Ears

[TexasMedy]

Hello All,

Medy is now a bit over 7 months old. She was born 3/18/12. Her ears were up until about 8 weeks. After 8 weeks she has been about like she is now. There seems to be little change. Her ears have always come up at times. The “double flop” (attached pic - hope I did it correctly) is a look we see a lot. When she is chilling out and going about her casual business we see double flop. When she is in prey drive or interested we see one flop or both up. Sometimes pinned back. When one is down it is always the right ear. However when both come up the right ear actually seems to stand even straighter then left (yes I am obsessing about this). I spoke to the breeder again last night and they are now concerned and do not understand why her ears are not up at this point. They also say they have no experience with taping.

Medy is a big girl. She is 23” tall and 57 lbs. She is FCI. She still seems to have a tender mouth. She will sit with the dog bed in her mouth, as it seems to comfort her sore gums. Her bite is not hard when working on bite work. She has not come into season yet. Her health is excellent. She gets a lot of exercise and work. The breeder asked last night if she gets enough sleep. I would guess 13 or 14 hours a day, 7 or 8 hours at night and many naps throughout the day when kenneled. She sleeps good never fussing at night. Too much sleep is not a problem. She has been wormed. I have fed Purina pro plan puppy with additives like egg, chicken or turkey, garlic, yogurt (seem to be a lot against yogurt because of calcium), beans, sweet potatoes…I have recently switched to Taste of the Wild High Prairie Roast Bison Puppy and still do the additives. I have read all the posts on this forum on ears and many other posts and websites on the subject for the past several months. In the past when I have questioned the breeder, she has told me to not worry because when ears come up at young age they always come up later on. I have seen this same info in other postings and articles including this blog. I have also read that larger dogs ears may come up slower (Judith). Another note I am in Houston, TX area and it is close to 90 degrees today. Her ears do seem to stand up more in cool weather, which we have not had much of. My ears also flop in 90 degree, almost Nov. weather.

Should I be freaking out at this point? Should I be taping? Can anyone suggest good taping instructions if taping is advised? Please advise!

[TexasMedy]

Update....we are massaging her ears. Also she has been able to hold ears up on command. I am now making more effort to command up ears on a more regular basis or several times a day. I'm now using treats with this command.

My main question to forum members who have extensive experience with the breed is in regards to taping. Does it work? Do you feel we should tape or just chill out and wait? What are the cons of taping?

[Raven]

Until someone responds, you can check other threads on this forum as this topic has been addressed on a couple other occasions.

[alspyce]

If they are up and down, I wouldn't tape them yet. Larger pups can take a while to stay up, especially during teething.
Does she carry them up while moving at a trot---are they steady, or do they flop around? I she on a good quality food?
I have had good results with GSD pups, by giving a calcium supplement for about a week. If it works, great---if not stop after a week anyway, not something to use long term!

[johninny]

i also would not get too worked up over the ears. also,one floppy one occasionally can be very expressive, telling you a lot about what is going on in that mind.
but would drop GARLIC from diet as it is HIGHLY TOXIC to dogs and can easily cause anemia and/or pancreatitis.
are the EGGS cooked or raw? aside from the risk of severe illness/death from salmonella poisoning, raw eggs contain an enzyme that blocks certain B vitamins and will cause skin and eventually coat problems.

good diet always essential. i am not familiar with wild high prairie, but at least BISON is always a good place to start as bison i think is always GRASS FED. red meat that is grass-fed is nutritionally strong and extremely low in bad fat. opposite for corn-fed cattle, which is most of what is available and certainly the beef that goes into dog food - even the good stuff. choices i have made after studying vet school journals and Whole Dog Journal:

in canned food, i have a strong preference for merrick [ which has bison, turkey, fish and many good choices] not only for their excellent, well-balanced meals but their processing practices and facility are probably the best in the world [ among other things - all under their control in-house in one facility; human standards ingredients and processing practices ].
in dry food, the best is KIWI PEAK [ i get combo fish/venison] because it is actually air-dried raw. and, of course, like the other very good dry foods has no grains.
Platinum Performance canine CJ is a great nutritional additive that uses ground flax seed as a base [ thus adding even more essential fatty acids]

finally, i urge you to visit www.webMD.com and visit their slide show on food dogs should never eat

[johninny]

beautiful dog, btw. i want her - really great. congratulations on a fine pup. just trying to help you keep her as healthy and happy as she is.

[TexasMedy]

Of course after making a scene and going into panic, her ears now seem to be up. I am traveling for work in West Texas and brought Medy along. We went to a dog park today and she found a big 1 year Doberman buddy. She had her ears up most of the 3 hours at the dog park!

I'll take a look at the website you suggest and revaluate the benefits of garlic. I certainly don't want to harm my dogs.
I do belive she has had an ok diet which has recently improved since changing to a higher quality kibble then what I had been feeding. Maybe someday I'll make the leap to raw. Too much travel at the moment for raw. Also for the past few months her ears would be up while running more then when not running.

Thanks for the compliments and thanks for taking the time to write. I appreciate it1

[LyonsFamily]

I love seeing the spots and strips. My dad used to raise dalmatians long ago. His were very neurotic though. It would be an interesting contrast to see with Odin's personality. I have 4 English Setters at my parents' house, but they're racist and won't hang out with a brindled beast.

Taste of the Wild High Prairie (or really any of the flavors) isn't a bad food at all! If you're on a budget, Costco caries a Kirkland brand grain free feed that's almost the exact same formula, manufactured in the same plant, and costs less. Although, Taste of the Wild usually comes from small pet stores that can give you great advice and other healthy add-ons, so there's no reason to switch if you don't want to.

As for Salmonella poisoning, that's really only a problem for owners. Even with the kibble recalls, owners were the ones being warned, not dogs. Dogs can digest salmonella without problems. Egg yolks contain enough Biotin molecules to cancel out the parts that raw egg whites block, so unless you're feeding raw egg whites only, it's not an issue. If you're feeding raw, liver also contains biotin to help aid with the vitamin absorption. I feed raw and add eggs in whenever they're on sale.