The big ear debate...lol
 

Okay, I've tried to research as much as possible....but I'd really love some input here. I've done the search and seen what people say about taping the ears so they stand...but my question is, will it be a disadvantage to Isabella if her ears don't stand, and if we don't force them to do so? Standing ears are mainly just for the LOOK of them, correct, and have nothing to do with health issues involving her ears or anything?

The reason I ask is, while we were at the vet on Saturday, the Dr. basically said that if Isabella's ears haven't stood on their own already, they're not going to without some help. He told us that he thinks she looks perfectly fine with them down (he used the word beautiful :), and that if it were him he'd leave them the way they are. Since we're not showing Bella, and she's simply a house dog, I see no problem with it. I just want to make sure it's OKAY for her (this probably sounds silly) to have them down for the rest of her life.

And, is it true that they won't eventually stand on their own at some point? Isabella is 10 and a half weeks old, she'll be 3 months old on February 14th. Does it just take time for them to stand?

Any input, advice, etc. would be greatly appreciated, thank you. We're leaning towards just letting nature take it's course--if they stand great, if they don't that's just fine too. But, I'd love feedback.

Girl, you still have time to get those ears up. Trim all the hair off of them. You will be surprised how much is actually there even though it doesn't look like it. Yes, they are still adorable down. But, Yes, a "down eared" dog tends to be more prone to ear problems that one that has them up. Air flow.

That's kinda what I thought :( I don't want her to have more problems than needed because we didn't do something, which is why I asked. In trimming the hair off her ears (which is something I've NEVER done, lol), what do I do? I remember seeing something before about it here, should I just do a search on "trimming hair"?

They could still stand if you shave them and tape them. We got Loki at 13 weeks and his ears were down. No amount of taping was going to help. We tried with NO luck. I didn't shave them, but they are so thick and big and floppy it was hopeless. I LOVE them down. He's never had an ear problem. They still stick up a little and then flop over, so it's not the same as say a Lab with ears always down.

Oh please! Baileys didn't go up till he was between 6-7 months old.
Massage them alot, I did not tape at all. One went up, then the other, then one would fall, then one day they were both up to stay! :D

I'm glad I posted here, 'cause I didn't understand why he said they wouldn't on their own at this point when she's not even three months old! This is a great vet, his family has nothing but yorkies and he's just wonderful with Bella, but I disagreed with him there. I kinda wanted them to stand naturally on their own, but that's just so I didn't have to nervously get scissors anywhere near her head, lol.

Logan's didn't both stand up all the time until he was 5-6 months old. I didn't care whether they were up or down so I didn't mess with them. for a long time just one would stand up which was super cute. His ears are huge too so it can happen you just might wanna give it a little time.

Oh my goodness, Logan is adorable!!

Well, if it were my pup, I'd trim the hair off the ears. You can use scissors to trim around the shape of the ear and even to cut the other hair off. But...if you have one of those trimmers that they show that won't bust a balloon, use one of those on the ear ittself. I don't tape either. Of course I start trimming the hair off the pups in my litters while they are still little babes and they are always up by 8 weeks. The massage mentioned (I believe) is when you are holding your pup, roll .....ever so gently.....the flopped over part into an upward position. Gently is the key word here. You will be rolling upward from about the middle of the ear (the part where the ear folds over). Please let us know the end result. Your pup should still be pretty calm at 10 weeks and this shouldn't be too hard. Stand the pup on the counter if you need to and Isabella should hold pretty still for you. Or.....you could do it while she is sleeping on your lap. Just make sure the lighting is good. :)

Awwwe, Logan IS adorable!!!!! :thumbup: :thumbup: :aimeeyork :thumbup: :thumbup:

I will try that Julz, thank you so much! :thumbup: Might have to do it while she's napping though, she's a little nibbly thing when she's awake (something we're TRYING to break her of, as her bite's getting a little stronger, lol) and if she sees your hand she goes for it to nibble on your finger. When she's sleeping you can pick her up and hold her up in the air and she doesn't budge, lol.

Vets know dog! They know their health problems and how to operate, and tons of other stuff.. They don't know particular breeds and their quirks!! :D
I'm sure he meant well, But lets face it, Vets can't know everything about every breed!! In my experience dogs with their ears down tend to get dirtier and do have more probelms.. and I'm not just speaking yorkies I mean any dog!

Bet they go up!!
 

You could get a small Wall clipper , I got a whisker shaver for men. Start
half way down and go up, holding the ear as flat as you can and then do
the same on the outside. Taking that weight off the ear will help. Once
teething is over alot of yorkies ears go up by themselves. She is still young and
the person that mentioned more infections in a dropped ear made a very
good point. Good Luck...I would get some one to help you hold your baby
still at least the first couple time you do it. Don't make a big thing of it, just
do it like it's no big deal so she feels that way.

brownie has to have his ears cleaned every couple days but kaykos havent been cleaned yet(2years) and there perfectly clean the one floppy ear on my chi needs to also be cleaned all the time
i prefer the look of down ears but for infection i want both of my chis up your yorkie has plenty of time for her ears to go up :thumbup:

Put clear deoderant on your fingers.....she won't be wanting to nibble for long! :eek: and....it won't hurt her. When she pulls back because it tastes nasty, tell her "no no".

If, by chance, they don't stand, just be sure to keep inside the ear clean.

I also have Shelties, and their ears fold down. I learned the hard way that they are prone to ear infections. Since I've learned to keep them in check I haven't had any problems. I guess its sort of like the 'out of sight out of mind' theory...

LOL, Julz, I'll try that! I'm trying to teach her what 'no' and 'stop that' means right away...even lowering my voice some so it doesn't sound like I'm praising her, and she just looks at me like I have three heads, lol. I know she's young and it's a process, though.

I will try everything mentioned here, as well as keeping her ears clean. I definitely don't want her to have infections of any kind.

Just wanted to add another thing. Though its easier to get ears to stand while the pup is young you can work with them for a long time after that. I foster rescue dogs on occasion. Got a yorkie mix about 1 yr old. Both ears were 1/2 up and Vet said that after 6 months they prob. would not stand. Figured why not try! I cleaned, then shaved, then taped her ears and left them for a week. Both ears stood. I had to tape them a few more times but only the one that fell and only for a few days. Both finally stood and she went to her new family with both ears up. If the ears are not too thick and you are persistant you can get them up. 10 wks is NOT too late at all to start. Good luck (but I agree the floppy ears are so cute). I decided with my own yorkies I wanted them to stand and taped the ones who needed it but it was a personal decision on my part..course I would have loved them either way..cause they are my babies!

Deber, thank you so much for your input! I'm really glad I went ahead and posted here instead of just letting the issue drop and not trying. I'd love for her ears to stand just simply so she can avoid any undue health issues, but if they don't that's just fine and I'll keep them clean and take care of them for her. I think she looks ADORABLE with them floppy, lol.

Wow is nice to hear a story about ears standing up at 1 year old. My baby is 10 months and her ears are totally floppy. I thought we had not hope in getting them to go up. My husband LOVES them down but I was hoping they would go up. She's cute either way though.

Yaremis

Roxy's ears didn't stand for a while, I actually thought they were going to stay floppy. I took her to the groomer and the grooming place said they were going to "tip" her ears, which just means shave the tips of the ears, when I went to picked her up from being groomed I was shocked to see her ears were standing and they've been standing ever since :)

I've always had ears that stuck straight up. With this litter, I wanted to get them up faster instead of waiting to do it on their own. I shaved the inner and outer ear and trimmed all the way around the ear. Folded it up like a taco and taped them. Left it up and took the tape out next day. They're still standing and it's been almost a week. :)

Zoe has floppy ears and has no trouble with ear infections...she will be 3 next week...now Lizzy (her 4 month old daughter) has standing up ears and has had 3 infections....go figure!

correction on my previous post: I use the Wahl men's mustache clippers. I like them
because they are small. I think they are still available at Target and Wal mart

Another method is to cut out the shape of the ear from a brown bag,like a grocery bag, glue it to the inside of the ear with eyelash glue. Be sure to leave air space to the ear canal. Do this after trimming the hair.
Oh yea, I find it easier to do all this ear & nail stuff after the pup has been playing a long while and is sleepy. :)

At 4 months, I just scissor cut a little hair off my Yorkies ears - they went up and have stayed up every since. (I really don't think that the little bit of hair I removed had much to do with it). My pup's ears had been going up and down all along - and they eventually went up and stayed up.

Carol Jean

PS: After looking at a lot of pictures posted, I think most Yorkie's ears do go up. I don't see many adults with floppy ears.... a few, but not a lot.

Of course, when my Yorkie was a pup, I thought his floppy little ears were as cute as can be. I really didn't care if they ever went up. But, after looking at hundreds of Yorkie pictures -- I am glad they did go up. I think it makes him look more like a Yorkie. I see a few adult Yorkies with floppy ears, but not many. And - to be honest, they don't look quite as "Yorkyish" to me. But, if my pup's ears hadn't gone up - I'd just have a floppy-eared Yorkie that I adore!

Carol Jean

Sailor's ear have gone up and down since she was little...for a long time they were both down and then one went up and one stayed down, then both down again and now after she is a year, she has one back up and the other is down!! We did shave her ears since she was little, but never taped...we just let her ears do what is natural for them and over time they have settled with one mostly up and one all the way up!!! It is never to let to try something....