# Ears were standings... Now floppy



## RileyandSadie (Dec 26, 2014)

We think Riley was born around 7/1, and for a long while his ears were standing. But then we started getting really serious about housetraining him (we were previously putting him in a kennel while I was at work and he would have accidents in there as if that was his norm), and started crate training him about a month ago and he has been doing great with that in regards to housetraining.

I work full time but I come home at lunch & my kids take him out when they get home from school. So that was the time & at night that we had him in the kennel or crate

Problem is, he started teething and his ears have flopped back down.

His baby teeth are all gone now but his ears are still floppy at the top. Occasionally I can get them to stand, but nothing consistent. Will they eventually stand for good or do I need to do anything?

Not sure if it was the crate that didn't help either since when he lays down it can fold his ears over (it's an extra large crate but he is big). Feeling like I have to pick between his ears or housetraining him since his ears were fine when we had him in the kennel.

Any advice or words of wisdom are appreciated.


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## pyratemom (Jan 10, 2011)

Teething will cause the ears to do the dance. Up one day, down the next. Hopefully if both ears were fully up before they will pop back up. I don't think the crate is the issue. Some say feeding stuff with cartilage helps. Some have gone so far as to use tape. I never had a problem with my dogs ears. Pyrate's ears stood up at 3 months and never went down. Raina also had erect ears at 12 weeks and hers never went down. Pyrate had really thick cartilage in his ears but Raina's are really soft. Given that your pup is at the 5-6 month stage I would say not to worry yet.


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## SuperG (May 11, 2013)

Pretty much what pyratemom said.....their ears do crazy things during teething and yes....if they were up prior, they should be up after this stage.

I have taped and glued ears over the past with a couple of GSD pups and my current gal's ears seemed to be pretty strong but I had some doubts about one of her ears. I used one of these ear forms on her for a week and when it came off her ear, all was well.

German shepherd soft ears get Dog Ear Supports - DogSport Gear


These ear forms were much easier than the taping and other methods I had used before. If you choose to use these ear forms...just buy the smallest bottle of TearMender glue to adhere the forms to the inside of your pup's ears.

Post a pic or two of Riley if you have the time.

SuperG


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## CountryGirl01 (Dec 10, 2014)

Crate training might effect it a little bit, I know when I first started crate training my GSD his ears went down for a full week. He looked like a lab and it freaked me out, but now his ears are going up and down like normal again. 

How much time is your pup spending in the crate?


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## RileyandSadie (Dec 26, 2014)

Thanks everyone for the feedback. He is in the crate from 7-11:30, then I take him out and then he is in it again till 2:30 when the kids get home

During the weekends he is out as much as possible. 

Here are some pics.

This is when his ears were standing full time just a few weeks ago









This was a few days ago


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## DixieGSD (Aug 22, 2012)

They are just doing the "ear Dance". They'll go back up once he is done teething. My sister's male gsd did the ear dance til he was about 7-8 months. Than his ear's stood up erect. And Dixie my gsd had floppy ears til about 7 months, but she is kinda a soft eared girl so her ears stand but they have a bend in them..

Cute pup by the way


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## CountryGirl01 (Dec 10, 2014)

His ears look perfectly fine lol they are just growing. After awhile his ears will harden up once they get accustomed to the weight.

If you are really worried about the ears you can tape them up, but I think he just needs some time.


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## qbchottu (Jul 10, 2011)

His ears will come up after he finishes teething - if they were up before teething, they will most always go up afterwards permanently


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