Quick Question

[ngarza]

Hey I am new to the site and was looking around but not sure I found the answer I was looking for.

There are a lot about GSD ears not standing up, my Eko I guess didn't go through the funny ear phase too much. We got her at 6 weeks, and the week after one ear stood up then the next the other did. Now they both have been up for about a week an a half.

Once the ears go up will they drop back down at all? Just wondering if we are done with having to think about her ears or if she is toying with us :P

[dakota20]

Sometimes they'll go up and down as they are teething.

[Good_Karma]

Her ears may go back down when she starts teething. The fact that they are up now suggests to me that you don't need to worry. Give her lots of stuff to chew on, Bully Sticks are a good option or some type of Nylabone. Avoid rawhide or pig's ears. Lamb ears are okay.

And if they don't stay up, love her anyway. I was so worried about my 6 month old's ears not going up and then my husband wisely said that he didn't care and that he thought he was a cutie with the floppy ears. (They did come up though, and are perfect now.)

[Courtney]

When we got our male at 8 weeks-he had one up & one down. Within 3 days both ears were down. About 3 weeks later one year went back up, followed by the other ear up 3 days later. Both ears were up for about a month-then one dropped (you see where I'm going with this!) for about 2 weeks and now both are up again (19 weeks currently) and very firm.

Our breeder said some ears drop during teething-which I'm pretty sure happened when his flopped, but will go back up.

Make sure you give plenty of safe chew toys to help build up those ear muscles!

Watching & GSD ears is interesting and very stressful!

[Stosh]

Ears are very entertaining! Both of our pups dropped their ears during teething and like Good Karma says, once they've been up, they'll go back. Chewing the items mentioned strengthens the muscles, my vet told me to make kissie noises so they're ears perk up. You'll have plenty of other things to worry about like poop, fur, teeth, food, so I'd let go of the ear thing...!

[Lilie]

My pups ears went up and down - never at the same time. The only times they were both standing is when he was outside and the wind was blowing...hard. Finally by nine months they were both standing and not dependant on the weather. At eleven months one tip still drops when he is upset, but with less fequency as the days go by.

[Samba]

Calcium shifts in the body as the teeth come it. This can cause the ears to go soft. It is normal if it happens. They come back up again after the teeth come in.