German Shephard puppy ear fell

Question
QUESTION: I have a 3 1/2 month male who had both his ears up from 8 weeks until 2 days ago. He is teething heavily  and his top fronts are in and the bottoms have just started to break thru. Can I assume that since they were both up at one time that after the growth spurt and teething has settled down that the ear that is laying down will pop back up. I have heard that at this stage calcium is scarce commodity and the teeth and bones are stealing it from the ears. Just funny that only 1 is laying over. It isnt totally soft and will be  straight when he lays on his side. I also changed from puppy eukanuba to puppy merrick during this time.  Any help would be appreciated. I have had GSD's before I just cant remember if the ears dropped and popped back up later

ANSWER: It sometimes happens that one or both ears will drop during teething, but come back up later.  It could also be he isn't doing as well with the Merrick.  From what I have seen, you may as well have stayed with the Eukanuba, or better yet, switched to an adult chow.  That slows growth allowing more time to develop sturdy joints.  It is becoming more and more accepted with large breeds.  What even you do, don't give calcium supplements.  they do more harm than good, with excess calcium interfering with the dog absorbing what it needs.  It also messes up the vital ratio to phosphorus.

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: during the past week after the change to Merrick his stool
never hardened. Could be that all that great nutrition
is being drained right out of him.. Will switch him
back to puppy eukanuba for now. What about Canidae or
wellness core. Eukanuba is mostly corn meal and leaves
a lot around the yard.

Answer
I wouldn't switch him to any puppy chow now.  They are all formulated for maximum growth resulting in a dog growing faster than its joints develop.  I would choose one of the common meat based concentrated adult chows such as Pro Plan, Aims, or even the Eukanuba.  Stick to the same meat source as in the Eukanuba, chicken, lamb, what ever.  I think if you read the label on the Eukanuba, you will find that if it even has corn in it, it is far down the list of ingredients.  I fed it to the puppy I had 4 years ago, and it produced small, firm stools.  Where did you get the idea it is mostly corn meal?  Sounds to me like one of the flagrant lies from those selling the premium chows.  I really question how good of a case for their product they have if they have to lie about other products.   

You might find browsing http://www.woodhavenlabs.com/articles2.html#nutrition interesting.  Although it has links to some of the worst disinformation from the kooks, it also has some brutal facts to rape all their theories.  It doesn't have this link, http://www.avma.org/onlnews/javma/jan05/050115ww.asp  As far as I can see the guy is selling dogs, not dog chow.

So who am I, where have I gotten my ideas on feeding dogs?  Could I be lying when I say others are?  

Suppose you knew a breeder that bred hundreds of dogs a year, mostly Labs, Shepherds, and Goldens.  They provided all the medical care for most of them the first year.  At the end of it, they did a complete physical including hip X-rays on all of them.  They then spent $35,000 training them before giving them away.  They have a large data base of breeding records.  Dogs with any physical or temperamental problems are unfit for the program and are a waste.  Their well equipped clinic and vet staff are available for serious problems as long as the dog is working.  When the dog is no longer able to work, it is replaced at again the $35,000 plus a large emotional upheaval for the person depending on the dog. They have experimented with different diets and exchanged data with other such breeders.  Don't you think that what ever they are feeding is healthy and safe?  What kinds of controlled studies do you have backing your choice of diet?  How objective are the sources of your information?  Is your dog's health, their top priority?

I have been raising puppies since 1991 for a large dog guide school that does exactly that.  What do they feed?  They instruct us to feed Pro Plan chicken and rice puppy chow until 4 months and then switch to adult Pro Plan chicken and rice.  I know enough of the people with the trained dogs to know they continue the Pro Plan.  The group I meet with monthly for training includes people that have raised puppies for 6 different service dog schools.  Some of them are feeding other common commercial chows including Iams and Eukanuba.  Any dog owner wanting a healthy, long lived dog can make this regimen work, leaving more time to spend on the dog.  It is also relatively economical.

The BARF diet is built on many fallacies, starting with the idea the chicken from the supermarket is similar to natural prey.  Not so.  At the processing plant, all the nutritious insides including the organ meats are removed.  They are sold to the commercial dog food producers.  Have you ever seen a predator eat a kill?  What do they eat first?  Right, all those nasty byproducts that go into the commercial dog food.  

The AVMA condemns the BARF diet.  And they are not concerned about contaminating you and your families food handling all that raw meat in your house.  The FDA and the CDC are.  If you do go with it, practice good sanitation.