# When does a German Shepherd puppies ears stand up?



## morgan&thor

I dont even have my puppy yet but I will soon. I just wanted to make sure how old most gsd puppies are when their's stand up. I have read that their ears can like flop around when the cartilage isnt completely hardened too. So when should they start to get hard and then when should they stand the whole way up?


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## KZoppa

There's no definite timeframe.


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## Swifty

morgan&thor said:


> I dont even have my puppy yet but I will soon. I just wanted to make sure how old most gsd puppies are when their's stand up. I have read that their ears can like flop around when the cartilage isnt completely hardened too. So when should they start to get hard and then when should they stand the whole way up?


It probably depends on the dog. Here was Shadow's progression:

Nearly 6 weeks on 12/23:









Nearly 7 weeks on 12/29:









A little over 9 weeks on 1/17 they finally began standing up reliably:


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## Smith3

We got java at nine weeks, once her ears went up they never went back down


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## Sneddo

My dogs ears went up one at a time about 2 weeks apart. Both were up at 11 weeks but they still slant into each other in the middle of his head. He is almost 14 weeks.









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## Lucy Dog

Don't be surprised if they go up and down until the puppy is done teething around 6 months. It's very common.


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## Dann

morgan&thor said:


> I dont even have my puppy yet but I will soon. I just wanted to make sure how old most gsd puppies are when their's stand up. I have read that their ears can like flop around when the cartilage isnt completely hardened too. So when should they start to get hard and then when should they stand the whole way up?


Well it depends, some at 2 months some at 3,4,5,6,7; like my fellow friend said before, there is no exact time frame. My GSD's ears are starting to show improvement at 2 months.. Hopefully I think in about 2 weeks they will be complete!

Just remember if you get a GSD feed it food rich in calcium! Just don't feed it everything when it's young; some dogs can't tolerate milk, luckily mine can, and it loves it, I make some milk by the kibble he gulps it all up! Yogurt is a substitute as well, in fact it is better, but my dog doesn't like it that much.

When he is older you can also feed him about 1-2 eggs a week with the kibble, but the kibble is still none the less the best source to reach their full diet, but not a lot of dogs like kibble -_-


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## Lucy Dog

Dann said:


> Just remember if you get a GSD feed it food rich in calcium!


Not the best advice. You do not want to feed too much calcium to a large breed puppy. Calcium promotes bone growth and you want slow and steady bone growth. 

This is typically why large breed puppy kibbles have less calcium than regular puppy and adult formulas.


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## Sevastra

my dogs left ear was up at 4 weeks old. His right ear would go up and down till he was around 9-10 weeks old then it stayed up after that. I was told not to mess with his ears a lot so i didn't. I wasn't really worried about, though deep down i was hoping both would stand up, haha.


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## slumdawg11b

Sasha's went up about 9 weeks. I massaged them for about 10 days and then one morning... BAM right up. They haven't gone down and she has really good control of them
They show what emotion she is feeling all the time. Removes a lot of the guess work. 

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## Rallhaus

don't worry until 5.5 months, if they're not standing by then, find a large reputable GSD breeder (not a vet) near you and ask for an opinion and help.

Hair inside ear must be shaved and then foam inserts can be glued to the inside of the ear(s) that should stay in for 3 or 4 weeks. When done correctly, the pup doesn't notice them after just a few minutes. If after this they still don't stand, they most likely they never will.

you can find the inserts and glue online several sites offer them, this one comes to mind... CanisCallidus Online Shop


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## Okin

Athena's were both up at 8 weeks then they flopped up and down when she was teething.


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## gagsd

My dogs seem to have ears up between 4 and 8 weeks. If I had one whose ears weren't up by 4 months, I would start to worry.
Here is one of my current 5 week old pups...


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## k4stles

4months old rei's ears stood up permanently.


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## morgan&thor

Thank you all. Very helpful and appreciated!


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## Hugo'smom

Hugo's ears were both up at 12 weeks 









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## Hugo'smom

Sorry 11 weeks. Lol 


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## Msmaria

around 11 weeks they were all over the place, up and down and flopping over each other. Around 13 weeks they were both up.


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## Dann

51 days old:







64 days old:


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## JojoTobyMax

Feed them lots of calcium. Don't feed them much calcium. Don't mess with the ears a lot. Massaged the ears for ten days. Worry if the ears aren't up by four months. It's common for the ears to go up and down until six months. 

Does anyone here really know anything about German Shepherd Dogs? lol


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## ***Beth***

My boy started going from floppy eared to 1 ear up (alternated which ear every time I looked at him it seemed) around 2 1/2 months old. From 3 1/2 to 4 months the ears were mostly up but would curl at the tips backward or forwards. One side would still flop down ocassionally. From 4 months til about 4 1/2 or so, one side was perfectly up and the other side would be straight and the tip would be curled backwards. He's going to be 5 months old tomorrow and within the last week I've noticed both his ears being perfectly straight up with no curl to them so they look like normal ears.


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## mcdanfam

I think it is an ongoing process....our male had his ears up from the moment we got him....the female would Have them up for a few days and they would be folded over, then one would be up and the other way around. She had both up around 5-6 months old....but that was her....I don't know average....just what we experienced. 
From what I have read shepherded usually have their ears up except when running, and eating. Millie....she has her tucked back except when food is involved or she is chasing our male or balls. She seems to be opposite what people describe as shepherd behavior when it comes to her ears....


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## hharvey30

My pup is now 7 months and I got him at 8 weeks. The day I got him one ear was up the other down and literally the next morning the other was up and they've been up since. I think it just depends on the dog. I missed out on the crazy floppy ear stage =( lol


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## 3dognite

My experience is that it depends on the dog. Ear size and heaviness and when/how long they teethe. 

My last GSD was big and had very heavy ears and his didn't stand solid til after he was 18 months.

I've been told by breeders that if ears were up before they teethed they would go up again barring injury.


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## RubyTuesday

Djibouti's breeder recommended taping at 5 mos if necessary but not before. Djibouti's ears were up at 4-4.5 mos but were doing the crazy ear dance & allll over the place shortly before then. My daughter kept him those 1st mos & was panicked that she'd 'broken' them, lol. I asked her to take him those early months b/c nobody socializes better than my daughter which trumps just about everything, IMO. 

His littermates ears were all solidly up before they were even picked up. Only his were down. I wondered about this but his breeder didn't seem concerned & I decided that no matter where his ears wound up he was the best match for me. After that realization I just quit worrying about it though it had my sweet, sweet daughter half nutzzz with worry.


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## trcy

I think it depends on the dog. Riley had very heavy sturdy ears. They did not go all the way up until he was 5 to 6 months. They started doing the wonky stages at about 3 to 4 months. 

I got Kaleb when he was 3 months and his ears were already up.


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## laki

*gsd puppy 4 months*

i have a gsd puppy 4 months old but her ears still are not getting up totally , i`m worried about that :/ and another problem is that her front legs are curled like this " ( ) " . Please anyone can tell me something about that ??


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## mydogs

Almost 6 months and my pups finally up 


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