[tomabbey19]

My german shephard is 1 1/2 years old and her ears are yet to stick up, they are nearly as floppy as when she was a pup, what can I do to get them up or is it to late?

[Aurora_Bell]

Chances are they will not stick up now at 1.5 years old. A lot of shepherds need them to be taped for the full stand up. Are you sure she is pure bred?

[shazamataz]

I agree, at this age it is highly unlikely they will stand on their own.
Many GSD breeders will tape the ears while they are puppies (tape, not crop, taping involves no cutting of the ear) to aid them in standing as an adult. Many prick eared breeds require taping, unfortunately many people don't realize this.

[tomabbey19]

Yeah she is pure bred, she came from a family with two german shephards, they had a litter of 6. stupid question now, but how would I go about taping them or would the vets do this for me?

Thanks for the replies :) very helpful

[Aurora_Bell]

Like we said, it's probably too late. If you taped, you would have to tape for much longer, and the growth is almost done, so chances are it wouldn't take. You would stress the dog out, and at almost 2 years, she would would probably drive her self mad trying to get the tape off.

Shazamataz might have a better suggestion for you on this.

[shazamataz]

Unfortunately no better suggestions here.

When a dogs ears a taped it is usually done during the teething period. This is because when the dog is teething all the calcium the dog is getting from its food goes towards producing their adult teeth and it actually leeches it away from the cartilage in the ear.
Once teething is done, the calcium is distributed evenly around the body once more and the ear cartilage hardens. Around a month or so after teething is when the ears usually stand fully and no longer require assistance.

We had a Great Dane years ago who did not have a perfect ear set (we do not crop here in Australia) and his ears would be taped down and forward for a week before each dog show. The effects only lasted a day, 2 at the most because the ears had already "set".

You can have a chat to your vet and see if they think taping might help, but honestly I don't think it will at this age. If the dog is just a family pet I wouldn't worry too much, I think they actually look pretty cute with one ear up and one down.

Edited to add... my profile picture is of my Chinese Crested, his ears were taped up until about 8-9 months of age then they no longer required assistance.

[kirstenv]

My german shepherd (registered and pure bred) is now 14 months old and his ears are also not up. Although it bugged me in the beginning, I have now accepted it as his trade mark. He is extremely cute and his personality beats them all. (I also have a female german shepherd who is perfectly normal).

[Chardel]

My pure bred German Shepard also had ears that flopped until he was about 18 months, a vet suggested putting weights e.g.. Magnets on his ears. This made him work a little harder to get the ears to even move never ming stand up! The magnets were not very big and we only used them when we could observe him at all times. I found that using them during our twice daily walks was the best time. After about a week the weights were no longer needed and the only time he had a floppy ear was when he was really tired... Worked like a charm.

[carl jonz]

My german shepard is 9 months what can I do to get his ears to stand up?