Ears never stand

[slayton]

I recently adopted a puppy from a shelter in Indiana.  They did not have a lot of information about her but said she is an American Eskimo.  This was about a month ago and she is about 14 weeks old now.  The only thing weird that we have noticed is that her ears never stand up.  You can hold them up for a few seconds but they fall right back down.  I have read about nutrition and teething playing a part in this but I am just wondering if anyone knows of an American Eskimo who's ears did not come up.  Since we were not looking for an American Eskimo specifically when we adopted, I am not concerned about her looking perfect.. just curious more than anything.  Thanks for any information on this!

[eskieagilitygal]

Ears are normally up on Eskie pups by the time they are 8-9 weeks old.  Some as early as 5-6 weeks.   Though not very common, you can have a puppy where the ears never come up or only 1 of the 2 may come up.   

Congrats on your new pup and welcome to the board!   She's a real cutie.  Probably more so that her ears are down.    WHat is her name?  Hope you stick around the board and allow us to watch her grow up.   

[eskilady]

As Tammy says, normally the ears are up when they are young but I have known puppies whose ears have not come up until they are almost 6 months old so i would not worry about it yet.  Your pup sure is cute tho and the floppy ears just makes him/her that much cuter.

[slayton]

Thank you both! Her name is Neko.  I think the floppy ears are cute too! Sometimes they look like they are trying to stand but just can't seem to do it!  Either way she is adorable! 

[eskilady]

You will notice that when she is upside down - both of her ears are standing up. 

[DebbieA]

It's also possible that she's a mix.  Often shelters can only guess at breeds, especially with puppies. 

Regardless, she's a cutie-pie!

[Whytepine]

Congrats on the new puppy!    Get some Breathe Right nasal strips and clean the inside of the ear flap with rubbing alcohol and then attach the strip vertically on the inside of the flap, trying to get it on skin, not too much hair, and across the groove that is forming in the ear flap.  She won't like it at first and might scratch or shake them off, but just keep putting them in there to help the cartilage firm up.

[BanaerEskies]

I recommend leaving them alone as teething is probably the issue at this age. 

I know lots of dogs that have had "late risings" of ears.  One dog we showed against this weekend is 4 years old and her ear just came up (it was injured as a puppy)

Another breeders dog had ears up at 14 months on a bitch.

one of my puppies had an ear injury at 3 or 4 months of age and her ear came up at around 5 months. 

There are lots of tips and tricks like the Breath Right strips mentioned, but generally time takes care of it.  I can only think of 2 dogs I know whose ears NEVER came up. 

[Whytepine]

Oops, my mistake. 

[snowflake's mom]

Regardless, she's adorable!  Welcome to the board, and as you can tell, we loooove puppy pictures!   

[Geno]

How cute! Welcome to the board!

Geno

[BeSota]

She is VERY cute! Ears coming up in Eskies can depend on many influences. 1) Smaller Eskies ears often come up sooner than larger Eskies 2) The thickness of the ear leather: the thicker the ear leather, the slower they come up 3) The "ear set": the wider the ear set, the slower they come up 4) Genetics: some lines, particularily in standards, have a slower rate of ears coming up 5) Some medications can adversely and permanently affect the ears.
Just as a for instance: at our house, if we have a litter of five puppies, one or two will have ears up by 8 weeks. These puppies will be the lightest on bone and ear leather and have ear sets that are closer than the others. One puppy will probably come up about 12 weeks and will be a moderately boned/ear leather dog with a middle range ear set. Two puppies will probably be five or six months old before the ears are up and strong, they will have heavier bone and heavier ear leather and will have a broader head and wider ear set.
Teething does indeed affect the ears coming up and staying up. Some medications can also affect the ears. Baytril is especially to be avoided in young puppies unless it's a life or death matter because it will significantly and adversely affect ears for the life of the dog. Even adult dogs given a heavy dose/regime of Baytril can have erect ears go down after taking the medication. In 25 years+ of raising Eskies, I can count on one hand the number of puppies whose ears never came up. And I have two adults who now have ears that are down from having taken Baytril. Your puppy will be just as loving with her ears down. Ears are cosmetic. She looks to be a sweetie!

[Horizonaed]

Congrats on such a cutie!

[kittyangel]

Adorable baby! Congratulations!

Like someone said before, when you adopt from the shelter, there is no knowing of real age or breed, they are all estimates. So it's possible that it is an mix breed with an eskie. Although from the puppy picture she looks like all eskie to me. The picture next to it looks 90% like an eskie except the ears, which are a big bigger than the ears I've seen on eskies.

Mine didn't have erect ears until sort of late, I would sayd at least 4 months. Although she had one ear up and one ear down for maybe a month, which was cute! =)

Well don't worry about the ears, they will come up when they are ready. If they never do ,then you still got a beautiful dog there. =)

[Eskies4Us]

What a cutie!  Welcome!  Two of mine are eskie mixes and neither of their ears stand up.  They can both raise their ears, but they are flopped over most of the time.  I think they are cute either way, especially when they have one up and one down, which gives them a confused look!

[slayton]

Thank you everyone for the information! Ears are still floppy but I feel like they stand a little at times. Either way she is doing great!!

[DesertEskie]

She is just a lovebug, whatever happens with her ears!!

[casper_d_dog]

She's a cutie. The floppy ears are adorable.

[vlynn]

She is precious. And I love her floppy ears.

[Yukon]

She is adorable, especially with her floppy ears!

[JuneBud]

She's very cute.  She looks like an American Eskimo/Border Collie mix.  If she is, Border Collies sometimes don't have erect ears although most of the time they do.