Puppy Ears Flopping back down

Okay, I've searched for some info on here for this and I need some advice. We are planning to pick up our new puppy this Saturday. He is 11 weeks old now. Well, this afternoon his breeder emailed me and said that one of his ears had fallen (they had been up so far) and that she wanted to let me know just in case. She seemed a little worried in the email. Now, I've read that sometimes the puppies ears will fall again if they are teething, has anyone had this experience? I'm not even sure I'd care if one of his ears stayed down, but that she thought to email me about it. What do you guys think? Should we opt for another puppy from the litter (I had my heart set on this one...). Has anyone had a Corgi that had erect ears that fell and came back up??
Thanks guys!

Tags: ear, flop

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Permalink Reply by Natalie & Lance &Tucker on April 9, 2008 at 11:28pm

Hi Parker,

We got Lance at 14 weeks and he had one floppy ear and one ear up. I am not sure if it was up before that or not. Before we left our breeder she had taped his ear up. We took the tape off and the ear was still floppy, but when I talked to the vet he said to massage the ear and the ear did stand up after massaging it. I know it is a hard choice it depends on if you have your heart set on a corgi with both ears up. My daughter was disappointed when it finally did go up! When I talked to the vets office about the ear not being up yet they told me it was the muscle in the ear was just being lazy and to massage it with the puppy laying in your lap. When the puppy is laying in your lap, have the ears point towards the floor as if they were stading up while you are massaging the ear. Good Luck

Permalink Reply by Parker on April 10, 2008 at 9:22am

Thanks! I appreciate your advice!

Permalink Reply by Natalie & Lance &Tucker on April 10, 2008 at 9:49am

Your Welcome, I am glad to help.

Permalink Reply by Bridget on April 10, 2008 at 9:40am

Also, is your corgi a chewer? I heard that ears standing up might have somethign to do with those muscles. Maybe you can encourage your pup to become a chew-a-holic! On appropriate toys of course!

Permalink Reply by Charlie on April 10, 2008 at 11:27am

Give him 3 more weeks. Taping is usually recommended at 14 weeks if the ears aren't up by then. His ears are "fighting" with his developing teeth for the calcium. : - )

Permalink Reply by Nancy, Curtis and Triley on April 10, 2008 at 2:48pm

When we went to our breeder to pick out Triley, two of the pups in his litter had their ears taped - the breeder said they were up but then the weather got really hot and they went down again. The pups didn't seem bothered by the tape (even though i couldn't stop laughing at the poor little guys - they looked so silly!) and the breeder said taping them for a few days would help the ears stick back up. I don't think there is anything wrong with a corgi that has its ears down, but I am sure the breeder is worried because the dog won't look like a "typical" corgi if the ears stay down. She probably just wants to make sure you are happy with your purchase, eh? I wouldn't worry about it, I am sure your pup is perfect just as he is ;-)

Permalink Reply by Parker on April 10, 2008 at 3:37pm

Thanks everyone! I feel the same way, I actually think it's kind of cute when one ear is down. A little lopsided!
I'm just going to go with the little guy we had picked out and we'll cross the ear bridge when we get to it! :)

Permalink Reply by Parker on April 10, 2008 at 3:39pm

Maybe I'll encourage the chewing at first and massage his little ears. Then if by 14 weeks we still have a flopped ear, we'll look into taping. Do most vets know how to do this or is it just a breeder thing?

Permalink Reply by Charlie on April 10, 2008 at 6:19pm

Vets should know how to do it, but I'd hate to see you spend money at the vets office.

All it takes is four pieces of tape like the instuctions/photos in this link:
http://my.voyager.net/~farrago/Articles/Ears/EarTape.html

Some people also just roll the ears into a "cone" shape and don't use the center bridge. I'm not as crazy about this method. The link below shows taping without the center-bridge. The dog's ears are up, but look too far spread out to me:
http://www.me.umn.edu/~weathers/rolo.html

Permalink Reply by LUCIANA on February 15, 2010 at 3:21pm

Our girl named PIPOCA is 14 weeks old and one of her ears are not up yet. I was concerned about this and found your post of great help to tape her! Thanks... Now I am crossing my fingers to have her ear up... we love her anyway but, of course, would like to have a typical corgi look...

Permalink Reply by Alice on February 15, 2010 at 4:36pm

Looks like you are doing a good job taping. If you want a good tutorial here's the one I followed and found easiest:
http://www.arylan.com/Ear%20Tape%20Tutorial.html
Her ear will most likely stand. 14 weeks is still young. Good luck!

Permalink Reply by LUCIANA on February 15, 2010 at 5:26pm

Thanks so much Alice! I will let you all know.