working line vs show line ears - Page 1

I notice a lot, if not most of the working line pups I have seen on websites have their ears coming up young and naturally. The German show line's tend to come up, but may need some human intervention, and then the AKC/CKC show lines ears seem to need to have quite a bit of help to come up. Does anyone else notice this? Is this due to the close line or inbreeding that is done with the show dogs? or just a coincidence?

 It depends on the lines. i don't think it is line breeding. 

I think show lines usually have longer ears that is why I think they tend to take longer time to come up. Some of the working line have hysky ears sometimes..not long enough but straight! . I have seen also working pups with ears problem..so it is more a GSD problem than a working vs show problem.

I've seen some pups with both Dam and Sir with beautiful ear set coming out with poor ear set..

I also think it is a matter of attitudes. Dogs with no attitude tend to have poorer ears. IMO

Hey there AIR,

in general, workingline puppies have their ears up sooner because they are not as heavy-boned. Light-boned puppies (also the ones out of showlines) have their ears up as early as 5 weeks. Then, some catch up in adding body weight and the ears start falling again as well.

When looking at puppies, beware of the 8 to 10 week old ones with the thin skinned, labrador-kind ears. These are the ones which will give you trouble and might never be right. I am always happy when I see at least the base up. The rest will follow. Thick leathery ear need a much longer time as well, but once they are up, they will never come down again. These are the ideal ears for me. My Onyx has ears like that. He was a very heavy-weight puppy and weighted 30 pounds at 10 weeks of age. While the base was always up, the tips on one side did not fully stand until he was almost 6 months old, without intervention. Like Joe said: All the nutrition went into his growing bones before the ears were fully standing. And Onyx is a workingline!

I would only intervene when I see that creases are formed, due to the upper part hanging. If you do not intervene, when you will have a crease permanently and that hinders blood flow.

What could also potentially spell trouble are wide earsets and bases. That is why I am such a stickler on ears.

Chris

July9000

I totally agree with it being in the lines, but it seems to have alot to do with the individual dog themselves,
I bred a mother and her daughter with the same sire 2 times, both times Bonnies pups had their ears up at 4 weeks,
and Bonnie's mom Sam's pups ears were slow to go up, but eventually went up without a problem.

I now know Bonnie has excellent ear carriage whoever the sire!

Do you all believe that if the ears are not coming up on their own, then they should be glued, taped, or whatever else to get them up? I do not. I think that the Shepherd is a breed that should be able to put their ears up on their own, and if they cannot, then they should not be bred. Yes, it is an esthetic thing, so I would try if I had to, but that dog would be altered and placed into a pet home and obviously never used for breeding. We keep on using these types of dogs instead of weeding them out.

 Chris is right..beware of those too thin ears..or too thick..ears too far apart (those never have a perfect carriages).  

Get inform..look at pictures of puppies produce by the sir you want to use...Sometines you can see on pictures that their ears are taped or have been..than you know that you have a good chance of struggling to make them straight!!

What we should do is never breed with poor ears..but sometimes you know when it's already done!!

One can always spot a working line GSD, by their cauliflower ears.

I have had both show and working lines and all their ears stood up fine without any help.