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Ears not properly standing

19 17:38:25

Question
I have a 7 month old pup who has ears that are still not standing properly.  I have glued them.  Sometimes they will stand, but the right ear has the tendency to flop.  The left ear stands but sometimes it will lean toward the middle of the head. He is very large and has grown fast, he is almost 90 lbs now and stands 26 inches at the shoulder.  His ears do not seem to have any body and will move when he trots or runs.  What do you suggest?

Answer
I have never seen anything on making ears stand from what I consider a reliable source.  Gluing and taping often fails, and I wonder if the reported successes are cases where the ears would have eventually stood up on their own.  

It takes more to convince me of anything than it does many others.  I remember the old story of 2 guys riding on a train - I did say old.  The one looks out the window and says ''That is fine flock of white sheep.''  The other stares at them until they are out of sight.  ''Well, they were white on this side.''  None of my advice is based on a handful of anecdotes or kooky websites.  

What I would suggest is cutting out any food supplements and switching him to an adult chow if not already.  I wouldn't be surprised if excessive calcium messes up the ears too.  The fast growth resulting from the rich puppy chow along with overweight creates too much stress on joints before they are ready.  If you evaluate most young Shepherds using  http://www.longliveyourdog.com/twoplus/RateYourDog.aspx they are more likely to be too thin than too heavy.  If you are feeding a concentrated, meat based chow, the best thing is to let well enough alone.  I don't know that that will help the ears, but the early switch to adult chow does help the joints.  After genetics, diet and body condition are the biggest factors in hip dysplasia.