AerBear26 Posted July 18, 2013 Report Share Posted July 18, 2013 Is it at ALL possible that an ear wont prick till age one or after? One of my 10 month old's ear just seems to want to stand up. Sometimes its up for a good 15 mins then falls on and off. I wonder if it was meant to stand up and now that he's on a different diet (higher in calcium) since i got him two months ago if his ears are trying to stand...? Anyone have an ear prick later like this? He does have the genes for it. Just curious not a big deal. A. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TEC Posted July 18, 2013 Report Share Posted July 18, 2013 My Josie is prick-eared as an adult. One ear went up, and then quite some time later, maybe 2 months, the other popped up. I think she was in the 6-11 month range at the time. I have to chuckle a little now about the concern I had at the time about it. I had no preconceptions about her ear set, but I guess I wanted them both the same. I was younger then, and my concern for consistency in many things has changed. A litter-mate brother's ears turned over at the tips, and he is a much more compact dog. I didn't see much similarity. Sorry, I don' t have any knowledge down to the month about when ears go up. Certain to be numerous stories about other's experiences. I see lots of dogs that are one up and one down, at least some or all the time. To me it gives a dog a devil-may-care, brought my lunch box to work look, that has an appeal. My wife was more concerned than me about it. I think she was serious wanting to paper clip the up-one down in order to "train" it. Hah, I removed all the clips from the house, and kept a close eye on her. Completely kidding, and I don't recommend paper clips, nor does my lovely wife. I'm sure there must be professional procedures to change the set of ears, but I didn't want to put my pup through anything cosmetic that could possibly be annoying to her. I just let nature decide. -- Kind regards, TEC Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Liz P Posted July 18, 2013 Report Share Posted July 18, 2013 Generally they are either up or down by 4 months old. However, I had a male that decided, at about 8 years old, that he wanted to have prick ears. Go figure. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AerBear26 Posted July 18, 2013 Author Report Share Posted July 18, 2013 Generally they are either up or down by 4 months old. However, I had a male that decided, at about 8 years old, that he wanted to have prick ears. Go figure. LOL cute... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
geonni banner Posted July 18, 2013 Report Share Posted July 18, 2013 I must admit, i prefer "tipped" ears. There. I said it. My dog has tipped ears. Just the luck of the draw. She came that way. She has a natural ear-set that a Lassie-Collie breeder would kill for. Now she's 5 years old, and every so often her left ear goes prick for a few minutes. But I won't be going after it with moleskin and carburetor cleaner. It's what's between her ears that I value. Back when I was in Collie rescue I used to "brace" the young dogs' ears, because a "correct" ear-set was a draw for adopters. But I have seen a Collie lying out in the yard working to get an ear up. Flicking that ear until it stood up, and then relaxing. Now I say, let 'em wear their ears whatever way suits 'em. ETA - I will say I find ears like those on Julie's "Birdie" a bit alarming. She must be able to pick up radio transmissions from Venus! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mum24dog Posted July 19, 2013 Report Share Posted July 19, 2013 My Josie is prick-eared as an adult. One ear went up, and then quite some time later, maybe 2 months, the other popped up. I think she was in the 6-11 month range at the time. And sometimes they end up one up, one down like Kye's. Makes him stand out of the crowd at least. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pam Wolf Posted July 19, 2013 Report Share Posted July 19, 2013 Does it matter as long as they hear and listen? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SS Cressa Posted July 19, 2013 Report Share Posted July 19, 2013 Is the cartilage in his ear broken or crease? Lol sorry not sure the correct term. If it is he can't have pricked ears. I used to threaten my puppy with moleskin and glue if he didn't get his act together and get those ears up. Friend reassure me since he had no crease in his ear so they were gonna go up on their own time. We had a rough couple of months but by 5-6 months both ears went up. And that is where they have stayed. Idk if it is true but I was told once the dog is done teething what you have for ears is set. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mum24dog Posted July 19, 2013 Report Share Posted July 19, 2013 Does it matter as long as they hear and listen? Doesn't matter a jot. People in general tend to prefer what they have / have had in the past - until they get something different, and then their preferences widen. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sue R Posted July 19, 2013 Report Share Posted July 19, 2013 This is all that matters. That said, I do love a dog with prick ears but I also have to say that I find my dogs' (the boys) airplane ears to be very practical when working in pastures with seeding-out plants. They don't get stuff in their ears. All the topics about ear set and colors lately makes me really wonder what's important to people. I'm hoping it's just a matter of curiosity and not of priority. Does it matter as long as they hear and listen? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alligande Posted July 19, 2013 Report Share Posted July 19, 2013 When I got my youngster at 4 months I thought he was going to have floppy ears, then one started going up and by the time he was 10 months both were up never to come back down. I also like floppy ears, but would not trade the look of my handsome boy for anything. Sue I think we all have a preferences about what we find attractive, certainly applies to our choice of partners . Personally I love tris with floppy/tipped ears and long coats but if a completely different looking dog came along who had the chariteristics that I wanted then abilities/persoanality will always trump looks.But if I was picking a puppy and one was a tri it would be very hard to resist!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sue R Posted July 19, 2013 Report Share Posted July 19, 2013 Oh, and I do understand preferences. My favorite is a medium rough-coat, black and white, prick or tipped ears, average size but compact build. Neither of my working dogs fit this description and I couldn't love either more. It's what's between the ears that counts but it often is how an animal looks that first gets our attention. No harm when you keep your priorities straight, as you say! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AerBear26 Posted July 19, 2013 Author Report Share Posted July 19, 2013 This is all that matters. That said, I do love a dog with prick ears but I also have to say that I find my dogs' (the boys) airplane ears to be very practical when working in pastures with seeding-out plants. They don't get stuff in their ears. All the topics about ear set and colors lately makes me really wonder what's important to people. I'm hoping it's just a matter of curiosity and not of priority. Like i said in the original post. It's complete curiosity. I'm very interested in genetics in general so these quirky features of border collies get my scientific wheels turning. Just totally for fun guys!! I could care less what my border collie ends up looking like from a working stand point. But like i said genetics are fun to think about. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sue R Posted July 19, 2013 Report Share Posted July 19, 2013 Sorry, I wasn't meaning to criticize you. I just sometimes get the feeling from some posts that some people are more vested in what their dog looks like (or will look like) than just what they are. And you are right, it is fun to ponder. And there is nothing like Border Collie ears to keep you guessing - up or down? Tipped or pricked? One up/one down? Flying nun ears? Even plain old flap ears (like a Beagle)? My Skye had his lovely prick ears in place by six months - but after a constant guessing game. Both down. One folded up and over his head. Both folded up and over his head (his little "dunce cap" stage). And finally, pricked! Dan seemed to have evenly-shaped ears for quite some time as a pup. Then one began to fold but not very nicely. The other developed and maintained that puppy-like "Beagle" ear. I really didn't like that and it did go away, but both his ears didn't take on their final set until (I think) he was a bit older, maybe eight or nine months. If wishing was ear set, both Celt and Dan would have grown beautiful pricked ears like my Skye had. It isn't, they didn't, and I love their silly airplane ears. PS - Sorry, I think I was being a crabby old woman this morning... Like i said in the original post. It's complete curiosity. I'm very interested in genetics in general so these quirky features of border collies get my scientific wheels turning. Just totally for fun guys!! I could care less what my border collie ends up looking like from a working stand point. But like i said genetics are fun to think about. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AerBear26 Posted July 19, 2013 Author Report Share Posted July 19, 2013 Sorry, I wasn't meaning to criticize you. I just sometimes get the feeling from some posts that some people are more vested in what their dog looks like (or will look like) than just what they are. No problem!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Liz P Posted July 19, 2013 Report Share Posted July 19, 2013 We all have our preferences. I find a sable dog with lots of tan and very little white to be ever so handsome. I also happen to really like smoothies and big prick ears. I even really like reds with green eyes. (Gasp, the horror!) I won't buy or breed based on color preferences, but given a well bred litter I will take the pup that appeals to me. This is a dog I purchased because I liked both her parents. Sire was a littermate to Hall of Fame dog Fieldstone Holly. Dam was Beryl, and excellent trial dog. There just happened to be a smooth coat, red and white bitch in the litter. And here is her grand niece, my current Open trial dog. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Debbie Meier Posted July 20, 2013 Report Share Posted July 20, 2013 We have some whose ears do not stand until they are fully grown and filled out, prior to that they will have days where they are up, one is up, both are down and then maybe back up again. Around about 2 or so they will go up and be up to stay. These are dogs with pretty large ears, the ones with the smaller ears seem to stand sooner. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jumpin Boots Posted July 20, 2013 Report Share Posted July 20, 2013 There's also that situation where you think you know what you want, and you get something else and may end up liking it better. I had hoped Timber would be a smooth with prick ears (after of course working ability, etc). Well he ended up being a wispy wannabe rough, which I love, sheds about 1/2 as much, doesn't retain water like a sponge with adorable waves. We got 1.75 of the ears, when its work time we have 2, but during play and normal activity he has a lazy ear But most importantly we have a healthy pup that is showing great stock work potential. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
juliepoudrier Posted July 22, 2013 Report Share Posted July 22, 2013 And as soon as you say something like that, I point you to my pup Birdie and her mom Lark, both of whom had HUGE prick ears at a rather young age (Birdie's were up between 8 and 10 weeks). I have a 7-year-old who can and does stand both ears up, quite often, but most of the time it's one pricked and one sort of airplane. J. These are dogs with pretty large ears, the ones with the smaller ears seem to stand sooner. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Debbie Meier Posted July 22, 2013 Report Share Posted July 22, 2013 say something like what? in no way was it a absolute and I was referring to our dogs not everyone's or anyone else's Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
juliepoudrier Posted July 22, 2013 Report Share Posted July 22, 2013 Sigh. I was noting that as soon as anyone says something about X usually means Y, there will be an exception. No need to take it as a personal insult Debbie. J. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Debbie Meier Posted July 23, 2013 Report Share Posted July 23, 2013 personal insult, nah Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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