Floppy ears during teething?

Zinja

I'm not sure if this should be in "other breeds" section but it pertains to Akitas as well, so if needed, please move it.

So, Mochi, my rescued bc/eskie (we think) mix had semi-erect ears for the past month. Recently, after I gave him swimming lessons and a bath, I noticed his left ear became floppy while his right ear is still erect. I've read this may be because he is teething. He is estimated to be 5 months old.

Has this happened to anyone else's pup? It looks like his ears are confused. =/

jellyfish

Teehee, that's adorable. Its normal. Sometimes the ears don't stand up at the same time.
Though, I would expect them to start sticking up very soon. To me, 5 months is a long time. Toki's was up by 3.

ShawnaMaire

You can tape the ear up if it doesn't come up soon. It can happen but if left down for too long the ear will not come back up. If the ear stays down past 6 months it most likely won't stand up and will remain down

Zinja

His ears are erect when he looks up at me but then flops down when he looks down again. Something like this dog's. (not my dog.. just found the one online and used the ears as an example)



Do I think he's adorable? Yup, but floppy ears is more prone for infections. Should I tape it up? I used to have a doberman but I don't think I will need to go to that extreme.

Kuma123

Very pretty! I thought the pup you adopted was cream and white..... did I remember wrong?

You said it was after swimming and bath.... just have to ask- has he been shaking his head or scratching at his ear?

Zinja

Yeah, I do not have a photo of his floppy ear so I just found one on the internet.

I thought maybe he had water or an infection but he hasn't been paying much attention in the area. When Eevee had a fungal infection, she was hesitant on people touching her ears. Mochi lets us play with both ears without any fuss.

sjp051993

Some dogs even with an infected ear will not complain about having their ears messed with. It could be the beginning of a yeast infection. You can try a homemade ear cleaner. mix 1 part rubbing alcohol with 1 part white vinegar. Squirt some in the ear and rub it around then let him shake it out. The alcohol dries up any water in there and the vinegar makes the Ph more acidic so the yeast cannot grow. Even an erect ear can get an ear infection.

sjp051993

If the ear feels hot to the touch or you notice an odor coming from the ear then get him to the vet right away as it is probably an infection.

tjbart17

Koda had an ear infection at around four months old from water getting in his ear. You can smell them when you walk in the house.

But puppy ears can just go up and down. Probability is, and I've seen this with shepherds, is that if it's going up and then down to the extreme that this dog above has, his one ear will end up floppy.

Zinja

I got my girlfriend to send me a photo of Mochi... Here are his ears.

WhoBitMe

I don't know that this will help or that my opinion carries any weight (haha), but if your pup is a border collie mix it wouldn't surprise me if it's just the ear set changing during teething. Border Collies have a wide range of possible ear sets and they change a lot during teething. I believe I have heard/read/been told that the ear set on a Border Collie once it is done teething is the ear set it will probably have as an adult.

Here is a site that shows several BC ear types: http://www.gis.net/~shepdog/BC_Museum/Permanent/BCColors_Ears/BC_ColorEars.html

My Border Collie has ears that are more like rose ears (eh, like a Greyhound's ears) and they airplane when she's excited. But as a young puppy her ears were everywhere, and they even had a tent phase.

But I believe there is no bad ear set on a border collie, and you can never go wrong with natural ears (whatever they may be).

cdenney

I've had three dogs and fostered/raised many more. All with floppy ears (sachi is my first erect ear) and never had an ear infection (we were careful with bathing them but isn't everyone careful washing any ear?). If their floppy don't sweat it to much just make sure any ear hair doesnt get matted. On the inside of the flap.

Trzcina

My understanding is that it's only really truly pendulous ears (like a spaniel or a hound) that are more prone to ear infections; it has to do with what gets trapped in the ear canal, and the semi-erect ears like in the picture shouldn't (to my understanding) have any more of an issue than an erect ear.

The only experience I have with this though is that my stepmom had a Sheltie/Aussie mix type dog with mostly drop ears that were... well, similar to his left ear in the photo. Never had any problem with any ear infections, and as far as I know she never did any special care to prevent this. I've never heard of ear infections being a big issue for most herding breeds with that type of ear, so he should be fine I would just leave it alone and let it do what it wants.

cdenney

Ironically Sachi (kai) has an ear infection.

Zinja

I'm not sure what he is. He's awfully small to be a BC. He's 14lbs at 5 months. His hair around his face was really wild when we found him so we did trim it a bit.. . Maybe part Sheltie?

My Kai got an infection a few weeks ago. She kept scratching and tilting her head so we had it examined.

Mochi has an appointment on Saturday to get it looked at so I can rule out the infection.