# Jaeger's Ears (Bah!)



## ldpeterson (Feb 13, 2005)

So at 8 weeks I was worried because he was one of the only pups out of 10 that had labrador ears. They did start "moving" around 10 weeks old. 

Ever since 10 weeks they have been one up, one down, both up, both down, side ways, cross ways, and every which way. Never are they one way for longer than two days. 

I began to come to terms with it and told myself that if they are moving around so much eventually they will go up.

He is 5 months old now. His ears were both up for about 4 days straight about a week ago. Hooray! I thought we had it. 

Then KERPLUNK! One went Labrador style BIGTIME 4 days ago. (

As far as I know the parents had no ear problems. 

This is my man today.










This was my man 5 days ago. 










It's like every week it is something new (if not every day). Some have said start taping but he is still in the middle of some serious teething and I don't want to tape if the chances are good they will both come up and stay up on their own. 

I really really really don't want to tape/glue. I guess I will if I have to but want to wait as long as possible without missing the window of opportunity. The breeder told me I could tape now but also not to worry unless the dog is done teething.

So opinions. If 5 month old puppy is still wickedly teething and one ear that was up has flopped what would YOU do. He is just now finishing up on his front teeth. There are still baby teeth there but the adult ones are popping through too so he has a double set. 

Blah! This ear thing is such a unwanted stress.


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## KC_Pike (Aug 18, 2008)

Its been amazing to me how much stress ears have caused me so I understand! Personally I would tape/glue now just for peace of mind but I think its how you feel personally...taping now just fits more in line with my better safe then sorry personality. Given that they were both up and the pup is still teething Im pretty sure all would be fine but I would rather be safe.

My pup has had ear forms glued in for a week now and they dont bother him AT ALL.

My breeder wanted to glue at 4 1/2 months...I waited until 5 to see if they would go up and also due to an ear infection.

Just my thoughts/opinion.


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## KC_Pike (Aug 18, 2008)

What are your reasons for not wanting to tape/glue? Just wondering.


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## Brightelf (Sep 5, 2001)

Liiii-saaaaaaa...







Those ears both WILL come up! I would be truly surprised if they didn't! 5 months old and a sudden ker-plunk ear? Oh yeah.. that is SO normal! Even at 5.5 months. Really! Teething does a number on those ears. Most say, if they were both once up-- they will be again after teething. In most cases, this is true! I know.. you fear he will be the ONE case in a gazillion where the ear will stay down.. but the big chances are for it to go up again! Take him for a walk. On leash. To the NEXT neighborhood-- where new and intriguing things perk his interest-- and his ears! Try a bit of Knoxx gelatin power in his food if you wish. Lots of chewy toys. In any case, I bet that HANDSOME Jäger's ears will come right up in a few weeks! Hang in there. I know it's funky and weird. I used to say to Grimm each morning: "Let'g get those ears up!" It will happen. BEAUUUUTIFUL puppy is your wonderful Jäger! I am in LOVE!


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## ldpeterson (Feb 13, 2005)

> Originally Posted By: KC_PikeWhat are your reasons for not wanting to tape/glue? Just wondering.


Oh I worry about ear infections. I know the other dogs will try and eat the tape or whatever off. I think about the hassel of it. I think what if I tape them wrong (or someone else tapes them wrong) and they end up all funky, whereas if I would have just left them alone they would have been standing fine.

I'm sure there are some other concerns but that's all I can come up with now.


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## KC_Pike (Aug 18, 2008)

Those are all very valid concerns...

And he is much different then my situation as Ditka's ears had never both been up for that number of days...so I have a good feeling about your pup!


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## littledmc17 (Apr 9, 2008)

I think brady's ears didn't totally stay up until he was 6 months
I wouldn't be worried


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## ldpeterson (Feb 13, 2005)

How exactly do you use the Knox gelatin? It's a powder right? Do you just sprinkle in the food? How much? How often? How exactly is it suppose to help? 

Lot's of "how" questions here.


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## KC_Pike (Aug 18, 2008)

What Ive done and what I read here...one package a day, 1/2 in the morning and 1/2 at night. Its a powder...I would add some canned pumpkin to his dry food and just mix it in. I also am giving a little cottage cheese for calcium...some will say not to but most of what I read said it was OK for the short term.


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## Lucy Dog (Aug 10, 2008)

How old is Jaeger now?

I taped at 6 months after never really standing up at all and by 7 months, lucys ears were standing perfect and never fell down. 

I tried both glueing and taping and the taping was a much better method in my opinion. Lucy hated the glue. She scratched her ears so much when they were glued that she ripped the hair and glue right out of her skin. As soon as that happened i stopped with the glue. I tried taping using this method...

http://leerburg.com/tapingears.htm

And it worked like a charm. She didnt even care or notice that her ears were taped. After every week i took the tape off and tested to see if her ears stood. After about the second or third attempt, we had ears and they havent fallen since.


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## KC_Pike (Aug 18, 2008)

And one more thing...I think playing/wrestling quite a bit with our other dog were keeping the ears from having some dont touch time to stand...so if other dogs are around I might watch that for a bit as well. While Ditka's ears are glued he doesnt get to wrestle with his brother....sad but short term.


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## drkcloud4u (Jan 7, 2006)

I never had to tape ears, I did alot of focusing (that's the best way to describe it) I'd try to get their attention alot, snapping my fingers, whistling, etc..
Give it a whirl, then if it doesn't work after a couple of weeks then move on to taping...


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## ldpeterson (Feb 13, 2005)

LucyDog, 

Jaeger will be 5 months old tomorrow. Most everyone I've met or talked to about puppy ears have the typical crazy ear thing going on two or three times before the ears stand up permentaly. Jaeger's have been doing the crazy ear thing from 10 weeks. Almost everyday we have a different ear position. I honestly would not be shocked if I woke up tomorrow and the dead ear is straight up and the strong ear is completely limp. That's pretty much how it's played out for months.


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## Lucy Dog (Aug 10, 2008)

See with mine, well lucy's, they never really stood before I taped. They did move a lot, but never stood erect like they do now. It sounds like jaeger's ears will be just fine on their own.


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## darga19 (Mar 4, 2009)

I see a picture of those ears up!! I wouldn't worry.

They've been up once with no help/tape/whatever. They'll be back up.


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## Northof60 (Feb 15, 2009)

> Originally Posted By: Lucy DogSee with mine, well lucy's, they never really stood before I taped. They did move a lot, but never stood erect like they do now. It sounds like jaeger's ears will be just fine on their own.


That is what Kiah's do. They move a lot but never stood completely erect. One ear down, one up, next week they were other way around. Trouble is that I can see a crease forming on both. We have hers taped right now. She isn't scratching at them hardly at all and I give her lots of interesting things to chew instead - mom's arm, the cat - I am KIDDING. She has a marrow bone, hoof, pressed rawhide. I take her to new places she hasn't walked to before and YES we get some really odd looks and I just look right back. We go out in the van and anything I can think of to keep her alert and those ears at attention even though they are taped. I am forever hopeful that both will stay up. The only thing I forgot was the gelatine so we are off to get that in a minute.

Mamagoose - I will let you know how Kiah does with taping. I was also worried about infections. Kiah may still be teething a bit too and I will check that with the vet when she sees him. Let me know how you get on.


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## KC_Pike (Aug 18, 2008)

I forgot to add...another reason to look into glued ear forms is that it leaves the ear canal totally open for air so it lessens the risk of an infection. 

Hang in there


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## mmarie (Feb 25, 2009)

Have you SEEN the size of his ears? They're huge!








From what I've seen by lurking around here, and this is by no means a professional oppinion, is that those extra-large ears as a puppy come with the price of a lot of unwanted stress over up-down issues.









If we were to asses a small-medium-large scale to ears, using Jaeger's ears as an example for "large", I would definately say that Bella had medium ears, Daisy has medium or large ears, and Duke has small teddy-bear-like ears. Bella had moderate up and down issues, but by about 4 months they were standing tall. Daisy and Duke are both only 10 weeks, so we've got a long way to go on the ears issue with them, but today Duke woke up with both ears fully up and they have stayed that way all day. He has spent a week and a half with a completely up right ear, and half-up left ear. Daisy? Her ears wiggle back and forth at strange noises and experiences, but she is just recently showing firmness at the base of her right ear.

Jaeger has beautiful, big ears. It's probably a lot on his mind to be getting new teeth AND have to hold those big things up!



Question out of curiousity, although I don't want to hijack the thread so a simple yes or no from someone who knows would be primo: if nutrition plays a role in ears-up (I am assuming this is true from the use of gelatin and cottage cheese) does the puppy's standing in the litter ("runt" vs. largest of the litter) have anything to do with this?


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## LandosMom (Nov 30, 2005)

mamagoose!

i didn't know you had a baby! how do the girls like him?

OK, now about ears ... Quest has gi-normous ears. they looked very lab like for a long time. eventually one came up strong and the other ... still partial flop. i have to say it drove me nuts. i love her no matter what but i really wanted her ears to stand. when i saw how *big* they were i was concerned from the get-go. we tried gelatin (didn't work) and extra calcium (gotta be careful with this as extra calcium can help set up conditions for HD later in life somehow). she also had frozen meaty bones to knaw on regularly- yuck. somewhere around 5-6 months the breeder said we should post that floppy offender. she had these ear inserts which i guess are worth their weight in gold and some special german glue. i gotta say the insert only stayed in about a week and Quest was sooo pissed about it but it stayed up after that. that ear is still jiggly sometimes- like when she is on walks or just hanging about. i gotta say i love those gi-normous ears she has but am also happy they they stand. 

try and get some inserts glued in.


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## KC_Pike (Aug 18, 2008)

Sounds like the inserts I got from the breeder, very form fitting and also some German glue.


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## LandosMom (Nov 30, 2005)

BTW i *would* wait until his teething stops. then act if the ears are not up... but i don't buy the once up they'll come back mentality. Quest's wouldn't have at least and hers did go up really well for like 2 days...


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