# crooked ears?



## danielwilcox (Sep 27, 2009)

I have a little german shepard mix (i think). She's about 25lbs, and maybe 3.5-4 months old. She was a runt, and trippled in size from when i got her about 6 weeks ago.
Her ears are huge compared to her head, but i think her head is small compared to her body. I think her body grew so fast that her head hasnt caught up yet, because it was ultra tiny when i got her.
Now here's the issue... her ears flop over funny. They both fall to the same side of her head, so it looks like a bad comb-over. Ive heard issues with crooked ears due to calcium deficencies, but she gets good holistic food and i dont think it's that. Is it just because her ears are so big compared to her head? Just curious what you guys think before she goes to the vet for shots and checkup. This is a new development, they were straight about a week ago. she can move them like a normal dog, and they can stand up straight or flop over to the sides/back. This crooked ear thing is just their default position.
Here's some pics, the first one shows how her ears sit.


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## ecross1983 (Apr 7, 2009)

I don't know what it is but she is freakin adorable!


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## MoosMom (Sep 15, 2009)

I think her ears are probably fine. She's still VERY young and they may just be trying to stand up. No worries.


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## ecross1983 (Apr 7, 2009)

Actually after what MoosMom said about it could be just because she is still very young...I do remember when my Rocky's ears were doing some funky things when he was younger. They aren't doing that much anymore. Just from my instincts I do not think anything is wrong with your dog.


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## danielwilcox (Sep 27, 2009)

ecross1983 said:


> I don't know what it is but she is freakin adorable!


lol thanks. She's deffinately growing into a beautiful young lady. You should see this little strut/dance she does when she gets excited.
It's hard not to smile when i look at either of my 2 mutts.



ecross1983 said:


> Actually after what MoosMom said about it could be just because she is still very young...I do remember when my Rocky's ears were doing some funky things when he was younger. They aren't doing that much anymore. Just from my instincts I do not think anything is wrong with your dog.


Yea, i didnt think there was, but you know how it is... nervous father of a new-born. Just wanna be sure. The 2 dogs play pretty rough, i was kinda worried it might be an injury.


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## ecross1983 (Apr 7, 2009)

I don't really think it is an injury but when you take her to the vet, you can just ask.


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## Keechak (Aug 10, 2008)

The way the ears are carried in the second picture is called "Rose ears" it's a common ear carriage.

They may stand up or they may just stay Rose. Two of my dogs have Rose ears.


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## ioreks_mom (Oct 1, 2008)

i have read that ears do funny things when a pup is teething. i will let you know what my pup's ears do...  he is about 3 1/2 months old now and soon to be teething. he is also a gsd cross.

your girlie is beautiful btw 

here is his picture


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## misty073 (Mar 31, 2009)

I dont know anything about german sheperds but I was doing some reading on my dogs ears when we got her (she is a JRT with prick ears) and I read that dogs ears can do funny things when they are teething not sure if there is any truth to it or not as the internet seems to say yes and no.



ioreks_mom said:


> i have read that ears do funny things when a pup is teething. i will let you know what my pup's ears do...  he is about 3 1/2 months old now and soon to be teething. he is also a gsd cross.
> 
> your girlie is beautiful btw
> 
> here is his picture



LOL we posted at the same time


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## Keechak (Aug 10, 2008)

Dogs ears do do funny things when they teeth. I've lived threw it and wondered what my boys ears would look like as an adult. His ears went from button to rose to half prick back to rose.


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## ioreks_mom (Oct 1, 2008)

that is funny!! and with the same wording too  "ears do funny things"


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## Labsnothers (Oct 10, 2009)

They go through a stage where their ears are much too big for the rest of them. I wouldn't worry about them. What ever you do, don't add calcium. Too much can create hip problems.


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## danielwilcox (Sep 27, 2009)

thanks alot, it was more or less just curiosity. It's so hard to not smile when she looks at me with those crooked ears when she does something wrong.
I do see that she started teething, so that might be it. I guess she might be older than i thought... i figured she was under 4 months still.


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## angel_baby (Nov 18, 2008)

Welcome to the "crazy ears" stage. Mine and my moms APBT's are currently going through crazy ears as many pups do! You'll never know how the ears will stay when they're adults and it's always fun guessing!


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## Keechak (Aug 10, 2008)

danielwilcox said:


> thanks alot, it was more or less just curiosity. It's so hard to not smile when she looks at me with those crooked ears when she does something wrong.
> I do see that she started teething, so that might be it. I guess she might be older than i thought... i figured she was under 4 months still.


Most dogs start teething between 3-5 months. so she's right on schedual


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## danielwilcox (Sep 27, 2009)

ioreks_mom said:


> i have read that ears do funny things when a pup is teething. i will let you know what my pup's ears do...  he is about 3 1/2 months old now and soon to be teething. he is also a gsd cross.
> 
> your girlie is beautiful btw
> 
> here is his picture


awww he's adorable. i really see some resemblance to my pup Mya. How big do you expect him to get, and how big is he now? I'm really curious as to how big she'll get. If she can get close to my other dog's size, that would be awesome. I think they'd have more fun playing, or at least they'd get more exercise.


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## ioreks_mom (Oct 1, 2008)

that is so funny! you and i have all the same questions/hopes  i also want brom to get around the same size as my older dog and i am SO curious about how big he is going to get.

right now brom is about 3 1/2 months and he is about 25 lbs, maybe a little more. i want him to get at least 50 lbs. i think he will make it. he is growing like a weed lately. 

your Mya is beautiful  i LOVE brindle colour. it looks like both of your dogs are brindle. how lucky!


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## Northern_Inuit_Luv (Aug 26, 2009)

I agree with what others say here, she's still young, they are still being goofy. You can give her some good bones to chew on, I've heard that could help with stregthening the muscles around the ears...or you can find somone to teach you how to tape them up...I think it looks silly, but I know a lot of german shepherd and great dane owners that tape the ears up to make sure they stay up...I wouldn't do it without guidance for the first time, though.


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## danielwilcox (Sep 27, 2009)

ioreks_mom said:


> that is so funny! you and i have all the same questions/hopes  i also want brom to get around the same size as my older dog and i am SO curious about how big he is going to get.
> 
> right now brom is about 3 1/2 months and he is about 25 lbs, maybe a little more. i want him to get at least 50 lbs. i think he will make it. he is growing like a weed lately.
> 
> your Mya is beautiful  i LOVE brindle colour. it looks like both of your dogs are brindle. how lucky!


wow, yea, they're very close in age/size then. Do you know what he's mixed with?
Mya is a little brindle, but max is REALLY brindle. He's a boxer/lab mix from what i'm told. Although they're really both unknown in age/breed because they both came from shelters. She's got a weird stripe on her back that is a different color and a different texture of fur. It's kinda new, so i dont know if it's temporary or if that's how she's gunna be. I'll post some better pictures of both of them later.



Northern_Inuit_Luv said:


> I agree with what others say here, she's still young, they are still being goofy. You can give her some good bones to chew on, I've heard that could help with stregthening the muscles around the ears...or you can find somone to teach you how to tape them up...I think it looks silly, but I know a lot of german shepherd and great dane owners that tape the ears up to make sure they stay up...I wouldn't do it without guidance for the first time, though.


She chews ALOT on stuff (luckly all her stuff and not mine). I've never had a dog with ears that stood up, is there any benefit to that? I'm not too keen on taping them unless there's medical reasons why i should. She's cute however her ears look


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## Northern_Inuit_Luv (Aug 26, 2009)

benefits to the ears staying up? they stay a lot cleaner and don't get as many ear infections, typically...however, if you take her swimming, make sure to clean her ears good...they also have drops to help dry out any water that might get in there.


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## ioreks_mom (Oct 1, 2008)

danielwilcox said:


> wow, yea, they're very close in age/size then. Do you know what he's mixed with?
> Mya is a little brindle, but max is REALLY brindle. He's a boxer/lab mix from what i'm told. Although they're really both unknown in age/breed because they both came from shelters. She's got a weird stripe on her back that is a different color and a different texture of fur. It's kinda new, so i dont know if it's temporary or if that's how she's gunna be. I'll post some better pictures of both of them later.


i was told that brom is gsd/husky but who really knows! i met his mom and she looks pretty much full gsd. the dad is supposed to be gsd/husky but i don't really know for sure. brom also has a strip of fur going down the middle of his back that is a different texture. it is much longer and sleeker and wavy. the rest of his fur is pretty short. 

i can't wait to see more pictures of your dogs.  i bet that Mya is going to be beautiful when she is all grown since she is so pretty now!


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## Michiyo-Fir (Jul 25, 2009)

It's the calcium levels. Even with good food, calcium levels change dramatically when dogs are teething (anywhere between 3-5 months). You could add a spoonful of low fat plain yogurt in if you want and it usually helps. Otherwise it straightens itself out after teething is over.

Edit: Not sure if you should add calcium actually since you have a larger dog. It's fine to add calcium in small dogs but people often say adding calcium to bigger dogs causes rapid growth which is typically pretty bad for the dog. I think if you just let it be it should be fine, there's nothing physically wrong with her.

The same thing happens all the time to Papillons since they have such big ears and I know it happens to some other breeds like GSDs and such as well.


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## danielwilcox (Sep 27, 2009)

ioreks_mom said:


> i was told that brom is gsd/husky but who really knows! i met his mom and she looks pretty much full gsd. the dad is supposed to be gsd/husky but i don't really know for sure. brom also has a strip of fur going down the middle of his back that is a different texture. it is much longer and sleeker and wavy. the rest of his fur is pretty short.
> 
> i can't wait to see more pictures of your dogs.  i bet that Mya is going to be beautiful when she is all grown since she is so pretty now!


I wish i was able to meet her parents, but she was dumped off at a shelter with 2 litter mates from what i'm told. Its pretty funny that both our dogs have that stripe... i wonder if it's just some adult fur coming through?
Anyways, heres some more pics. Some of them you can really see that stripe i'm talking about. How about some pics of Brom??


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## danielwilcox (Sep 27, 2009)




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## Michiyo-Fir (Jul 25, 2009)

I think it is adult fur coming through! A lot of Goldens have the same stripe of fur when they start to change fur. I was just talking about it with my friend about her golden having a rougher longer strip of fur at about 4-6 months old and then the rest of the coat growing to be the same as the stripe. I ADORE the mom and child pic! They look so alike!


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## danielwilcox (Sep 27, 2009)

Michiyo-Fir said:


> I think it is adult fur coming through! A lot of Goldens have the same stripe of fur when they start to change fur. I was just talking about it with my friend about her golden having a rougher longer strip of fur at about 4-6 months old and then the rest of the coat growing to be the same as the stripe. I ADORE the mom and child pic! They look so alike!


Yea, that pic is going to be my desktop background for a while lol
I was kinda thinking it was adult fur, however i thought that already came in. She had really really fine fur when i got her, and it got alot thicker and less like peach fuzz after a few weeks so i had assumed that was her adult fur. Do they go through a few stages of fur change?

The dogs arent actually related or even the same breed as far as i know, but they are best friends. He does seem to have alot of motherly instincts with her for some reason. The big dog, Max, is a male boxer/lab mix. The pup, Mya, is some sort of GSD mix, but i was kinda thinking she might have some boxer in her because of the brindle and the fact that she uses her paws alot when she play fights with Max.


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## Keechak (Aug 10, 2008)

They don't finish getting their adult coat untill around a year and a half old.


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## ioreks_mom (Oct 1, 2008)

oh...my...gosh!!!! i LOVE them!! i love the picture of the 2 of them sitting together. it actually made my jaw drop. very beautiful doggies you have there 

i have some pictures of brom here and here 

thank you for posting some pictures of both of your dogs. they really are beautiful!


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## Northern_Inuit_Luv (Aug 26, 2009)

if it helps to set you at ease, I have also heard that if they have gone up once, they will eventually find their way back there


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