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Michelle4816 · Dec 12, 2011, 06:35 AM

I have a 10month old GSD, does it mean she's not purebred if her ear are only half way up?

Michelle4816 · Dec 12, 2011, 06:43 AM

This is her (with my flat coated retriever)

shazamataz · Dec 12, 2011, 07:31 AM

Floppy ears is no indication of being a purebred or not. It depends on the individual dog and how the cartilage hardens.

Some dogs require a little human intervention while their ears are setting in the form of taping... Others just come up on their own eventually.

Does the ear come up at all when she is excited or is it always flopped down?

shazamataz · Dec 12, 2011, 07:35 AM

Here's a great link about taping ears.

Note, taping is not cropping, there is no cutting involved, just medical tape to hold the ears up while they set. I taped the dog in my profile pictures ears until he was around 10-11 months of age and now they are up permanently. It never bothered him at all.

His were done in the style like the last example in this link, just the tape with foam in the center... I have never used glue.

Leerburg | Taping German Shepherds Ears

Michelle4816 · Dec 12, 2011, 10:37 AM

The pretty much stay like as sean in the pictures. When she hears something exciting her ears go up a little more, but never completely, or both at the same time.

shazamataz · Dec 12, 2011, 10:55 AM

There is a chance they may never come up so you have to be prepared for that, but if you start taping they may correct themselves.

The ears have cartilage in them and often when the dog is teething calcium stops being delivered to the ears and starts being redirected into making new teeth, hence why they go soft. At 10 months he's well and truly done teething but there is still a chance they will continue to "set" and harden.

To be honest I am not all that familiar with GSD ears, I know their ears can still go up later than most breeds and my breed which has a very fine, soft ear still took until almost 12 months.

Can you contact the breeder you purchased the dog from and ask them for some advice? They would be familiar with the particular line (mother and father) and can let you know what their ears did and if they were just late risers or if they had to tape them.

JudyKayTee · Dec 14, 2011, 02:08 PM

I have an AKC GSD - great line (or so my Vet says). Her ears do not routinely stand up - they are always at semi-mast.

If something REALLY INTERESTING is happening she'll put them up, but it's very seldom.

I never bothered taping or doing anything about it.

My dog looks a LOT like your dog. Is that your dog's winter coat? My dog's coat came in with a very black "saddle" this year. Her summer coat is more beige.