# ears wont go up// ARE THEY BROKEN FOREVER?



## Connerandnala (Nov 21, 2014)

So i have a 3/4 German shepherd & 1/4 lab... she is currently 3.5 months old. When we first got her the ears were down and at about 3 months old her ears where up for about a good week. Then once upon a morning her ears were down and haven't been up since. I would of thought it was just her ears deciding what they want to do. But i read up on German shepherd puppy ears and that the cartage is very fragil and can be easily damaged if rubbed/touched/scratched/bent/crumpled.... And then i clicked that my dad always rubs/crumple touches the puppy's ears with much force(within reason of course) she enjoys it but i just realized that could be why the ears are down.He always does this daily.

So will the ears be permanently damaged? Will they go back up? Do i just wait? is the cartilage injured? do they need to gain strength again? please im very concered. are they brokenn?


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## Castlemaid (Jun 29, 2006)

Ears often will go down during teething. Chances are if they were up before, they'll get back up again. 

But since your pup is not pure bred and has floppy-eared lab in her, there is a chance that she will have naturally floppy ears. 

Normal petting won't harm the ears - your dog will have either erect ears, or floppy ears, depending on what her genetics decide. Just love her the way she is, I'm sure she is beautiful! .


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## Connerandnala (Nov 21, 2014)

any other opinions. am i just being over concerned


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## Hineni7 (Nov 8, 2014)

She is still very young. Ears can be up as late as 6-7mos...being a mix with floppy ears in the background, it's possible they won't stand, however, if they have already I'd just be patient... They will probably start going up again soon


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## DJEtzel (Feb 11, 2010)

Yes. Probably.


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## Castlemaid (Jun 29, 2006)

If ears being up is that important to you, then you could have bought a pure bred with a breeder guarantee that the ears will stand.

Otherwise, with a mixed breed, well, who knows? Not very likely that daily petting broke her ears - and normal that the ears fall during teething with starts around 4 months and lasts until six months of age. 

So if by six/seven months her ears are still down, she probably has naturally floppy ears.


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## carmspack (Feb 2, 2011)

what do you base this on "So i have a 3/4 German shepherd & 1/4 lab" ?

this is a young dog .
leave the ears alone .

don't impose GSD expectations on a dog that may have no or little GSD in the genetic make up.

enjoy the dog for what she is !


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## Connerandnala (Nov 21, 2014)

carmspack said:


> what do you base this on "So i have a 3/4 German shepherd & 1/4 lab" ?
> 
> this is a young dog .
> leave the ears alone .
> ...


The dad is a full bred GSD with evidence and the mom is a GSD/lab mix... hence 3/4 German shepherd & 1/4 lab. records were given


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## Connerandnala (Nov 21, 2014)

Castlemaid said:


> If ears being up is that important to you, then you could have bought a pure bred with a breeder guarantee that the ears will stand.
> 
> Otherwise, with a mixed breed, well, who knows? Not very likely that daily petting broke her ears - and normal that the ears fall during teething with starts around 4 months and lasts until six months of age.
> 
> So if by six/seven months her ears are still down, she probably has naturally floppy ears.


if someonewhere in my forum i posted anything about ears being the most important thing to me you are mistaken. i love my dog forever and always. whatever the ears do. but this website has a whole FORUM PAGE deticated about the ears. i think its a common thing to be suspicious/curious to learn about ear behavior. jeez


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## Connerandnala (Nov 21, 2014)

to get it straight this post wasnt all about will the ears go up or not. i was mainly concerned that my dad/family member rough behavior to ear petting has damaged the ears to the point that they dont go up. i read places were GSD ears need to be untouched while they are up as a puppy so you dont hard them. i love her for who she is believe me!!!!


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## Cassidy's Mom (Mar 30, 2003)

It's certainly possible to damage the ear cartilage, but since your girl is a mixed breed and labs don't have erect ears, it's really a crap shoot whether her ears would have gone up and stayed up anyway. There's really no way to predict what happened, if anything.


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## Connerandnala (Nov 21, 2014)

Cassidy's Mom said:


> It's certainly possible to damage the ear cartilage, but since your girl is a mixed breed and labs don't have erect ears, it's really a crap shoot whether her ears would have gone up and stayed up anyway. There's really no way to predict what happened, if anything.



ok thank you. great response


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## Baillif (Jun 26, 2013)

But what if they stay that way forever!?!?


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