# Ears never up at 12 weeks



## blueblood (Feb 20, 2018)

Hello all,

I know this has been covered ad nauseum, but I am wondering if my GSD puppies ears will ever pop up. He is a purebred and both his parents had strong ears, and all of the litter mates we met already had their ears standing by 8 weeks. The breeder could not recall if his ears had ever stood up before we picked him up and they have not stood up in the 2 weeks we have had him.

He is a big boy at 32 lbs already but we feed him a healthy ratio of Fromm kibble and raw. We also give him plenty of bully sticks and chicken necks to stimulate the muscles.

Just looking for any insight from the knowledgeable people of this forum


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## lhczth (Apr 5, 2000)

Some of my bigger headed larger males have taken longer for their ears to come up. Give him time.


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## blueblood (Feb 20, 2018)

lhczth, the breeder did say he has a big head, so hopefully that is why its taking him a little longer for his ears to pop up. Thank you!


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## Stevenzachsmom (Mar 3, 2008)

He is gorgeous - whatever his ears decide to do.


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## Armistice (Oct 12, 2017)

It can take some pups 7mos old before their ears stand. If they're not up by 7mos, some taping may be needed as after 8 mos if ears aren't up, they will prob never go up

Some members have fed gelatin to their pups. I'd find a chew toy that your pup loves and keep him on it. Chewing helps build up those ear muscles to get them standing


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## blueblood (Feb 20, 2018)

Armistice,

I have heard that some pups take up to 7 months for their ears to stand up; I've just been concerned since his ears are completely folded over, and most other pups his age are at least half up.

We give him bully sticks, Kongs, and more toys than I can count to chew on along with cottage cheese once a day and chicken necks. Doing everything we can think of to help along the process.

I did notice some red bumps in his ears last night, and took him to the vet today for it. Turns out he had a dual ear infection, even though there was no smell, no scratching, and no head shake. Don't know if this could have be playing some part of his ears still being "soft"


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## CAROLINM (Mar 30, 2018)

Hi, there. 
My puppy is 10 weeks and he does not bring his ears up. He only had a brother and he raised his ears on the seventh week according to his breeder. But my little one has not, sometimes he kind of brings one up in the mornings but that's it. Both his parents are also pure breed with really nice ears. His grandfather and uncles have titles (really good looking dogs). But his litter had sort of sad story behind, and anyway we took him (the breeder offered a different litter for the end of this year if we wanted, he is the friend of a friend and had several personal problems while this litter was on process), but the thing is when we met him, he was the right one and when we went back to get him, he was super cute. 

He is a show line unlike yours. 

But back when I was a little girl my dad had a working line purebred and an and adopted mix, both had raised ears at 10 to 12 weeks. But then again that was their age when we got them. On the other hand we got this one before that, so we were enjoying his baby ears, but now I am starting to worry. Should we worry? Should we give him collagen? or something else?


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## Pawsed (May 24, 2014)

Be patient. We have had 2 dogs who didn't have both ears up until they were over 8 months old. Your pup has plenty of time to get that right. Relax and enjoy him. He just needs time.

The pup in the picture is beautiful, ears up or not.


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## slippednfell (Jun 24, 2011)

Adorable even without the ears up!

Our little guy has one up mostly all the time and the other one at half mast. He is 13 weeks.


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## AceOfSpadez (Feb 25, 2021)

blueblood said:


> Hello all,
> 
> I know this has been covered ad nauseum, but I am wondering if my GSD puppies ears will ever pop up. He is a purebred and both his parents had strong ears, and all of the litter mates we met already had their ears standing by 8 weeks. The breeder could not recall if his ears had ever stood up before we picked him up and they have not stood up in the 2 weeks we have had him.
> 
> ...


Did his ears ever pop up? Mine is the same way EXACTLY. Big boy, 12 weeks, and big ears, also purebred. Please let me know


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## WNGD (Jan 15, 2005)

The OP hasn't been here since the original 2 posts 3 years ago


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## AceOfSpadez (Feb 25, 2021)

WNGD said:


> The OP hasn't been here since the original 2 posts 3 years ago


Do you personally think my dog is purebred? Everyone said he looks it including the vet and has pedigree sheet to back it up.


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## AceOfSpadez (Feb 25, 2021)

WNGD said:


> The OP hasn't been here since the original 2 posts 3 years ago


Here’s another picture


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## Sunsilver (Apr 8, 2014)

One way to know if the ears are going to stand is how strong the bases of the ears are. I was told this by a very experienced breeder. Here's one of my dogs at about 3 months old.

She had really tall ears, and they didn't come up to stay until she was 9 months. But you can see in this picture that the are partially up, and the base of the ear has good, strong cartilage. 

I don't see that in your pup, so I think his ears may have a problem. Even at 12 weeks, the ear are usually more erect than that, with usually just the upper half of the ear flopping over..


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## AceOfSpadez (Feb 25, 2021)

Sunsilver said:


> One way to know if the ears are going to stand is how strong the bases of the ears are. I was told this by a very experienced breeder. Here's one of my dogs at about 3 months old.
> 
> She had really tall ears, and they didn't come up to stay until she was 9 months. But you can see in this picture that the are partially up, and the base of the ear has good, strong cartilage.
> 
> ...


So is there anything I can do about that? Could it be cartilage damage?


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## Sunsilver (Apr 8, 2014)

Ears should look more like this pup:


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## Sunsilver (Apr 8, 2014)

No, unfortunately, it's just the way your pup's ears are. And I can say from looking at the ears that I really doubt he's purebred. His ear flaps are too long, and the ears are more to the side of the head than is normal with a GSD. A GSDs ears should look more like the pup above. This is my other female at just 8 weeks old.


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## AceOfSpadez (Feb 25, 2021)

Sunsilver said:


> No, unfortunately, it's just the way your pup's ears are. And I can say from looking at the ears that I really doubt he's purebred. His ear flaps are too long, and the ears are more to the side of the head than is normal with a GSD. A GSDs ears should look more like the pup above. This is my other female at just 8 weeks old.


I’ve seen the parents and their ears are up. The other pups in the litter are smaller than him but their ears are starting to go up.
Here are the parents


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## Sunsilver (Apr 8, 2014)

Here's another trick my breeder mentor taught me. At 8 weeks, a puppy's ear should come to the corner of the eye if you pull it forward. If it's longer than that, it's an extra large ear flap and the ears may not stand. I can tell from the last photo you posted that your pup's ears are longer than usual.

The parents do look purebred, but even with full blooded GSDs the ears sometimes don't stand.


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## AceOfSpadez (Feb 25, 2021)

Sunsilver said:


> Here's another trick my breeder mentor taught me. At 8 weeks, a puppy's ear should come to the corner of the eye if you pull it forward. If it's longer than that, it's an extra large ear flap and the ears may not stand. I can tell from the last photo you posted that your pup's ears are longer than usual.
> 
> The parents do look purebred, but even with full blooded GSDs the ears sometimes don't stand.


I just wanna have confidence that he’s purebred. He has papers to prove the pedigree blood line. Everyone has told me that they think he’s purebred for sure, even the vets said it. I have hope that his ears will stand, if he’s leaning over the ears will somewhat stand up as if they have structure. I did order a DNA test just to be certain.


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## AceOfSpadez (Feb 25, 2021)

Sunsilver said:


> Here's another trick my breeder mentor taught me. At 8 weeks, a puppy's ear should come to the corner of the eye if you pull it forward. If it's longer than that, it's an extra large ear flap and the ears may not stand. I can tell from the last photo you posted that your pup's ears are longer than usual.
> 
> The parents do look purebred, but even with full blooded GSDs the ears sometimes don't stand.


Here’s a picture of another pup from the litter at 12 weeks. See, his ears are starting to pop up, as you can see, he’s very similar looking to mine.


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## WNGD (Jan 15, 2005)

If they have the parents and provided papers, you're talking outright fraud if your pup is not purebred (unless the breeder is unaware of a secret doggy visitor). I'd guess he's purebred but does have heavy ears. I know it can be disappointing for an owner but won't you love him just as much, he very good looking.


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## Sunsilver (Apr 8, 2014)

Yeah, but if you compare that pup with yours, the base of his ear is standing, keeping the ear away from the head, while your pup's ears are flat against his head. 

I hope I'm wrong, but I just don't think it's going to happen.


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## AceOfSpadez (Feb 25, 2021)

Sunsilver said:


> Yeah, but if you compare that pup with yours, the base of his ear is standing, keeping the ear away from the head, while your pup's ears are flat against his head.
> 
> I hope I'm wrong, but I just don't think it's going to happen.


His ears have been doing this recently, could this be a sign of growth? And possibly taping later on if they’re still to big


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## Pawsed (May 24, 2014)

I think they will stand on their own. It's rare that ears do not stand. I would not tape them. They look like they are doing just fine by themselves.

Relax and enjoy your pup. And please stop obsessing about those ears. He has several months to work on getting them stronger. Every dog is different and there is no way to reasonably compare one dog's ear progress to another.


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## AceOfSpadez (Feb 25, 2021)

Pawsed said:


> I think they will stand on their own. It's rare that ears do not stand. I would not tape them. They look like they are doing just fine by themselves.
> 
> Relax and enjoy your pup. And please stop obsessing about those ears. He has several months to work on getting them stronger. Every dog is different and there is no way to reasonably compare one dog's ear progress to another.


Yeah I’m trying to be positive about it but the other dude said he thinks they won’t stand.


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## Pawsed (May 24, 2014)

No one can know for sure. That's trying to predict the future. We can all be wrong or right. We all have our own opinions. 

Only time will tell and you can't rush that, so stop worrying. Give those ears time and don't let your concerns make you less happy with your dog. He will pick up on those feelings that you are having about him. That's not fair to him.

Will you get rid of him if his ears never stand? I certainly hope not. If you will keep and love him anyway, what is there to worry about? 

There are much more important things to be concerned about than whether or not he has floppy ears.


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## AceOfSpadez (Feb 25, 2021)

Pawsed said:


> No one can know for sure. That's trying to predict the future. We can all be wrong or right. We all have our own opinions.
> 
> Only time will tell and you can't rush that, so stop worrying. Give those ears time and don't let your concerns make you less happy with your dog. He will pick up on those feelings that you are having about him. That's not fair to him.
> 
> ...


Of course I wouldn’t get rid of him, I’m just worried about his ears.


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