I am getting worried!

[Mrs.K]

Indra had her ears up before she got into teathing.



Once she started teething one of her ears went down again and ever since it's down.

What is funny is that it is up in the morning and after half an hour it's going down. It goes up when she's playing and running but then it goes down.

I know, I know, I should know better than that but my dad drives me crazy. He is suggesting to glue her ear and said that we should have done it a long time ago because he worries that she doesn't completely bring it up.

Mom says that there is no need to tape because she brought it up before teething, she's bringing it up in the morning and it could take up to a year that they completely bring it up.

Dad thinks we should help her, regardless of what is going on, just to be on the safe side.

Here you can see her ears while she is moving and running.

You Tube

You Tube

YouTube - Movie 0019

YouTube - Movie 0019

I just don't really know if I should or shouldn't tape it. I know that especially over here it's frowned upon to glue ears and once they are glued you better don't show up at the training facilities because people are whispering about you having a so called "Schlappohr"!

What do you think?

[Wolfiesmom]

I don't know. It seems to me that if it was up and still goes up, then it will come up.
I found this interesting bit on the Leerburg site:
Leerburg | Taping German Shepherds Ears

Taping German Shepherd Ears

I get a lot of emails about taping German Shepherds puppy ears. The majority of these emails come from people who are jumping the gun and worrying too much. By that I mean their pups are 3 or 4 months old and they are starting to panic because their puppies ears are not standing. I tell these people that they need patience, they need to wait until their pup has finished teething.
I caution these people not to jump the gun and tape the dogs ears too early or in the wrong way. I know people who have screwed their dogs ears up for life by doing this. I have had puppy customers who go ballistic on me and panic. So I issue a word of caution here.
With that said, the other side of the spectrum of taping ears is something that many people do not take seriously until its' too late. When ears are taped at 7 and 8 months there is very little chance of it working. This is an unfortunate fact of life.
German Shepherd puppy ears can come up between 8 weeks and 6 months. If they are not up when the dog is through teething (this varies from dog to dog but in general between 16 weeks and 20 weeks of age) I tell my puppy customers to get very interested in their ears. While its not time to panic, it is time to sit up and take notice.
The first thing to do is make sure that the puppies are in good health. This means no intestinal parasites, take a stool sample to your vet to have it analyzed.It's also important to make sure the pup is getting a good quality food. I am not a fan of any commercial dog food. I feed all of the dogs in my kennel and all-natural diet. If you do feed commercial dog food I strongly recommend puppies GO OFF of puppy food at 5 months of age. It causes pups to grow too fast and this causes skeletal problems.

The Honest Kitchen Dog Food

Its not uncommon for ears not to be up until 4 1/2 to 5 months of age. In fact a lot of times a pup will have both ears up and all of a sudden they will come back down when the pup starts to teethe. Many owners panic when this happens. But not to worry, I have never seen a pup whose ears did not go back up when this happens.

[jakeandrenee]

I would help it along at this point, so long as you do it right it can't hurt!

[Mrs.K]

I didn't panic when she started teething and it came down, it's a normal process. The one that is concerned is my dad while mom and I are like "Eh, it's been up before, it's going up all the time it's just that she doesn't have it up 24/7 yet as she used to have before teething.

He's driving me crazy, every time I am out he's like "Is that ear up yet?" and I am like "Not fully, but she's pushing it up in between, it's up in the morning and sometimes it's only halfway up."

And he's like "You got to tape it!"

E.V.E.R.Y Time and by the time I get to talk my mom he got me worried so much that I ask her "Mom, you think we should tape it?" and she's like "Stop talking about those ears, it can take up to a year until it fully goes up, she's had it up before than it'll go up again." and I am like "I KNOW!!!!"

It's not floppy floppy like in the picture above, that is a soft ear but she's got that knick in her ear.

[mjbgsd]

So are you going to wait?

[JakodaCD OA]

I must say I kinda agree with your Dad (sorry mom!) I am ear paranoid, and have always had my gsd's ears up and standing no later than 12 weeks, they never dropped while teething. I like nice thick ear leather

Indra's one ear looks to be pretty soft/thin, and may need some help keeping it up, maybe not? It's up to you, but if it were me, I'd be taping/glueing just cause I'm used to ears being up by 12 wks and staying there

[Lucy Dog]

Yeah if she's 7 months old and they're still down (even if they've been up before), it's definitely time to tape or glue.

I like the leerburg websites description on how to take. I taped lucys ears around 6-7 months and it worked perfectly. After about 2 weeks of it, her ears were up and they never fell.

[selzer]

It is the sympathy ear dip she is doing so that she matches her big sister.

Frankly, it is up to you. Mine will be seven months old this week. Two have them up all the time, the third is up most of the time, days in a row, and then it is down.

Check for ear infection.

Give a piece of cheese every day.

And then think about how you would feel if the ear never completes its journey. If it is not a huge deal to you, then wait and see. I think it will go up on its own and stay there. But she is not my dog. If it will seriously bother your, glue it. Who cares what the people at your training club say? You are moving anyway. The dog is working like a dream out there. If they give you guff, its just because they are jealous.

[Mrs.K]

Originally Posted by mjbgsd

So are you going to wait?

I don't know!!!!!

that is the problem. in the past couple of days they've all been at my parents because we've had the movers over to pack our stuff.

Dad said that it would probably take a month of gluing and the ear would be up since she is putting it up on occassion and in the morning. Today it was up for ten minutes and then she dropped it again.

Mom said I should wait. I am completely torn between them. I'd rather wait because it would be less stress on the dog but at the same time I know that it is a big deal when one of them doesn't go up.

Personally, I don't know how I'd feel to have a Schlappohr.

[mjbgsd]

well, if it were me, I would have taped a while ago. But if it's no big deal, wait.

If you remember, another poster's dog Brady, didn't go up till he was a year.