I have a 3 month old GSD from a good (I think) German bloodline. I am very happy with the dog, but I have a question about ears. His left ear is standing straight, and is beautiful, but though his right ear is standing at the base, the tip of his ear (about 1 1/2 in.)seems to flop to the rear, not the front. I've never seen a dogs ear look quite like this. It just goes up and curves to the rear like a "U". Has anyone seen this, and will it right itself? What percent of German line Shepherds' ears do not stand up properly. Are there muscles in the tips of dog's ears? Just call me MORON, but I would appreciate any comments you may have.

Thanks...

I am not sure by what you exactly mean by the one ear. I think I may have seen this once. My aunt has a dog with one ear straight up and the other flopping over and he has had this condition ever since he was a pup. But from what you are saying it sounds as if the ear is curving backwards you say? Have you talked to your vet about this and see if taping it up would help? All I know is that if the ears are not in their correct position, I would ask a vet about taping them up and get them to show me how to do it. That's all I can suggest. I saw that no one had posted a comment yet about your question and I thought I would see if you had tried the taping method first and see if it had any effect on correcting the position of the ear.

Paula,

Thanks for your input. The vet said that since he is only 12 weeks old, I should wait a little while.

It's just that this is so new to me. Thanks again.

John,

If your pup is only 12 weeks old, his ears are still developing their strength. BOTH ears (including the left one that seems to be ok) are likely to go up and down periodically until he is done teething. Wait a little while and see what the ear does.

There are no muscles in the tips of a dog's ears, only cartilage. As the pup ages, the cartilage becomes more firm and thus the ears stand. Some dogs do not have very thick cartilage in their ears. Some American show shepherds' ears are so thin, they look almost transparent. :rolleyes: This type of ear is more likely to not stand on their own if at all. This is what is meant when a dog is said to have weak ears.

If your pup is from German lines, he has a good likelyhood of having both ears stand as they should, especially if they feel nice and thick--like the ear itself has a fair amount of substance to it. At his age, right now it's best to be patient at least for the next few weeks or so. Some pups' ears take longer than others for a number of different reasons. My first shepherd's ears started to go up at 11 weeks and were up completely at 14 weeks and never dropped again. My second pup's were up at 7 weeks but continued to go up and down until she was about 16 weeks old. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif" alt="" />

Best of luck to you!
Kali