# 8.5 months one ear standing ? Help



## hamada (Jan 8, 2013)

My GSD is 8.5 months, very long hair pure bred, showline & pidigree. He has one firm ear which stands perfectly. The other one is floppy (base standing but other half down). When I bought him, the breeder told me that the ear is floppy because his brother was playing with it. Afterwards he was teething and still didn't stand. At 6.5 months he was nearly finished teething but still it was down. I sent a photo to breeder and he told me that I have to find a good vet in my country to tape it. When I took him to vet he told me not to tape until 7 months and gave me Vitamin B supplements and calcium Tablets. At 7.5 months with no change just base standing and still half of ear down. When I went again he started to tape it and told me to continue the supplements. Now he is 8.5 months, when I remove tape it is standing but soft and not firm and tip is down but sometimes up. So I was asking is there a chance it will stand if I continue to tape and continue on the supplement and is there anything else I can do to help ?


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## N Smith (Aug 25, 2011)

Be VERY careful with supplementing calcium on a growing dog - it can be absolutely detrimental to have high doses of calcium while joints/bones are growing. What are you feeding? Kibble? Which brand? Raw? What protein sources?

You MIGHT have a chance of getting it to stand, as you said that once you removed the tape it was standing but soft. I would continue to tape for 3 months, with tape 4 days on, 1 day off. If the ear is still not standing, it most likely will never. But you might get it strong enough to stand up, but it may still be a little soft and may never be perfect.


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## hamada (Jan 8, 2013)

Thanks for your fast response. I was feeding him royal canin german shepherd formula until 6 months but now it is out of stock. And the only alternative is purina dogchow adultos. So I give him 3 meals (2 dry food and one is raw (boiled chicken and bread) ). The calcium supplemnt is 500 mg 3 time in day so total is 1500 mg / day. ??


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## N Smith (Aug 25, 2011)

hamada said:


> Thanks for your fast response. I was feeding him royal canin german shepherd formula until 6 months but now it is out of stock. And the only alternative is purina dogchow adultos. So I give him 3 meals (2 dry food and one is raw (boiled chicken and bread) ). The calcium supplemnt is 500 mg 3 time in day so total is 1500 mg / day. ??


This is not raw: Boiled chicken and bread

Here is a link to some raw feeding advice
Raw Feeding

If you are feeding a balanced diet, raw or kibble, you will not need to supplement calcium. If I were you, and I am not so make the best decision for you and your dog, I would switch to a raw diet, if feeding that is financially viable. If not, I would feed the Purina with as many *fresh* add-ins as possible (veggies, raw meat, plain yogurt, low sodium cottage cheese etc).

Here is a link to the "Ears up??" forum, many people have posted great info here:

Ears Up?????? - German Shepherd Dog Forums

Also, just because a GSD is "Purebred" and or "Papered" does not guarantee that ears will stand. If at all possible, I would ask the breeder if any other puppies are still struggling to get their ears to stand. Unless the littermate damaged the cartilage while playing, the playing alone is not the cause of this. Otherwise, all breeds with ears that stand would have to be seperated at 4 weeks, so they didn't damage each others ears...LOL

Good luck with your pup! I am sure others will chime in as well.


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## hamada (Jan 8, 2013)

Thanks again, I wrote "raw" by mistake anyway. All other puppies in littre has ears up by now. I will keep taping and lower the calcium supplement with the vitamin B supplement. I will post photos for him after I remove tape later this week


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## N Smith (Aug 25, 2011)

hamada said:


> Thanks again, I wrote "raw" by mistake anyway. All other puppies in littre has ears up by now. I will keep taping and lower the calcium supplement with the vitamin B supplement. I will post photos for him after I remove tape later this week


Sounds good!

Do you have any pictures of the ear as it stands now?

That way we can have something to compare any progress to.


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## huntergreen (Jun 28, 2012)

years ago i had a gsd, taped the ear and with cardboard, after two weeks no difference. decided this is how it is going to be. then all by itself it stood up. he was close to a year old then.


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## hamada (Jan 8, 2013)

Yesterday I untaped my dogs ears at first it the tip was down then with some head shacking it was up but it was very week that after a while I felt it was going to drop. But now after 12 hours passed it is standing good but when running. Its tip drops then stand when he sits. So do I retape it today or do I stop taping. Will it remain soft or can it later on stand firm


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## N Smith (Aug 25, 2011)

hamada said:


> Yesterday I untaped my dogs ears at first it the tip was down then with some head shacking it was up but it was very week that after a while I felt it was going to drop. But now after 12 hours passed it is standing good but when running. Its tip drops then stand when he sits. So do I retape it today or do I stop taping. Will it remain soft or can it later on stand firm


It seems to be making progress, so I would tape for another few weeks or so to be sure. 4 days on, 2 days off.

It may never stand perfectly, but going by the amount of progress made in such a small amount of time, I think the ear will look close to perfect in the end.


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## hamada (Jan 8, 2013)

It taped it for 5 days then now it had been untaped for 7 days . It looks good when he is sitting and not moving his head but it's tip bends when he is running. Do I retape it again for 4 days ??
Here is a photo of it now:


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## bryant88 (Jan 22, 2013)

unless you plan on showing him I wouldn't stress on it. Regardless its still a beautiful dog. Maybe give it a little time and see if it will come up on it's own. Some never stand up. Iv'e seen a lot of floppy ear GSD. Just enjoy your dog and if it comes up awesome but if not who cares.


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## N Smith (Aug 25, 2011)

That ear looks really good!

It may be that the tip will take a little longer to firm up, I do remember my male's ear being still a little unstable at 7-8 months, and taking an extra month to firm up completely.

If the actual ear is standing, I would leave it alone. If the only time the tip bends is when he is running, I would give it a few weeks to see if that improves. At the first sign the whole ear, or tip even, is heading back down, I would resume taping for a few weeks again.


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