Why are my dogs ears suddenly floppy?
Might be an ear infection. Is it one or both ears? Is he itching them at all?
Why did my dog's ear go floppy?
I have an Australian Cattle Dog (Blue Heeler). He was born with straight ears, and is now seven years old. His ear was perfectly fine when I left at 8AM, and when I came home at 3PM, his left ear was bent on the top 1/3 of his ear. Even when he pricks up his ears, that one ear remains floppy. He has a history of itching alot, but this in itself is new, being itchy in the ear... Help?
What is the remedy for floppy ears on dogs?
If your dog is a young pup, then it may just need some time for its ears to stand up - breeds like German Shepherds are not born with pointed ears, but the ears begin to straighten naturally as the dog grows. Some dogs of breeds with pointed ears will simply, because of a genetic fluke, never have pointed ears. They'll just flop, and that's just the way that dog is built. You may want the dog checked by a vet just to make sure there isn't a more serious problem causing his ears to flop, though.If your dog is of a breed that naturally has floppy ears... Then what's the problem? There's no 'remedy' for a dog's natural appearance (beyond 'docking' the ears - a nasty practice done purely to make dogs seem more intimidating (as if a dog is some sort of security system, or fashion accessory)) and I suggest that if your dogs natural appearance troubles you that much, you may not be worthy of a dog.
Why do some dogs have floppy ears?
It is actually really cool how they found this out. at the Institute of Cytology and Genetics (ICG) in Novosibirsk, Russia in 1959 they started selectively breeding fur foxes, and the only criteria they were selecting for was for behavior, specifically they were breeding the foxes that showed the least avoidance of humans. Only the tamest individuals in each generation were selected for the breeding program. They don't train the foxes, and they give them only a little human contact, but in a really short time, considering how long most historians used to think it took to domesticate the dog, by 1985 almost all the foxes were pretty much tame - wanting human contact, whining to try to get human attention, things like that. From 59 to 85 - thats what, 26 years? They started sniffing and licking humans and behaving like dogs, but also, without any selection for appearance, they started spontaneously developing spots and white paws and white muzzles and flop ears. Scientists believe that this is probably due to low adrenaline levels, and reflects the changes domestic dogs went through as they became part of the human community. So those floppy ears are an indication of a mellow, human loving character. Kinda neat, I think.
One of my dogs ears went limp. Why?
It happened to my dog, exactly the same. Please bring to your vet. Your dog's ears are infected either by fungus, bacteria, or insects. If it doesnt take care of, in the long run the infection is getting worse and worse. Actually it is very normal, dogs shake their heads. But with infection going on in their ears, when they keep shaking their head, the nerve will be broken. it led to bleeding. In this point, surgery is needed. It cost much more money of course. Go see vet asap. He will give you antibiotic and eardrop. It takes several weeks to do this treatment.
Why has one of my dog's ears gone limp?
I have a pit bull mixed puppy just over three months old. Since we got her at 8 weeks she has had the most adorable button ears that flop over in half and meet in the middle of her head. Last night I noticed that her left ear wasn't flopping over anymore and this morning it is even worse - as if she's lost the cartilage or muscles to hold it up and flop it over. Any idea why this might have happened? or will it go back? Can I do anything like tape it over (equivocal to what they do to train german shepherd or doberman ears)? She's the cutest thing either way, and I'll love her regardless. But her button ears we're my favorite thing about her and I'd love to see them for the rest of her life. thanks in advance...
Why does one of my dogs ears droop?
Because the cartilage is not strong enough or was damaged. You d not say what breed or how old. If your dog is still a puppy, it may be just developing more slowly in one f the ears.All pups are born with soft floppy ears, later on in some breeds the ear becomes stiff and erect. In other breeds, like Whippets who suppose to have very soft fine ears, now and then you get one who starts with lovely folded ears,and then ends up like this - ooopsFortunately, she went to lovely family who adored her as she was, “faulty” ears and all.People breeding with GSDs often have the opposite problem; pups start with lovely erect ears and then flop around the time they are teething. Some breeders tape them down or up, but as far as I am concerned you cannot change how strong or soft the cartilage is, and breeding from dogs that have been “helped” to look right only means more problems in the future.
How can you tell if a dogs ears have been cropped before you got her ?
Well my light brown puppy miniature pinschers ears are very big and pointy. Lol. Like really pointy. When I got her, her ears were floppy now there up there. How do I know if they were cropped.? Is there any way by looking around..? I don't have the previous owners number. She's 6months now.
Why do some dogs have their ears bowed up and some have their ears bowed down?
Dogs are distant relatives of the wolf[1]. And we know that wolves always have their ears standing up.The ears standing up is a survival trait. If you observe wolves, you can see that they can rotate their ears in the direction of sound. This helps in locating prey. Such highly sensitive ears also helped in detecting danger early on.However, once wolves were domesticated by early humans (some 30,000 years ago), this survival trait began to lose its usefulness. Also, the ears standing up were seen as a sign of aggression, meaning the wolf could be hostile towards humans. This made the humans selectively breed[2] the wolves which were more obedient and docile towards them.Floppy ears are a sign of submission. In wolves, the pack surrenders to the alpha and this is shown by a sign of ears taken back.With humans, the dogs could never be the alpha. So they had to submit themselves to humans by bowing down their ears. This led to selective breeding of dogs which had more favourable traits (ears bowed down).Nevertheless, in modern times, multiple dog breeds have been created by humans with a wide range of traits.I think that the modern breed of dogs have floppy ears or ears standing because of the reason they were bred. This is not evolution of dogs, as most modern breeds were formed in last 200 years and it is too short a period for evolution. Rather this is humans selectively breeding dogs.For example - the German Shepherd[3]. This breed originally bred in 1899 and was created to herd the sheeps. As such it required sensitive ears which could listen to any dangers to the herd.Another example - the Labrador Retriever[4]. It was bred in mid 1800s. Its task was retrieving the hunt, usually ducks from water. For a dog that has to swim through water, floppy ears are better.Footnotes[1] Origin of the domestic dog - Wikipedia[2] Selective breeding - Wikipedia[3] German Shepherd - Wikipedia[4] Labrador Retriever - Wikipedia