2012)

Then the ears must not be strong enough to start with. A disclaimer from the breeder? Of course at some point you will pet these cute floppy puppy ears and then get blamed for it if they don't stand (maybe)?
I never heard of this phenomenon.


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## Shade (Feb 20, 2012)

I played with Delgado's ears all the time as a pup, they were up when he came home and never went down. It all depends on the strength of the cartilage and while injury can certainly play a part I believe genetics play a bigger one


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## Ruger Monster (Jan 29, 2015)

We played with Ruger's ears a lot. Not rough or anything, but he was pet and we touched and played with them a lot so that he was used to people touching his ears (for cleaning, vet visits, etc). His ears were up before 8 weeks, and they've never gone down. 

Sounds kind of like they didn't want to be responsible if the ears didn't go up...


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## Findlay (Jan 8, 2015)

Finn's breeder said it's never a good idea to pull at the ears and said to feed him 2tbs of live culture plain yogurt at each feeding, which we did.

I think it's sort of an, err on the side of caution type of thing.
Either way, It's not going to hurt the pup in any way if you avoid petting or playing with his ears till they stand up.

We followed the breeders advice.


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## Rangers_mom (May 16, 2013)

We played with Ranger's adorable ears all the time and they stood up solidly at a pretty early age. However we weren't thinking about how important it is for the ears to stand up because we were unfamiliar with the breed. Knowing what I know now we probably would not have played with his ears, just to be extra careful, and because we love his prick ears now.


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## SiegersMom (Apr 19, 2011)

I have heard that before but unless you are just downright rough snapping and yanking I do not see how it could hurt the ear....unless the ears are soft and weak to begin with. When I watch how my adult gsd plays with our puppy it is amazing she has ears at all!!!!! Her ears have been up since she was 6 weeks old and rough play had not hurt them at all.


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## car2ner (Apr 9, 2014)

I've heard that and also decided to be cautious. It was nice enough to simply rub behind his ears close to his head or stroke them the way they would lay if he pulled his ears back. 
But honestly, unless you were being extremely rough it probably isn't really an issue.


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## Reef LeDoux (Feb 21, 2015)

My Boy was only 8 weeks old when I got him and his ears were so soft and fluffy. 
But my Breeder said the same thing. "Leave the ears alone until they are all the way up and done teething. The cartridge is fragile and can easily be damaged". 
I left them alone and his ears a perfect.


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## pyratemom (Jan 10, 2011)

I never had a problem with my dog's ears. Raina's ears were up when I got her at 12 weeks. Her ears are very soft and I play with them all the time still. They never went down. Pyrate's ears were up at 10 weeks and never went down either. He was the first in his litter to have both ears up for good. They were very thick tall ears with heavy cartilage. I played with them too and never had a problem. If a breeder tells you something and you trust the breeder they may have a good reason to be telling you so err on the side of caution and just handle the ears to get the dog used to having the ears cleaned and checked but don't scrunch them or squeeze them. I swear the ear dance is one of the most talked about subject on here. I'd love any of mine even if their ears didn't stand up and I'm on #4.


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## IronhorseRomo (Jul 20, 2015)

Axel is only 3mo old. His right ear stands up most of the time. Sometimes his left ear goes up as well. But not to often. 










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## Pirates Lair (Aug 9, 2011)

He is probably teething, add some cheap yogurt to his food. It will provide calcium, as a general rule - the cheaper the yogurt the more calcium. 

You can also provide more help by using ear supports;

Ear Supports

Kim


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## carmspack (Feb 2, 2011)

neither one of those statements is true.


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## veronicasmom (Dec 1, 2013)

*Ridiculous...*

That is simply not true. Being a Science Teacher of Animal Science, that is not possible.


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