# Floppy Ear Tip



## H20CHK (11 mo ago)

Hello! This is my first post on this site after lots of forum-stalking. I have a 6-month old (8/13/21) puppy with a floppy ear and I’m looking for some insight, wondering if anyone has had a similar experience with the desired outcome.

Basically, I’m having trouble coaxing one of her ears to come up all the way and I’m uncertain whether or not I have any chance of “fixing” it. Yes, I know technically nothing is wrong with a floppy ear, but I prefer the correct look of erect ears. I’ve tried ear forms and breathe right strips multiple times, both of which she scratched at until she tore them out and caused lots of inflammation. I believe I am done with gluing/taping things into/onto her ear because the risk of damaging or injuring her is not worth the aesthetic.

The “problem” ear has fully stood maybe once or twice for a few minutes at most, and the remainder of its time has been spent completely folded over or slightly erect with the last 1/3 flopping over. it’s better when she’s very alert, but still floppy. It only just started to lift off at the beginning of January, but hasn’t made any additional progress for a month. It flip flops all over the place when she moves and there is no rigidity whatsoever in the upper portion of the affected ear. There seems to be a kink or fold in the center part of the down ear, but I noticed a very similar fold in her erect ear as it was moving up. Both of her parents have erect ears, and all 5 siblings have erect ears.

So, to those folks more experienced than me: is there a chance this ear will prop on its own? Anyone have a similar experience where the ear eventually lifted off? Am I fretting over a normal puppy ear progression? What else can I do, if anything? I’m not getting a lot of solid advice on treatment besides forms/physically propping the ear, and I’m getting a mixed bag of predictions from my dog show friends, breeding friends, her vet, etc. Some say stop worrying, others tell me it’s way too late.

She eats well, has lots of activity, chews on all the things, gets glucosamine/fish oil supplements, and I’ve avoided tugging at her ears since day one. She does get crated, and I cannot negotiate on that unfortunately. I’ve included pictures for your entertainment—ear folded over, as it started to rise, and 2 from the last 10 days or so. The picture of her laying down on the rug is as good as the ear gets.

ETA: she has seemingly been done with teething for about a month or so

Thanks in advance, everyone. I know these ear posts can get repetitive.


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## Pawsed (May 24, 2014)

It looks like the ears are doing fine. I'm glad you are leaving them alone. Some dogs ears just take longer than others and there is still plenty of time for them to come up on their own.

Our current dog looked the same at 6 months with one folded ear. It finally came up to stay at just over 9 months of age. Your dog's ear actually looks more erect than his was at that age. 

Be patient and give it more time. All is well and normal.


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## H20CHK (11 mo ago)

Pawsed said:


> It looks like the ears are doing fine. I'm glad you are leaving them alone. Some dogs ears just take longer than others and there is still plenty of time for them to come up on their own.
> 
> Our current dog looked the same at 6 months with one folded ear. It finally came up to stay at just over 9 months of age. Your dog's ear actually looks more erect than his was at that age.
> 
> Be patient and give it more time. All is well and normal.


Thank you for your insight, I really appreciate it. I had started to get discouraged since this one ear has basically frozen in time since the first week of January, so it definitely helps to hear personal testimony instead of reading random internet articles.


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## Pawsed (May 24, 2014)

Looking back at the pictures, your dog is far ahead of where ours was at 6 months. His ear looked like the youngest picture of your dog, not even attempting to stand. Since we have had several GSD's over the years and 2 of them took longer than 9 months to have erect ears, we just waited it out and gave them the time they needed.

No need to panic or be worried. Just keep the faith!


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## perrymel (Oct 28, 2021)

Our boy still has one floppy ear, and he turned a year on Feb 15th !! when he was 4 months his ears were both up, then during the big teething faze both up and down. Now the floppy ear goes up when he alerted by something new, or when another dog comes around. Everyone thinks he is cute and it makes him look less threatening , but I really like the erect ears up and still hoping it will come up. All the other pups, 11 of them !! and mom and dad have ears up !!. We are not going to tape them or anything , if this is his look well so be it, love him soooo much !!! I know this probably didn't help your answer, but other peoples answers have given me some hope  Your dog is beautiful by the way !!


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## perrymel (Oct 28, 2021)

perrymel said:


> Our boy still has one floppy ear, and he turned a year on Feb 15th !! when he was 4 months his ears were both up, then during the big teething faze both up and down. Now the floppy ear goes up when he alerted by something new, or when another dog comes around. Everyone thinks he is cute and it makes him look less threatening , but I really like the erect ears up and still hoping it will come up. All the other pups, 11 of them !! and mom and dad have ears up !!. We are not going to tape them or anything , if this is his look well so be it, love him soooo much !!! I know this probably didn't help your answer, but other peoples answers have given me some hope  Your dog is beautiful by the way !!


OH the picture in our profile shows the ear up, but that is rare!


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## H20CHK (11 mo ago)

Pawsed said:


> Looking back at the pictures, your dog is far ahead of where ours was at 6 months. His ear looked like the youngest picture of your dog, not even attempting to stand. Since we have had several GSD's over the years and 2 of them took longer than 9 months to have erect ears, we just waited it out and gave them the time they needed.


Oh wow, that definitely makes me feel better! This is only my second GSD, my first being a MalxGSD whose ears stood 100% erect at 3 months and never budged. I don’t have near the amount of experience as you!  I will say, reading through these forums there seems to be a ton more variability than I thought for what age the ears are supposed to come up, it’s helpful to sift through everyone’s stories.


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## H20CHK (11 mo ago)

perrymel said:


> Our boy still has one floppy ear, and he turned a year on Feb 15th !! when he was 4 months his ears were both up, then during the big teething faze both up and down. Now the floppy ear goes up when he alerted by something new, or when another dog comes around. Everyone thinks he is cute and it makes him look less threatening , but I really like the erect ears up and still hoping it will come up. All the other pups, 11 of them !! and mom and dad have ears up !!. We are not going to tape them or anything , if this is his look well so be it, love him soooo much !!! I know this probably didn't help your answer, but other peoples answers have given me some hope  Your dog is beautiful by the way !!


Yes our experience has been the same, her ear makes people feel a little more comfortable approaching her, which I love! And thank you, yours is gorgeous too.


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## H20CHK (11 mo ago)

Update: her ear is even floppier now 😂


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## Sunflowers (Feb 17, 2012)

😍🥰🥰Ear dance!


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## H20CHK (11 mo ago)

Hello! I figured I’d share our update since we rarely see them here. Be forewarned, it’s LONG, so proceed with caution. 😂 TLDR; we posted her ear again and it worked 

So, I let about a week pass after her right ear flopped completely back down (last picture shared) and continued to feel frustrated and morally conflicted. I ended up reaching out to her “breeder” (she was part of an oops litter between a pair of untitled, not health tested home pets) and inquired again as to whether or not my pup's siblings or parents had any ear difficulties. Turns out they still have 2 of her siblings and in fact both of them had completely down ears, no signs of them going up ever. The others had erect ears, and her parents followed a pretty standard ear progression. This did not make me feel any better about our chances of getting that ear to stand without intervention. After some deep consideration and playing out pros and cons, I made the decision to post her ear in one final attempt. 

The glue I used in my first attempt was weak and stretchy, and I think it is the main reason I was not successful and caused so much irritation to the ear since it allowed the ear form to constantly shift and pull on the hair. After reading a few more suggestions on this forum I purchased Torbot skin bonding cement from Amazon, and I would use it with the ear posts I already had. 

I trimmed the longer hairs from inside of her ear so they wouldn't pull on the glue, cleaned the top part of her ear with mild dish soap, and after rinsing/drying rubbed that section with alcohol to remove all residue and oil. I followed an instructional video someone shared on this forum and with their guidance successfully placed the ear post in a perfect position. She was irritated by it and shook her head for maybe an hour, but left it alone once the glue was done setting. 

I held my breath for what seemed like forever, waiting for her to get mad and tear it out or for it to irritate her ear like it did before. But 10 days went by and it held strong! I was so excited but apprehensive since we've witness time and time again posting doesn't mean a guaranteed result. As I noticed the form pulling away from her ear and the hair starting to pull and irritate her, I decided it was time to remove it. 

I ended up buying a professional medical adhesive remover (Uni-solve) along with the cement glue since it has such a strong bond. Trust me, you'll want this. I tried dish soap and alcohol before I used it, and it was the only thing getting that skin glue off without completely ripping her hair out. This part was super easy just took some patience and someone to hold her down. 

I removed the post and voilà! Her ear was up but still soft. It looked like it wanted to flop over again so bad. 😂 I took her for a walk immediately to get her ear muscles twitching in interest and to keep her from scratching the ear in relief. As the day progressed she looked more and more confident, and the ear continued to sloppily stand. Days passed and every morning I woke up thinking I'd see it down again, but it was standing at attention and never let me down. 

Here we are, over a month later (at almost 9 months old) and it is stronger than ever. I am so glad I took the jump and decided to do it again but take my time and do it RIGHT. Yes, she may have corrected the ear on her own time, but humans are an impatient species and always have to meddle, don't we? 

I included pictures of her with the ear post (7 months old), immediately after removal (in the kitchen on the rug), 2 days later (in the yard; you can see it is still a little soft at the tip), and yesterday looking up at the cat like a derp. There are also 2 pics of her siblings with their adorable floppy ears. 

Thanks guys for everything! Hope you enjoyed my essay. 😂


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## erikamejia2700 (8 mo ago)

H20CHK said:


> Hello! I figured I’d share our update since we rarely see them here. Be forewarned, it’s LONG, so proceed with caution. 😂 TLDR; we posted her ear again and it worked
> 
> So, I let about a week pass after her right ear flopped completely back down (last picture shared) and continued to feel frustrated and morally conflicted. I ended up reaching out to her “breeder” (she was part of an oops litter between a pair of untitled, not health tested home pets) and inquired again as to whether or not my pup's siblings or parents had any ear difficulties. Turns out they still have 2 of her siblings and in fact both of them had completely down ears, no signs of them going up ever. The others had erect ears, and her parents followed a pretty standard ear progression. This did not make me feel any better about our chances of getting that ear to stand without intervention. After some deep consideration and playing out pros and cons, I made the decision to post her ear in one final attempt.
> 
> ...


I'm so glad you were able to get her ear to stand. Does it have a crease at all in it still? My boy is 6 months, almost 7. I have decided to post one of his ears in hopes it'll stay. The first time I did it, the ear stayed up for a day and then fell back down  I was so disappointed. I am trying it again and I have hope now after seeing your post. Do you have any tips? Thank you!


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## H20CHK (11 mo ago)

erikamejia2700 said:


> I'm so glad you were able to get her ear to stand. Does it have a crease at all in it still? My boy is 6 months, almost 7. I have decided to post one of his ears in hopes it'll stay. The first time I did it, the ear stayed up for a day and then fell back down  I was so disappointed. I am trying it again and I have hope now after seeing your post. Do you have any tips? Thank you!


Hello. I don’t really have any tips, but I will say if it’s making your dog uncomfortable it’s not worth it and likely won’t work well. I feel like this was my early downfall, and her attempts to remove the form from her ear made it inflamed, irritated, and I wasn’t able to get an ample amount of time with each post. When I finally placed it properly and used an appropriate skin glue, she let it stay in for over a week and the ear finally stayed up. The video I shared below helped me immensely.

ETA: You asked about a crease, and there is no longer a crease in that ear. She holds them up perfectly. 

The products I used and the video I watched:









RedLine K9 German shepherd soft ears get Dog Ear Supports - DogSport Gear






www.dogsportgear.com













Amazon.com: TR410EA - Skin Bonding Cement with Brush 4 oz. Can : Health & Household


Amazon.com: TR410EA - Skin Bonding Cement with Brush 4 oz. Can : Health & Household



www.amazon.com


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