Since Corgi's put their ears up so often when they hear loud noises or are just interested in something, do you think that their ears ever get tired from staying up all the time? I tried to google this information, but there really isn't any on the topic other than that they have about 16 muscles in their ears. What do you guys think?

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I don't think so, they don't really "put the ears up" - it's a natural relaxed position just like our ears naturally stick to the sides of our heads. We don't requite any effort to keep ours on the sides and not flopping over, I don't see why they would :)
Probably not, but they probably do get tired of all the loud noises we stupid humans make. :)
The prick ear is actually the natural canid ear; see wolves, foxes, coyotes.

Flop ears are the genetic mutation.
I don't think so.
Oh, anyway, my point was it's the natural ear structure so they don't require muscles to hold them upright; the ear cartilage does that for them. The muscles are used to change the direction of the ears, but not to hold them upright.
Hm, interesting. Thanks!
HAHA I have thought about this too.
I don't think they get tired. Though I think it's cute when their ears lower to the sides when they sleep :) or they flatten them allllll the way back when you're telling them no no or when they're loving you up from coming home.
Seanna's ears go to "half-mast", down halfways when she's really tired....they point sideways.
One of Sid's ears went to the side when he got a foxtail in it. It seemed to take some effort on his part to hold it that way...poor baby.
I love the way they can aim their ears front, side, back, or close them.
Our hearts don't tire of beating. We don't tire of breathing.
It's probably mostly the cartilage stiffening that keeps the ears up. The expenditure of muscular energy is likely small.
Al says it's no problemo, and Gwynn holds hers flat much of the time in any case.
But this is a really serious topic deserving of sober reflection. :)

Belyaev silver fox domestication

In reading about Belyaev's famous silver fox domestication experiments, I've read that floppy ears occur in just about every domesticated animal, but, like the piebald spots, are totally absent in Nature (I believe Darwin remarked on this too; he was quite interested in domestication). While there might be some utility in having covered ears for going thru thick brush and so forth, dogs with prick ears can flatten them closed at will, or reflexively, so I think the floppy ears are a useless artifact of human breeding and the animals would be better-off and look better with natural prick ears (and tails). Guess I go for the Natural Look.

I think Nature generally "knows best", and beauty lies in function, so I don't like the breeds that preserve mutations selected on the basis of novelty or human whimsy. I guess this argument could be brought against the dwarfed legs -- sometimes I wish my dogs had somewhat longer legs (I usually catch myself just in time).
I believe when a dog holds his ears at "half mast", it's a communication technique: "I'm so relaxed and so tired that I mean noone any harm".

Dogs, as highly social animals, constantly communicate their moods in a way others of their kind understand. "Relaxed" ears at half-mast indicate a dog is not looking for any trouble, play, etc.

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