We call the ears floppy or tipped over and they just didn't stand probably based on Genetics. As an owner of a floppy tip eared Yorkie, I tried EVERYTHING to get them to stand. Rusty was the only one of his litter in which the ears did not stand. His coloring is fantastic, but because of his floppy tippy ears he cannot be shown in confirmation at any dog shows. He can compete in all other areas and he is indeed a Yorkie. He simply has floppy ears.
Now, morkies which are a yorkie-maltese mix, have floppy ears too, but the Maltese has ears set farther apart on the head, more to the side of the head, than a yorkie whose ears are at the center of the head with only a small space between them. So the placement of the ears are very important.
Rusty has tipped ears which means that the tops or tips of his ears flop over. If he had had the tips cut off, his ears would stand. There was never any cartiledge in the tips, therefore they could not stand. No bone in there.
Yorkies come in all shapes, sizes, weights, colors, and ear versions as well as long legs or short legs, longer snouts, shorter snouts. Once you learn what a Yorkie looks like, you will not miss a Yorkie or a Yorkie mix.
Hope this helped!
