# Adult dog's formerly floppy ear suddenly sticking straight out??



## Jesyth (Feb 3, 2013)

So, I'm new and I'm not sure if I'm posting this in the right subforum, but I'm just at a loss and since the dog has his regular appointment in 3 weeks, it seems stupid to go in about something that I assume is just cosmetic. But here's the situation:

My dog, a GSD something mix (maybe a hound, he's a big dog, but has fairly small bones) suddenly has one ear that is sticking straight out. He just turned 3 years old. Previously, both ears folded over and flopped down. You can tell there is cartiledge at the base, presumably thanks to his mom (the gsd) but whatever he is mixed with is definitely a longer floppy eared dog, which basically means that previously his ears were folded over triangles (not so much as a collie would have a tipped ear, but not as floppy as like, a labrador). Now his left is is literally sticking out at a 90 degree angle. Why would this happen? Is it permanent? Is it something to be worried about?

I can't find any cases of this happening after the dog stops being a puppy. He seems fine - isn't shaking his head, scratching, his eyes seem normal etc. He has no history at all of ear infections, and the ear looks normal inside. I will of course love him either way, but since I've sort of grown accustomed to the way he looked over the last 3 years, I would really rather they stay down, lol. Mostly I'm concerned that there may be something wrong, since like I said, I've never heard of a dog over 14 months or so having a change in the ears that related to them going UP instead of drooping.
Thanks for your replies!

Edit: To note: The floppy part of the ear is still floppy, lol. Just the base where the cartiledge is is suddenly.. well, sticking straight out, as opposed to however it regularly is that makes the ears tilt forward.


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## Amaryllis (Dec 28, 2011)

That's weird. I'd take him to the vet just in case.


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## Canyx (Jul 1, 2011)

That IS strange! Maybe he hit it on something? Is he hearing fine out of it? Not even sure how you'd test that... If you tickle the fuzzies on his ear will it still twitch? 

Otherwise, this might be the cutest sounding 'health problem' I've ever heard of. Take pictures while it lasts!
(I will feel like a complete turd for saying this if there is actually something wrong with your dog. I hope it is nothing!)


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## Jesyth (Feb 3, 2013)

Well dang, I might just be crazy, or it might be something I just thought about:

Looking back at pictures of him, it seems that it always maybe stuck out a little more than the other ear, once he was 7 or 8 months old. A couple weeks ago we were hiking and he went through some grasses that he must have been allergic to, so he got rashy. We shaved him down to much shorter than he has been since he was a puppy so we could treat the rash, because we've learned to be aggressive in nipping the skin allergies in the bud (and it worked, he's all clear now without having to do any drugs, hurrah) and he's usually very shaggy (the other thought is that he might be mixed with some sort of terrier, because he has a kind of terrier-y coat) which makes it hard to get to his skin. Could the weight of the extra fur serve to pull his ear down a bit more? Probably 1- 1 1/2 inch of ear fur was cut off the entire ear and all the fringe.
As far as your questions, he seems fine. The ear is responsive (he tilts it just like he tilts the other one when you tickle him or he is reacting, hearing a noise, being inquisitive, whatever). It looks pretty much the same as the other if something annoys him and he pins his ears back, it's just when he does the "I'm alert with my head tilted, look how adorable I am!" look, instead of his ears falling forward, this one sticks out and then flops. lol. I'm really wondering if now he just looks different short and I've just lost my mind (and never seen his coat this way since he was a puppy, when they were both just very floppy)


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## Canyx (Jul 1, 2011)

How can you say stuff like that without posting pictures?!


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