Why doesn't my 5 month old german shepards ears stick up yet?

Question

The vet said 4-5 months. And she'll be 6 months old on Jan 28.

Answer 1

The ears will most likely go up. I tell people not to worry about ears until about 7 to 8 months. I normally do not suggest taping until that time, depending on the dog. Were her ears up young? A lot of Shepherd pups ears will be up young and go back down again. What kind of bloodlines is she? I have a 4 month old right now with very nice ear set. Her ears were up and now they are back down again. Her sire's side has some weak ears in the lines. Some of the specialty type dogs have weak ears. This is a link to Ed Frawley's page on ear taping. http://www.leerburg.com/tapingears.htm He likes taping at a younger age than I do, but the way he explains to do it is good. They can be taped this way or even glued.

Answer 2

it could be the ear cartlidge hasn't developed yet. Has his ears made any attempt to stand up at all?. Try talking to your vet about taping his ears....this procedure must be done by 6-7 months of age or the ears might not stand at all....Good Luck

Answer 3

How to Tape up Those Stubborn German Shepherd Puppy Ears German Shepherd ear taping is something that many GSD puppy owners do not take seriously until it is much too late. The German Shepherd ear taping process - helping those stubborn GSD puppy ears up [edit] Steps 1. Instructions on German Shepherd ear taping follow (it doesn't hurt to have a helper): 1) Buy the large pink spongy perm rollers (Goody's ® is one brand) from Wal-mart, etc. for the German Shepherd ear taping process. Take out the hard plastic clip out of the middle of each roller and discard. You only need to keep the spongy pink foam roller part. Pipe insulation tubing, Grey, I believe, from Home Depot works as well if you can't find the pink foam rollers. You will have to cut this to length, while the pink rollers are already the correct length to start and they (the pink rollers) are also the best and easiest to use to my experience. 2. At your local drug store purchase the thin white surgical tape (the kind that's paper thin and tears easily). The 3M Micropore tape, 2" wide works well. NEVER EVER even consider using any tape such as duct tape, electrical tape or the like for German Shepherd ear taping. If you don't have the right kind of tape it will do more damage on the GSD pups ears than good if you have to take the tape out for some reason if you use the wrong type of tape in the first place. Also, purchase Skin Bond to use with the surgical tape and get one UNsharpened pencil to use in the German Shepherd ear taping process. 3. Insert the pencil (unsharpened end) inside the pink foam roller about an inch or so to make it easier to hold. Next, put the Skin Bond on the pink foam roller about 3/4s of the way around the roller, so it is well covered but not oozing or dripping off the roller in any way. You do not want the glue to drip off the roller into your pups ear canal when ear taping your GSD puppies ears. You do not want to get the glue on your hands either while in the middle of this process. That is where the pencil comes in. 4. While holding the pencil end, wrap the GSD puppies ear around the glued foam roller and then tape them into a fairly tight roll (but not too tight), in an upright position. Remove the pencil from the sponge roller. Place the roller inside the German Shepherd's ear flap itself fairly deep, leaving about a two finger space opening above the German Shepherd pups head and the bottom of the roller inside the ear flap. Do not completely block the ear canal with the roller when ear taping the German Shepherd puppy. The GSD puppy will still need to hear with the roller inside its ear flaps. Optional: Take a popsicle stick and attach it to the top part of both of the GSD puppy ears in a horizontal position. The German Shepherd puppy will tear the tape or stick off the ears several times. The key to this step is to continue retaping the ears using the popsicle stick as it gets torn down. Sooner or later the GSD puppy will forget about the tape all together and leave it alone. 5. Distract the GSD puppy with food or by playing ball, etc. for about five minutes until the glue stops itching and is well set. The roller will fall out on it's own in about a week or so if not taken out by you or your German Shepherd puppy. Continue the re-taping process until the German Shepherd puppy ears stand on their own. 6. Important: If the German Shepherd puppy ears are not up by 7 or 8 months of age they are probably not going to come up. When the GSD ears do not stand on their own there are ear implants that can be surgically added. I have no experience with this personally but if you are unlucky enough to have a German Shepherd whose ears will not stand on their own, this is an option. Check with your vet or GSD breeder with any questions you may have concerning German Shepherd ear taping. 7. Downed GSD ears are not the end of the world, however, erect ears are a part of the German Shepherd Dog breed standard. Upright ears are not only healthier overall for the dog but more so, they are handsome and again, part of the breed standard and the way the German Shepherd was bred to look. [edit] Tips * German Shepherd ear taping is something that many GSD puppy owners do not take seriously until it is much too late. German Shepherd puppy ears can come up on their own anytime between 8 weeks and 6 months . Puppy ear taping is often an important procedure in the development of the GSD puppy ear set. * If the GSD puppy ears are not up by 4 months, get very interested in their German Shepherd pups ears and the whole German Shepherd ear taping process. One suggestion: help stimulate your GSD puppy to use their ear muscles to help bring their ears up faster naturally, not through touch of that tender ear tissue, but by making interesting noises, etc. to your GSD puppy that cause the puppy to use those maturing ears and to stand them up on their own. * It is not yet time to panic, howev

Answer 4

she/he is probably very nervous around people still. Give her time, I'm pretty sure she'll put her ears up when she/he feels more accepted.

Answer 5

i have a German Shepard dont worry it take a year it will eventurally stand up

Answer 6

They will eventually, it took my dog, Rosie, almost a year. She actually went through a phase with one up and one down, it was adorable.

Answer 7

It took awhile for my white shepherds ears too. For awhile one was up and one one wasn't, she looked silly!

Answer 8

Call your vet, I do think that they have to have surgury to stand up

Answer 9

you should of posted a pic
i would have love to see that pup

Answer 10

patience,some dogs are slower than others.