[superbob76]

After reading a lot of forum posts in the Ears Up section, and realizing that our puppy's 4th month has come and gone, I've started to wonder about having to tape or glue.

Shadow's left ear has never been up, and her right ear has been straight-ish but flopped over her head. The only time her ears are fully up is when she's looking up at something. Sometimes the left ear will stand when she hears smoething very interesting or she sees food, but that's it.

They feel relatively solid and seem like they should be able to handle the weight of standing up, but they just won't go up. I see that a lot of people have had puppies whose ears have been up and down until they start teething, but Shadow has yet to have them up for more than a few seconds at a time. I'm being patient, but would like to be on top of things in case they don't come up soon.

At what point should I consider taping or gluing? I don't want to wait until it's too late, but don't want to do anything drastic early.

Sometimes I wonder if she's imitating our greyhound; when they are both walking at a decent pace they both have their ears pinned back like she's trying to be aerodynamic.

 

[superbob76]

I should also say that she does chew, all the time. Rawhide, wet frozen rags, kongs, etc. She's also on Iams Puppy, 4 and change cups a day.

 

[tracyc]

My breeder taped/glued Luca's ears at age 5 months, claiming that was the optimal time. If you've hit that mark, and see no sign of them going up on their own, then you might start thinking about it.

They may come up without help...they may not even if you do. But it won't hurt her (it'll look like **** for a while!), and you'll feel like you did all you could.

 

[kbigge]

I glued my pup's ear up at about 5 mos, and it took about 4 mos for it to stay up, although that ear is still soft (flops when he trots, shakes his head, etc. But that ear never came up before, during or after teething. His "good" ear came up at about 9 weeks, and stayed up. If her ears are going up and down at least part of the time, they should go up and stay up, from what I've read. But it won't hurt to tape/glue it if it makes you feel better. JMO.

Originally Posted By: RobertM She's also on Iams Puppy, 4 and change cups a day.

Personally, I would not feed this food. I used to be a believer in Iams, Science Diet, and Eukanuba. Since getting my pup and doing tons of research on commercial pet foods, I've learned that these foods suck. Your pup might do ok on it, but she could definitely be eating something better. If you check out some of the threads about food/feeding dogs, you'll see what I mean.

I would especially look into feeding her something higher quality, because of the concern about her ears. Also JMO.

For what it's worth (which I've been told isn't much sometimes - LOL!)

Here is a great article on "Taping a German Shepherd Pups Ears" by Ed Frawley.

http://leerburg.com/pdf/tapingears.pdf

It helped me a lot, although I glued Kodee's ear instead of taping it. He kept getting the tape off, but didn't seem bothered by the glue.

Good luck!

P.S. Also, just FYI, dogs and pups shouldn't get rawhide. Since they can't chew it up enough to break it down into small bits, they end up swallowing "chunks" of it, which can't be digested. If it gets stuck in the intestine, it can cause a blockage, which if isn't treated surgically in time, can lead to death. I don't give my pup any "leathery" items, like rawhide, pig ears, etc. I've heard bully sticks are good, but I've never used them. My pup got lots of raw chicken (including bones), along w/raw marrow bones, and Knox gelatin, to help w/his ears. Got these suggestions from different breeders, who had a lot of experience w/ears.

Didn't seem to help a lot in our situation, but I think his ear being soft was genetic, not due to diet, etc.

<span style="color: #FF0000">NOTE</span>: I forgot to point out that if you look at my avatar picture, you can see Kodee's right ear is glued up w/black foam in it.

 

[superbob76]

Originally Posted By: KodeeGirl
P.S. Also, just FYI, dogs and pups shouldn't get rawhide. Since they can't chew it up enough to break it down into small bits, they end up swallowing "chunks" of it, which can't be digested. If it gets stuck in the intestine, it can cause a blockage, which if isn't treated surgically in time, can lead to death. I don't give my pup any "leathery" items, like rawhide, pig ears, etc. I've heard bully sticks are good, but I've never used them. My pup got lots of raw chicken (including bones), along w/raw marrow bones, and Knox gelatin, to help w/his ears. Got these suggestions from different breeders, who had a lot of experience w/ears.

Didn't seem to help a lot in our situation, but I think his ear being soft was genetic, not due to diet, etc.

<span style="color: #FF0000">NOTE</span>: I forgot to point out that if you look at my avatar picture, you can see Kodee's right ear is glued up w/black foam in it.

My apologies... we only give her the bully sticks. She could chew through a rawhide in 30 minutes if we left her to her own devices. The bully sticks seem to work pretty well for her.

 

[BlackGSD]

Do you have any pictures you could post so we can see what her ears look like now?

 

[superbob76]

I do... just took this now. This is pretty much the default position, unless we're walking, in which case they sometimes are pointed straight back.

 

[BlackGSD]

Since that is "default" position, if it were me, I would give her some more time since she is just 4 months old today. If they were TOTALLY "floppy" like a Lab, or if she was older, I MIGHT go to work on them now.

She sure is a cutie!

 

[GSDOwner2008]

I would wait until five months, a lot can happen in a month. my boy Zeus, who is a few days older than your girl, his ears are flopping up and down as well. One of his ears is doing pretty good standing up, but the other one is pretty floppy up and down.

 

[newGSDownerm]

my pup kong is only three months so its to early to tell about his ears,but even if they dont go up i think it should be natral so id leave um

 

[cgarrity]

I would suggest waiting until she is 5-6 months old before taping or gluing. She's still teething so the ears do strange things in this phase. My pup's ears didn't go up until he was 7 months old. I'd recommend giving her some real marrow bones to chew to add additional calcium to her diet and also to facilitate chewing. The chewing is said to strengthen the muscles that hold the ear up.

 

[newGSDownerm]

mabye give um a year

 

[kbigge]

Originally Posted By: newGSDownermmabye give um a year

NO, don't wait a year. If you wait that long, it will be too late to glue/tape. If they aren't up by about 5-1/2 months, I'd do something at that point, unless she's still teething. If she teeths later than that, then the second she was done teething, I'd glue them. JMO.

But I know for a fact that waiting a year is way too late.

 

[tracyc]

I agree. If an owner is interested in doing the glue/tape procedure, the time to do it is in the 5-6 month time frame.

There's nothing wrong with gluing or taping ears if they need some help to stand. Having erect ears is part of what makes a GSD a GSD. Any of us would love our dogs just as much with flop ears, but if there is something that can be tried that will improve the chances of getting erect ears, why not? The dog won't care one way or the other. It can't hurt them.

 

[newGSDownerm]

Luca are you a dog? if not then how do you know how a gsd feels?

and why dose anyone need the ears up?

and no a year is not to long.

 

[newGSDownerm]

so what are you going to do rob?

 

[kbigge]

Originally Posted By: newGSDownerm
and no a year is not to long.

Nothing personal, but you don't know what you're talking about. Waiting til a year is just a guarantee that the gluing/taping won't work. I think the fact that you don't care whether your pups ears go up is fine, but I bet that since you don't care either way, you haven't done much research on how/when to do it.

Some of us have, and I'm one of those people. I definitely don't claim to know everything, but I do know that waiting a year is too long.

I can't speak for other dog owners, but I know that Kodee didn't mind the foam in his ear. He never bothered it once the glue was dry. I have heard people say that their dogs went nuts trying to get tape/glue out of the ear, but mine never did. It won't hurt to try it. If someone wants their GSD's ears up, there's nothing wrong with that. That's part of the trademark of the breed. Try to be a little more open-minded.

 

[tracyc]

newGSDownerm: Yes, Luca is a dog. My name is Tracy and I'm human.

Part of being a good dog owner is being able to tell how a dog feels. They give very readable cues when they are stressed or in pain. If you don't have any idea how your dog feels from day to day, you're not paying close enough attention.

It is my experience that glueing or taping flopping ears causes neither stress nor pain to the dog. The ears are not held in tension.

But there is no mandate that anyone glue or tape ears. If that's not something that interests you, great. (But then I have to wonder why you're in this thread offering advice...)

Those who ARE interested in learning about glueing or taping ears are here to learn from those who have experience at it. Of the hundreds of people who've visited this section of the board in the last couple of years, I don't recall any that had success glueing or taping the ears of a dog more than a year old. If you have experience and success at that, then share it.

 

[newGSDownerm]

hmm well when you guys put it that way ok.

but i was only telling you tracy cause my pup kong hates it when people mess with him,i though most dogs were like that.

 

[tracyc]

No problem, I understand where you're coming from on the ears. We're good.

"Messing" with a dog is something that they need to get used to, from a very early age. Messing with ears, teeth, toenails, eyes, butt, every part of a puppy should be touched frequently as part of grooming---for that very reason. Otherwise, by the time a dog is an adult it is impossible to clip his nails, give ear drops, examine teeth, take temperature, etc.

I can't tell you how many people come on here wondering how in the world to get their dog to submit to having ear medicines put in...or dogs that have to be sedated just to get a nail trim.

I don't think dogs should get to decide what's okay for the owner to "mess with."