Another ears standing question. Confused, help please. - Page 1

My male is 5 months old today.  He weighs 60lbs. 

He is still teething.  2 of his 4 canine teeth are still there.  Very loose but haven't fallen out.  His middle and back teeth are still comming in as well.  

He has large ears, thick and heavy.  Before he started teething, his ears took turns standing over a 7 or 8 day period but that's it.    The only time they have stood together at the same time has been when he was outside and then only for very short periods (just a minute to two) before he started teething.

The breeder said he is like his father, large with heavy ears.  The breeder said that his fathers ears were late to stand but they did stand without any intervention. 

He does not have worms or an ear infection.  We were at the vet today and was given a clean bill of health.

He gets innova which is a high quality food supplemented with some sort of raw meat 3 times per day.  (venison, chicken necks, beef)

I have searched this site and others and the opinions are overwhelming to be honest. 

Off the top of my head this is a list of suggestions I've found.

Gelatin, calcium, ester-c, chicken necks (which he gets 3-4/day), tape at 5months, tape at 6months, wait till he's done teething, yogurt, eggs, cottage cheese, etc.

I don't know what to do and when do to it and I am worried about waiting too long and then missing what might be a narrow window to get them up.

Help!

it takes 43 grams of dried egg whites or 35 grams of dried non fat milk or 89 grams of lean beef to equal t' amount of proline in just 10 grams of hydrolyzed gelatin . Though t' canine body can form these two amino acids on its own, it has been suggested that under certain conditions t' rate of synthesis may be insufficient to provide essential body requirements and degradation can exceed synthetic processes (i.e. there is a steady loss of body collagen). T' intake of hydrolyzed gelatin  appears to be an alternative route to getting chondrocytes (cartilage producing cells) and osteoblasts (bone forming cells) of t' body sufficient amounts of these important amino acids for making structural proteins. Although chondrocytes are critical for collagen formation, their number is limited and their ability to form this much needed protein is influenced by heredity, age, physical activity (too little or too much), injury, and availability of nutrients.

Although bone metabolism is quite complex and not fully understood, there is a growing number of studies showing t' intake of just ten grams per day of hydrolyzed gelatin is effective in greatly reducing pain, improving mobility and overall bone/cartilage health. Several randomized, double-blinded, crossover trials have shown improvements in symptoms related to joint pain (Adem et. al. Therapiewoche, 1991). The people at Knox (the Jello people) have made a product specifically for bone health and joints called NutraJoint. It contains hydrolyzed gelatin , calcium , and vitamin C. Calcium is of obvious importance to bone health and vitamin C (preferably Ester-C) is an essential and limiting nutrient for connective tissue formation. NutraJoint is cheap, has no side effects, and tastes good.
 

http://www.google.com/products?sourceid=navclient&ie=UTF-8&rlz=1T4GFRD_enUS209US209&q=nutrajoint

Me Wench fed her last litter t' NutraJoint, Ester C, and Dog Forte and at 8wks t' puppies ears all be up aye

Some dogs ears will fall when they are teething, or will just not stand up until after they are finished. I had a female who had one ear up, one half way up, she started teething and they both were floppy, and when she quit teething they stood up not too long afterwards.

There is no need to worry Nadar. Not all pups get erect ears early. There are cases where the ears are down at 7 or more months and they definitely go up sooner or later. I do not think supplements will hasten this process. All the best - give your pup some time!

Thanks for the responses so far. 

Nice looking pup there Captain! ;)

No problem do not worry. Ears will stand by the time his teething is over. Gelatin is good to be given with Food. I give royal canin A3 or Maxi Baby Dog.

Its also good to excercise the ears. If he like the ball pretend you are throwing it ,but do not. Do this 15-20 mins every day. You will have all his attention and you will excercise ear muscles.If he does not like ball its very easy to get him mad about it. Also it helps if he is in the kennel and other dogs play outside- this also gets his attention and  you will find a definite improvement. This is proven with me.

So just hang in there and very soon you will be smiling ear to ear.

Hello

I have an eight month old shepherd and his ears didn't stand up until last month. I was starting to panic because they were up for a few days when he was four months. Then they went down. I was on the web trying to find out what to do. There were a lot of suggestions which I didn't do. One morning I came down stairs and his ears were standing up. I felt so dumb for all the worry. I say relax and let nature take it course.

Go to  http://www.longcoatgermanshepherds.com/gettinggermanshepherdsearsup.html    My bitch was six month old and her one ear never stood up.  One ear was strong the other was very weak.  She is a big boned bitch with big thick ears.  I glued the ears for a month as instructed by this site and now they are up straight as an arrow.  I have never had a pup who had their ears go up, and then go back down during teething, not go back up again soon after the teething process ended.

More good info.  Thanks for helping put my mind at ease.

Captmike, if we decided to give him the nutrajoint, at 60 pounds, what would you suggest for the amount to give him.

vanhoss, i'll check out your site.  My concern with taping at this point is, because he's still teething, is it even realistic to expect them to be up and should I even bother to tape them until he's done teething. 

Thanks

Me would give t' big GSD Laddy a full scoop every day aye  Thar be nothing in t' Nutra Joint that could harm t' lad. aye