How often do ears NOT come up??

[mnbue]

So, I'm a new member, and might be totally off line, but after reading a LOT about GSD ears, a thought occurred to me.

First, someone I know who's a breeder AND very knowledgeable about human medicine explained the physiology of the GSD ear development to me as follows...not sure where she got this from, but it made sense to me:

She said that short of actually breaking the cartilage in the ear, or other more severe problems during puppyhood, purebred GSD ears pretty much ALWAYS come up. However, they go through a bunch of stages that seem to be designed to freak out puppy owners. They're down initially, but at some point the calcium in the diet (calcium being the mineral that "stiffens" cartilage) starts to get deposited in the ear cartilage, usually before they start teething....and the ears (not necessarily symmetrically) start to come up. THEN, the adult teeth start forming and erupting. Teeth also requiring calcium, the body stops putting the calcium in the ears, and sometimes even takes it from the ears (symmetry again not necessary!), and the ears start flopping again. As the teeth erupt in stages, this can happen repeatedly. Changes of diet and growth spurts change the amount of calcium available to the ears too...so that can bring the ears up or down. But at the end of the day, enough calcium is deposited in the ears that they stand up, and once that stage of bone/tooth formation is over, they stay up.

So here's my thought. What if all of the tips about "things that will make your puppy's ears drop/prick" are just things we do to keep ourselves busy while nature takes its bumpy course to normal GSD ears?

I know some folks have had issues with ears...but in the cases I remember reading, either there was some question of possible damage, or the breeding was in question - they may not have had a purebred GSD, and a mix could be meant to have floppy ears from the start!

Thoughts? Am I about to get hate mail?

And more importantly, my question is, does anyone here have a verified purebred GSD who's ears didn't come up? I know there'll be lots who "had issues but fixed it with X", but that doesn't really address my theory...

[mnbue]

To add to my own post I should mention that yes, the breeder did tape ears for her pups when asked to by nervous owners who brought them by, but she hadn't had to with any of those she'd kept herself, and she figured it was just easier to calm the "parents" down by taping, than to try to convince them it wasn't needed...

[tsteves]

Cant help you here! My pups ears went up a day or so after I got her and stayed up. I would be curious to find out more about your theory from the experts here though.

[Samba]

I have seen a number of ears not come up. The ear leather was thick in these dogs.

Myself, I don't wait to see any more and splint pup ears.

[jocoyn]

I have seen purebred GSDs with soft ears who did not suffer damage. Some dogs are known for throwing soft ears.

[bianca]

I have a 22 month old whose ears have never come up. 3 from 9 in the litter have soft (floppy ears). She is PB but after researching further it appears that the sire had sired one previous litter which also produced soft ears. My breeder told me that the male is no longer breeding.

[LijhaPup]

My 10mo. old Lijha has soft ears. We don't know who her parents are, she is a rescue.

Bianca, I looked at your album of Molly (so cute!) and she looks just like Lijha in the face, I hardly ever find pics of other adult flop eared GSD to compare to...

[bianca]

Aaron thank you She is unique! This is Molly yesterday



I think we need some updated pic's of Lijha please!

[Hagakure]

Does the dog somehow suffer if the ears don't come up? Will it not hear that well? Just wondering if it's purely a cosmetic problem. I think I wouldn't really care if my pup's ears will stand up or not. He'll be my guy nevertheless.

Two more weeks until we get to pick him up!

[LijhaPup]

Here ya go Bianca!