why don't dog ears point up like wolf ears?

Question

some breeds have ears that point up but most seem to hang down.

if it is because humans bred them this way, why? what is the advantage of labradors having floppy ears?

Answer 1

It depends on the breed and using human influenced natural selection to create the ears that will be most useful for their job.
Ex: Bloodhounds have longer ears because they sniff out "things" and their ears dragging across the ground help to find the scents by picking it up or kind of unsettling the scent from the ground...look it up...I am having a hard time explaining this...sry

Answer 2

We have molded the dog into what man wants them to be. Selective breeding had made the dog a companion, a helper, a hunter, and a life saver.
Unfortunately while doing this we have altered genes, that cause some breeds problems. Like epilepsy and hip problems.
When selective breeding didn't produce the result, surgery did. Many breeds that are "prick" eared, are not born that way. Dobermans, and Great Danes have their ears clipped, as well as the much maligned American Pit Bull terrier.
Ever seen a boxer with long ears and long tail, they look like a hound dog. My daughter raises boxers. She docks the tails, but doesn't do the ears. She leaves that up to who ever buys the puppy.
I like the way they look. But some people don't.

Answer 3

Because of selective breeding. In the case of Labradors and other water breeds most likely because the hanging ear kept the water out of the ear canal and giving them less of a chance of and ear infections and making them perform their job better vs. those prick ears.

Answer 4

Each breed has been bred to do a specific job or at least they used to be. Some require long ears, short ears, pointed ears, whatever. . .

Answer 5

Dogs have been selected intensively for certain traits that enable them to get along with humans - docility, friendliness, and many puppy-like traits. Many of the most popular dog breeds are neotenic - they retain puppy traits into adulthood. One of the hallmarks of puppyhood is floppy ears.

Believe it or not, when you breed foxes for the same traits, they also develop floppy ears. Coat spotting also tends to appear, just like in domestic dogs.

Answer 6

They dont need to be altered, people choose to have them altered. My guess is that a genetic abnormality occured with domesticated dogs, and they liked the way it looked so they bred two dogs with floppy ears in hopes of getting more floppy ear dogs. Then when making a new breed, they recieved floppy ears, where they wanted erect.

Answer 7

Different genetics lead to different ear sets. Also the breeds like Huskies and Malumutes which are closer to wolves have the prick ears. Some of the breeds have their ears cropped like Dobermans and that setting is not natural but due to surgery.

Answer 8

It has to do with the amount of cartilage they have in their ears. Compare it to how different our noses are from each other. Around age 4 months, when puppies start to lose their baby teeth, this cartilage begins to harden up to shape the dogs ears. For breeds whose ears should stand up, like a german shepherd, you may need to tape their ears up at this age to help the cartilage form.

Answer 9

My little jack russell has permanent upright ears bless him, he looks like spock! In fact his ears are the biggest thing about him! My yorkie's ears go upright if he hears a noise but are otherwise flat and my jack / yorkie cross's ears are always flat to the side of his head, they never stand up!

Answer 10

It is just something that has been bred into the breed over generations and is a characteristic of the breed.