Soft ears - Page 2

@Juno11 - You've said that as you've read that the ears may never go up by this age and that's OK (your first post) then why bother to try to make her ears stand at all? Clearly she's just one of those GSDs with soft ears. it's part of who she is so unless you intend to show her (and I do have my reservations of methods used to do this) I don't understand why you would bother tbh.

One of my males, Yiannis has a floppy ear (kind of) since he had surgery after a haematoma. his left ear now sticks out sideways, a bit like Yoda. It's now part of who he is and I lofve him for that. I wouldn't want to change him for something that wasn't normal or natural for him.

You've said that as you've read that the ears may never go up by this age and that's OK (your first post) then why bother to try to make her ears stand at all? Clearly she's just one of those GSDs with soft ears. it's part of who she is so unless you intend to show her (and I do have my reservations of methods used to do this) I don't understand why you would bother tbh.

I disagree.  Whether he breeds or shows the dog or not, there is no harm in at least trying to make her ears stand.....as stated above, she DID have normal straight/erect ears, till she teethed.  The ears of several GSD pups go down during teething but then straighten back up later, and if a bit of help is required for that to happen with this dog, I think those should be tried, IMO.

IMO, GSD's with ears that don't stand without help will generally produce more with ears that don't stand on their own. Given most GSD owners and breeders I know consider taping a normal part of raising a puppy, soft ears may be so deeply ingrained in the breed that now there may not be enough breedworthy dogs with ears that will stand firmly without taping. 

Since there are so many expectations in the breed, I suppose taping ears may not seem like such a bad thing to do although it is still changing a dog's appearance by artificial means and really not any different than dying coats or fixing tails. Plus, if you routinely tape puppies' ears, you can't identify the dogs with ears that would have stood anyway.

Soft ears are not breed-typical and should be actively removed from the gene pool.

The ASL GSD has been heading this way for many years and the WG Showline is looking the same. I've even noticed Czech WL dogs now with 'bouncy' ears that buckle even when walking! 

I think the ears have become too big, across the board, and therefore gravity is winning. 

Personally, on any dog over 5 months I would like to see proper, firm ears. I think 9 months is too late but I can understand the owner wanting a typical representative.

I don't plan on breeding her but may possibly show her in agility. Part of my concern with ears down is dirty ears. I once had a sheperd/lab with ploppy ears and I had to clean them regularily. Erect ears is the GSD standard and she looks prettier with them up but I will love her just as much if the ears are down but there is no harm in trying right? Besides she doesn't seem bothered by the perm rollers in her ears. She comes from good Czech breeding but who knows if some of her relatives didn't have help with their ears. She is now 11 months and is a 80lb lumbering puppy with loose blubbery puppy skin so I'm hoping she could be slow maturing. Also I have a nylabone and a beef leg bone for her to chew on in the house and I add some chicken wing tips to her food. She is occassionally crated.

Caz: I will try leaving the rollers in.

Marsha Mae: The calcium lactate sounds like a good idea. Do you know the dosage?
I was adding coral calcium to her food but the breeder said too much calcium can contribute to dysplasia. Has anyone heard anything about that?

Sheesh: I have read about glueing some inserts in but I wondered if the glue would irritate the skin?

Thanks to responding to my post with advice, tips and comments!

I have not had any skin irritation from the glue. We used it a bunch when I worked for a vet. Theresa

If you're not planning to use her for breeding, then I don't see anything wrong with trying to get the ears to stand. I used to show pet buyers how to tape ears as they wanted their dogs to look good. I just never taped or tried to help ears on the dogs I kept for show and breeding.

Blitzen,

The point is that soft ears are not typical, therefore should be eradicated.

The occasional soft ear may be unavoidable, but you make it sound like you have had to explain this to many 'pet' owners. I don't know how many litters you have bred or been involved in, but surely if there is a frequency of soft ears, those lines should be avoided?

This is not an attack on you, I'm just surprised that the subject is being discussed as if it is normal.

It seems the modern way is to glue supports into the ears but we tried this way before the rollers as this is what her breeder suggested. I was'nt too happy about using glue & gave it up after the 2nd attempt ended up with the ears flopping & the weight of the insert made them hang more. The rollers I used were ordinary sponge rollers about 1" diameter & with the plastic frame removed it leaves a hole in the centre. Don't push them right down into the ear as you need some air to get to the ear, then tape using surgical tape. When winding the tape take it toward the centre of the head so one will be wound clockwise & the other anti clockwise as I found this helped pull the ears up. Good luck.

one of our club members got a new young dog w soft ears - she had some type of foam-that-hardens put in them. seemed to work. but i don't know what its called.