Dutch Shepherd Forum

I have read everything I can find on ears. Xander put his ears up at about 3 months. They stayed up for a couple weeks then started the up down all around phase. I tried posting but I have never done it before so was not very successful. He had gotten all his teeth around 5 1/2 months and the ears came back up for a few weeks. At about 6 1/2 months they flopped again but would stand up here and there. At 7 months complete flop never stood. He is now eight months and I am posting somewhat successfully. I am giving glucosamine and chondroitin. He gets high quality food. His parents ears were fine and the others in the litter all stood early and didnt have any more problems. I'm not sure if it matters but I had him fixed a few days before he turned 7 months. I am looking for help as I have read that he is getting to the age that I may not be able to fix it. I attached a couple recent pictures to show the changes in his ears. Thanks in advance for any advice.

I had the same frustration with Sadies ears as well, I taped them but that didnt help, then they finally stood on their own. I cant remember but I think it was about 8 months or so when they decided to stay up. Her cartilage is thinner than Thalies so they still flop when she runs or barks, but they stay. I dont think there is anything you can do, they will or wont.

Xander just turned 8 months so maybe there is hope. He has had them up perfectly several times for awhile and they get floppy again. I know they can stand just dont understand why they keep changing. I did some more reading last night and found a website that said if they are a big, big boned, dog it makes a difference. It didn't say why but Xander is a rather big boy at 25" and 68 lbs. Thanks for the post. If Sadie was 8 months before hers came up I still have hope.

Xander is so beautifully expressive [ with his ears ] and just plain beautiful.
welcome.

Thanks johninny. I'm bias of course but I think he is the most handsome guy.

Have you had your vet check for infection in the ears? Something about the way they are sitting made me think it may be a possibility. The shot of the ears standing up is a beautiful ear placement, but in the other photos the ears seem to be carried lower on the head. I've seen this ear carriage in other dogs with ear infections/chronic yeast, etc.

My Lyric is sired by Timo.

Hi,

He's lovely

We rescued our DS at 5 months, and he is of unknown background, but also have the ear issue. When he first arrived they were almost greyhound like little rose ears, then they spent a few weeks like Labrador ears! Currently they are perfectly erect DS ears when he is out on walks and alert, when he's at home and chewing we have the right one up almost all the time but the left one like a greyhound's, and sometimes they are both down again. They seem erect though when he is asleep?? He's currently 6.5 months old, so I'm just chilled about it. They'll stand up or they won't, and I'm letting them do what they want. I'd like to them to stand, as it's part of being a DS, but it's no biggie for us

Do they flop over when Xander is relazing at this point? Or just when he is active?

Alyspyce: I did have the vet check his ears and he didn't find any infections or problems.

Kyoto49: it sounds like we have a very similar problem.

Icvanstra: they stay up better when he is playing ball or tug or being very active, like the second picture. The third picture is how he looks when he is inside just laying down or chewing on a toy.

He's gorgeous...ears up or down.

Thanks StacyR

I'm not sure where I found it, but we ordered a GSD ear standing kit from Germany. It can with 2 orthopedic foam (very thin) molds that were shaped like an ear, and a skin safe rubber cement. You coat one side of the mold with the rubber cement and lay it in the ear so it supports the entire inside of the ear. It stays stuck on for 2-3 weeks and our dogs (we have had to do it twice - once with one of ours and once with a foster). Both were 9-11 months. I tend to panic at about 8 months. When the mold finally fell out, the ears stood perfectly and never went down. I have never seen that kind of success with any other form of posting.

Here is a link to a picture of it on google. https://www.google.com/search?q=german+ ... B321%3B197. LOL. You might be ablet o track it down from there.

Thanks Christie M. I actually bought pipe insulation from lowes and ostemy glue. It worked great. The tape was not working for me. I have had them in for about 5 days and he finally scratched them out. His right ear is standing much better now but left ear is still pretty floppy so I'm going to put them back in. Great suggestion though!! I was getting worried at 8 months but I have read that if they have stood at some point they will eventually come up and stay. His were up very well a couple of times so I hope with a little help we will get there.

Another update..... his wars are up. I guess he was a late bloomer. Around 9 or 9 1/2 months they finally decided to stay up.

Great!!! That was when Sadies ears finally stood too!.

Riddick will sometimes have his ears half down when laying around the house. Then when he's alert or looking for something his ears stand up straight. Asia has her ears always up. I think they can control if their ears lay down or not.

yes, they can control their ears. Sadies ears go every where, up, down, back, all over. Thalie dosnt move her ears much, only back when i am scratching her but.