Flipped ears

[Trelaine]

I apologize if this has been asked before, but I searched the threads (and even the web) and can't find anything.

 

I have an 11-12 week old BC mix. He was a rescue, so I don't know what he is mixed with and look forward to see what he will end up looking like.

 

Anyway, ears. I know a little about ears, in that they come in many shapes and sizes, and that he is too young to really know how they will ultimately be set (although at this point I'm sure they won't be fully pricked). For the last week or so, every time I turn around, one or both ears are flipped backwards. Since the cartilage is still soft at this point, will the flipping have any effect on the shape of his adult ears?

 

[luv2napp]

Since the cartilage is still soft at this point, will the flipping have any effect on the shape of his adult ears?

 

 

I don't think so, but I'm not an expert. He looks like he'll have drop ears, like Lacee's. (I'm pretty sure it's not called that). She's 10 and her ears still flip. I think she looks so cute when they do that!

[Sue R]

Some adult dogs' ears do that, long after they are set in the shape they will always have. I would not worry but I do flip mine back just to avoid stuff getting into the ear.

 

Enjoy! The great ear guessing game is enormous fun!

[juliepoudrier]

My pup's ears flip back too, and like Sue I just flip them forward if I'm close enough to do so. I don't think it will make much difference in the long run with respect to the type of ears he has.

 

J.

[geonni banner]

Since the ears "break" so low, it's just easier for them to flip backwards. I don't think that pup's ear-set is going to change much. Most of the pups I've seen that started out like that, stayed like that. My experience is with Rough Collies, but as far as ears go, I don't think there's much difference. I had a male that had a really low ear-set, and when his ears flipped back like that I called it his "French Ears."

[ejano]

I apologize if this has been asked before, but I searched the threads (and even the web) and can't find anything.

 

I have an 11-12 week old BC mix. He was a rescue, so I don't know what he is mixed with and look forward to see what he will end up looking like.

 

Anyway, ears. I know a little about ears, in that they come in many shapes and sizes, and that he is too young to really know how they will ultimately be set (although at this point I'm sure they won't be fully pricked). For the last week or so, every time I turn around, one or both ears are flipped backwards. Since the cartilage is still soft at this point, will the flipping have any effect on the shape of his adult ears?

 

 

Robin's went from prick to sideways to folded back and all around again. He still hasn't made up his mind which direction they're going. He swivels them all the time, laying them back and flat, or forward, or sideways...silly guy. Guess he doesn't want to miss much. I would call them sheep ears. Ladybug has the same ears. They kind of stick out sideways most of the time, but they can elevate, float back or sometimes forward but never straight up.

 

Brodie has "bat ears" --they've always folded forward. Gosh he was small a few months ago...I called him "little Bro Bro" much to my husband's chagrin - he calls him Bro Man -- he's always been smaller than Robin and skinny enough to hide behind a fence post. . We weighed them all the other day and Brodie top 40 pounds...and Ken said I can't call him little any more - so I call him "Little bit bigger Bro Bro." . He's a good boy.

 

Liz

[Harlow]

Harlow's ears didnt go up until she was almost 5 months old. Now one is completely up the other is halfway

[alligande]

At 5 Brody has one ear that flips back just like that, one day we are going to come up with a command for him to flip it back himself I have no advice on puppy ears..

[WildFlower]

Daisy has down ears. Hers do flip eoo- what I call inside out - I just flip them back when it happens.

[Jimmyd65]

I'm always fixing our rescue Gus' ears. Sometimes both flip back...

[desertranger]

When a dogs ears flip back you say, "Your slip is showing" that happens to all dogs with large floppy ears. Jin looks so cute when he's ears do that.

[Jumpin Boots]

Sorry this is a little off topic, but I'm wondering if anyone else has ever heard this. I was speaking with a woman who has a Whippet pup yesterday and said a few weeks ago his ears started rolling back at the tips, she said the got to the point that almost half of the ear was rolled back, she would uncurl them, but they would slowly re-curl. She called the breeder in a panic and he said that it happens to most whippets when they start teething and not to worry that they would go back to normal in a few weeks. Yesterday they were completely normal and she said that they had been for several days, weird, huh?

 

Regarding this topic, I agree, perfectly normal and adorable. We call it 'helmet head'

[Guest echoica]

i love border collie ear confusion!!

 

my youngest pup has had prick ear since about 3 months. now that she is half way through teething one is flipping just the tiniest bit back and forth at the top - very silly looking! my other dog has had 'rosebud' ear (they twist and curl) since he was 3 months - prior to that they looked like jin's above.

[juliepoudrier]

At one point, even though they mostly stood, Lark's ears looked like this:

 

They also did this:

 

And all of the following, all in the same day. (When I first saw the subject of this thread, this is what I thought of as flipped ears....):

 

 

 

All of the photos above were taken on the same day when Lark was between 4 and 5 months old. Now as an adult, they look like this:

 

Above photo by Robin French.

 

J.

[PSmitty]

Sorry this is a little off topic, but I'm wondering if anyone else has ever heard this. I was speaking with a woman who has a Whippet pup yesterday and said a few weeks ago his ears started rolling back at the tips, she said the got to the point that almost half of the ear was rolled back, she would uncurl them, but they would slowly re-curl. She called the breeder in a panic and he said that it happens to most whippets when they start teething and not to worry that they would go back to normal in a few weeks. Yesterday they were completely normal and she said that they had been for several days, weird, huh?

 

Regarding this topic, I agree, perfectly normal and adorable. We call it 'helmet head'

 

I have also heard that the ears can do crazy things while a pup is teething, I don't think it's specific to whippets. Alex's ears were still slighty tipped at 3 months, but by 4 or 5 months, they were standing straight up.

 

Julie, my friend Carla's border collie has backward tipped ears like Larky had. It's so cute.

[Jimmyd65]

looks like maybe German Shorthair...

[eclare]

My sister had this German Shorthair with long floppy ears. When my brother-in-law was in a goofy mood he would flip her ears back and start doing a Jar Jar Binks impression. The poor thing really did look like Jar Jar.

[Trelaine]

Oooo La La Ticket! Your slip is showing! I like it.

 

Thank you for all of your comments, but I guess it comes down to there being no answer. Since I can't afford DNA tests (I really couldn't test one dog and not the others), I'll just have to wait and see what he grows up to look like.

 

So far we have: Ears like some kind of spaniel; paws like a Landseer; color of a BC; front half of a BC coat; back half of a nappy coat like a Chow or something; a low-set tail stuck on for no particular reason; and the stubborn attitude of a terrier. He is also completely water-proof.

 

I was thinking of telling people that he is a Brittany Collie, but his really thick double coat doesn't fit. I suppose he could be a very, very, rare Vosges Mountain Collie, famous for herding French Reindeer (now extinct) along the border of Alsace-Lorraine, but I have no clue how to say, "Away to me" in Alsatian.

[PSmitty]

I thought from the video you posted, he looked all border collie.

[aphillippi]

Sorry this is a little off topic, but I'm wondering if anyone else has ever heard this. I was speaking with a woman who has a Whippet pup yesterday and said a few weeks ago his ears started rolling back at the tips, she said the got to the point that almost half of the ear was rolled back, she would uncurl them, but they would slowly re-curl. She called the breeder in a panic and he said that it happens to most whippets when they start teething and not to worry that they would go back to normal in a few weeks. Yesterday they were completely normal and she said that they had been for several days, weird, huh?

 

Regarding this topic, I agree, perfectly normal and adorable. We call it 'helmet head'

 

My sister's boston terrier's ears were rolled inside out like that when she was a little puppy. I remember she would open them up and they would just go back. Eventually she grew out of it and they went up all the way.

 

The BC we just lost had floppy ears but they would also go inside out once in a while. Also when she was sleeping sometimes they would stand straight up but always went back floppy.