When should I be worried about ears not up?
 

Baxter's ears never stood up - he's lazy. I would tape them if you want to be sure that they stand up.

Jackson's ears didn't start standing up til about 4 months. They did it on their own. One of them still kinda flops.

You should shave the backs too. I've done Missy's several times without nicking her. I actually find the backs easier to do then the fronts. Just hold the ear flat on one hand while you do it. If you do a search on taping ears alot of people have posted instructions on how to do it. Good Luck!

Tucker was four momnths old before one ear srood up. So, he had one erect and the other floppy. I thought thery would stay like that, but about two or three weeks later, he held the other one up. Now, both ears are perfectly erect. You still have time. Tucker's Mom

ears
 

I wouldn't call myself an expert or anything, but I have a couple of videos on YouTube of me taping up a puppy's ears - you can take a look and see if it helps you:

Wow, all I did was paste the link and the big videos popped up - weird

Ive tried taping Macys ears quite a few times, but they just refuse to stand up, hehe! I gave up, i love her floppy ears... Shes 5 months old, and i have no intentions on breeding or showing her. So no real reason here! :)

Once you have done that taping thing, how does it come off again? It looks pretty stuck on there...

Sarah...you make it look so easy....I doubt I'd be a calm & collected as you are.:D Is 10 months too old to try to tape a pups ears?

Oh, don't worry at all! Apple was 2 1/2 months in the picture, on her avatar, and her ears weren't up...By 3 or 3 1/2 months they were all perfectly perky! I need to get another picture, posted, but I'm not the best photographer, and my best friend is lol...Give your baby a few weeks, and you'll see those ears pop up...

Maggie & Apple :aimeeyork
xoxoxo

Ears
 

AS far as the tape coming off - if you don't get any head hair in it, it comes off really easy, and if you use the paper tape (like gauze tape) under it, it comes off REALLY easy (it won't stay long on it's own). As tough as the adhesive is, you'd be surprised how hard it is to get tape to stick on a puppy's ear! I've heard of people just using regular scotch tape, bandaids, and just about anything that is sticky. Getting the tape to stick to itself is the only way to get it to stay, really.

As far as age - 10 months isn't too old to try (you can attempt to tape ears at any age, you never know). But, once the cartilage in the ear is "set" you could tape them forever and they'll never stay up - but it's hard to know for sure when that will happen. Every Yorkie is slightly different so I would encourage you to try if you really want the ears up.

From my experience, if the ears are totally folded over at the base, you probably won't have much luck with an older puppy, but if the ears are sort-of folded in half, then the chances are good they will stand up.


Calm and collected? Haha - after you do it about 10 times, you get used to it. :) Even if you have a camera pointed at your face and feel like a complete moron. LOL

Macy is now 5 months, and her lil floppy ears dont stand no matter HOW much i tape them. So i stopped trying. :rolleyes: She CAN put them up when shes listening, but otherwise they flop down. Shes got some big dumbo ears though! Im not showing or breeding her, so im letting nature take its course.

I wouldnt worry TOO much unless your going to breed or show.

Thanks Sarah for your demonstrations on taping of your puppies ears. This is great to be able to see a demonstration. I have a 13 week old Biewer Yorkie that I just purchased a week ago today. Her ears are up only half way . I took her to my groomer this morning and had the hair around her ears shaved. I'm noticing some difference. Its only been 4 hours since this was done. Should I wait another day or so before I attempt to tape her ears? I really do prefer the ears to stand up. Let me know what you think. Thanks!

Why do yorkies ears have to stand up. My Holly's ears never stood up, not even a little bit and I love her just the way she is

If you tape them right, it won't hurt the ears, so I'd do just to be sure - that's just me though.

As far as why should Yorkie's ears stand up - well, they don't HAVE to, and some don't on their own. But, the standard for Yorkies expressly states that the ears should be carried erect. Yorkshire Terrier Club of America Official Breed Standard

So, for a lot of people, it's important that their Yorkie fit the standard for the breed. Especially if you plan to show your Yorkie one day. Personally, I like the ears either way, but I will still attempt as much as possible to get the ears to stand up if they don't on their own.


Some Yorkie owners chose the breed for it's personality, temperament, etc and the physical appearance is not a concern. That's perfectly fine, too. :)

Sometimes it is heredity but lets assume that isn't in this case. I would use a cordless shaver and shave the back of the ears. Then I would use paper tape close to the base of the ear wrap around the ear. Actually it is just above the base. They should be standing at this point. No need to make it tight. Change every couple of days or as needed (because puppies will probably not like it at first) hopefully you will see improvement. I had a puppy years ago that one day one ear came down. She had huge ears and I was in a panic. I took her to the vet he showed how to tape them, it so simple. He then changed her food. He didn't think there was enough protein in her food. Her ear was taped for about a week and that was it. Keep in mine Sadie's ears had always stood up to this point. But I know several people who have had luck doing this with similar situations. Hopefully this will help. I would for sure tape immediately and don't give up it might take a month but it's worth it.

I think by 12 weeks they were up. But one ear was bent at the tip. By around 14 weeks they were both up fully.

At 4 months, our Yorkie's ears are still not standing. We just got back from the groomer, and she told me to not do a thing to them.