Hi ALL,

I have a question here, 16 months old GSD with weak ear, is it posible to strengthen upon maturity?

YES!!

There are many threads and even an article on this website about taping GSD ears. With some dogs their ears go up and down until they are done teething, with some, the go up and stay up.

If the ear is not up by the time the pup is 6-8 months old (after he is done teething)then I would start taping it until it stood.

The other thing I would make sure is that the pup is getting an adequate amount of Calcium.

What diet is he on? Kibble? Raw? Other?

I'm not the owner of this dog but am a potential owner due to the dog is for sale. I'm not sure what food did the owner feeding the dog but will find out.

At 16 months it's my understanding that what's done is done. Unless you're confirmation showing a weak ear doesn't keep the dog from being a good dog for a purpose.

I have also heard of using glucosamine to build cartilage.. Not sure if it would help in this case though..

WOW! I completely misread the age of the pup, I thought 6 MONTHS!!

With that said, I would have absolutely started taping a LONG time ago. But, it can never hurt to try. I have heard of some breeders taking back dogs who's one ear didn't stand (show dogs of course) they began taping it and within 2-3 months the ear was standing. It isn't something that is a for sure thing though. The only thing you can do is try!

Walter is this a dog that you are interested in purchasing instead of the puppy that you originally posted (Dec. 2009) about getting this spring from the breeder in Alaska? Or is this dog in addition to that puppy? Is it from the same breeder you were looking at for the puppy? Just curious? Is it from the same lines as the puppy you were talking about getting?

I doubt that at 16 MONTHS old, there would be much that you could do about the ear. Taping usually needs to have been started by around 6 months to have the chance of being most successful. In some cases weak ears can be a genetic problem. Are the parents & littermates ears all up? Having both ears up, is basically asthetics & has nothing to do with working abililty or temperment.

Hi Anne,

No this dog is not from the breeder I was going to get the puppy from, actually I choose to cancelled the deal base on all the input I got from you all and I never regret.

Actually this young male I saw in my local ad and the owner told me that the dog right ear is weak, but being say weak ear I have no idea yet how exactly meant by "weak", I still need to told to the owner over the phone to find out more.

This dog also came from working line, he was in training for schutzhund but the dog owner also doing search and rescue training for her other dog, and she finding it difficult to train schutzhund as well as search and rescue...time constraints...

Am fully understand that weak ear has nothing to do with working ability or temperement BUT is always good to have both ears up

I would say that it would be MORE important that the dog has a good temperment & is a social dog for your family needs. Looks (ears, color etc) are nice if you have all the important things, but would NEVER be a deal-breaker in & of itself.

Also note that a 16 mo old dog is in the process of going thru teenage to maturity. This is a time when they will challenge the owner & get very 'pushy' to get their own way. Be sure that you have a trainer to work with as you are a novice to working dogs & don't want to get yourself into trouble with this maturing dog.

Are you sure that the woman is rehoming the dog due to availability of training time & not any issues with the maturing dog? Some of them can get pretty obnoxious(challenging to handle) between 18 mo & 3 years old. Might not be a bad idea to have the trainer that you plan of working with (that hopefully has experience in working GSDs) go with you & take a look at the dog with you. If this dog is good & she is doing SchH with him, one would think that some one in her training club would want to buy or know someone that wants to buy the dog. Just makes me a little suspicious that she would of had to resort to placing a local ad to sell it. But thats just me. It is also possible that he is just not a suitable SchH prospect but would still be a good family dog. Just some thoughts.