Shepherd ears problem ...Need some advice - Page 1

 I have a 6 month old Shepherd taht was imported from Germany from a pretty well known kennel which i will not name. She is a great dog and has been since we got her from the airport. the problem is her ears just won't go up. they are flopped over. I did have plans on showing her in the Southeastern Regional show later this month. I was told by several people to let them go and by some that they had to be glued ortaped now that she is 6 months. There is a common feeling among my Shepherd friends that these ears are not going to go up on their own and I have never had to deal with this, all my dogs have ALWAYS had their ears go up at about 12 weeks old. My first question is should I tape or glue them and if so, how? I have a general idea like getting surgical tape, the good ER stuff and tape the ears to foam pipe insulation that is the length of the ear. Now I was told to glue them which I really don't want to do. Now I talked to the breeder about this and he just told me to get someone who knows how to glue them up. This is kind of a cop out in my opinion. He does know that she has the soft ears and admits all her siblings ears are up no problem. I bought a German Shepherd dog, not a beagle. I just don't understan why I have to do all this if she comes from very good lines. there is a reason I spent the money I did. Can someone help me with this and give me your opinion on the matter..

 I forgot to say here is the link to her pedigree

http://www.pedigreedatabase.com/gsd/pedigree/587756.html

some dogs ears take time,  I had to tape 1 females ears till she was 11 months old then they finally stood.
 She does have Untox and Ursus behind her,  both produced good sized ears.  6 months old is not too late,  I would tape them up if she were mine.  you shouldn't be penelized if her ears are down either,  alot of 6 month olds don't have fully erect ears,  at least with a showline

Ears not coming up is not always a genetic issue.  Inadequate nutrition or letting the dog be dominated also can factor into ears not coming up.  I've also seen owners give hard and consistant petting to the top of a dog's ears...one ear never stood, but the lady greated the dog by a sharp full head rub bringing the ears fully down and in back of the dog's head.  She effectively trained the dog to keep his ears down.

What kind of food is your pup getting?  If you are feeding any typ eof large breed puppy food, you've restricted the dog's nutrition and need to swithc IMMEDITATELY.  Are other dogs playing rough or dominating the dog (submission to a more dominant dog will bring ears down).  Isolate the dog from dogs that are not subordinate to her.  Keep those hands away from the top of the dog's head.

If you like the dog and want her to have ears up, you'll need to make some changes ASAP, and also, glue those ears sooner than later. 

<I just don't understan why I have to do all this if she comes from very good lines. there is a reason I spent the money I did. Can someone help me with this and give me your opinion on the matter..>

Stop complaining and get busy.

any gsd can have problems with their ears standing, no matter how much $$$ you spend for it.  it is more of a common problem with showlines (both german and american) though,  you don't see too many working lines with ear problems unless they are very heavy coated.

Believe it or not, vitamin C works. Try that and be surprised

My last GSD had big, heavy ears and I didn't think they would ever stand!  I added yogurt and gelatin (the Knox for Nails unflavored stuff) to his diet (1/2 cup yogurt and 1/2 pack of gelatin and mixed with Innova puppy).  Not sure if this helped them stand or not, but they did come up slowly, but surely around 8 months or so.  Might also try the vitamin C and see if the combo of all can make a difference.  I never did have to tape his ears, but I did buy some foam hair curlers and got some silk medical tape (I am an RN, so I got it from the hospital-SSHHH!  LOL!)  Good luck!

Michael 

Give her some marrow bones to chew on.
Chewing will help strenghten the ears

Six months is my cutoff date for ears. If they aren't up, have never been up, or especially if there is a deep crease in the cartilage where the ear folds I strongly suggest gluing a form in. Someone here made a great suggestion of custom cutting a form from a paper towel tube, and I use tear mender glue. Works great. Bear in mind soft ears will be a factor later if/when you decide to breed her. Fortunately it hasn't been a problem with any of my own dogs, but I will do it for a client or friend who is worried about ears.

 You can find a few good sources on the web for taping ears.   If you want them to go up you should tape them by seven months according to most authorities.  But then you will not know if the dog should be bred.  The strictly ethical thing to do is to see what happens and not breed if they flop -- but that may take more resolve than most of us have.  (I would tape!)