Hello,

We will soon be adding a new addition to our family.  I am concerned with the little guys ears. He is the only one in the litter (6 weeks old) whose ears are flopped over. I will note that he is an AKC pup, both his parents ears are standing, and he is the biggest in the litter and to me his ears seem bigger as well. I have read that it may be because his ears are bigger and they may need more time for the cartilage to stiffen up. It may be that his litter mates are chewing on his ears a lot. It could be a few things. I know it may still be early however, I have had Huskies since I was a baby and have not seen a pup with such floppy ears and just wanted some others opinions about this cutie. TIA

He is terribly cute and looks pure. You've read correctly. Some just take longer. Quality of dog makes a huge difference. AKC just means they should be pure, not necessarily that they will meet standard so larger pups or ones with bigger than average ears can take a little longer than others. He doesn't look like he's too far from being there though. By the time he's 8 weeks I imagine they will be up. I've heard of some people massaging the ears to stimulate things if they aren't up full-time when they get them. Just gotta wait for the cartilage to thicken and stiffen. Welcome to the forum!

Awwwwww

Way to cute, and already has the "puppy eyes" down; who can resist that face!

Awww...such a cutie! My son has a husky mix whose eats don't quite stand up. All but the very tip. When he runs, it's really cute cause his little ear tips go bouncy bouncy bouncy. We love him anyway

At 6 weeks, it's really not uncommon for the ears to flop still. Once you get him, they will probably be standing up, only to possibly flop again once he starts teething (it happened with my boy, Kohdi) not to worry though, they will stand straight up again

Congratulations on your new pup! He sure is cute!

Thank you for your input. I just want to make sure he is going to be all good to go. I am getting him as a family companion and to be a life friend for our almost 2 year old Shila. I know it shouldn't matter but, I of course want his ears to be standing. We will get him on or around Valentine's day and are very excited. I'm feeling like the mom who is waiting for her new baby to arrive. hahah.

You ARE waiting for your baby to arrive! And I understand the wanting the ears to stand up. Ami did not show a wooly coat when we got him...he had been neglected and all his fur was gone. When it started growing...and growing...and growing, I was quite bewildered, had not heard of a wooly Siberian. For a long time, I carried a sort of hidden disappointment, wanting a "real" Siberian that was within standard. Same with Archer's ears. Now we have Z'ev, sort of a permanent foster, and his major fault is no stop from forehead to snout plus he's too straight in the front. Ami has a beautiful stop. I wish I was one of those people for whom faults don't matter, but, there it is. Over time, however, I have come to love them for what they are...and after adding Z'ev, I am at my limit with what I can do (possibly over ) and no longer have this hunger for the perfect Siberian Husky.

Hopefully, your little guy's ears will stand up in time.

Hey there! So our guy was also the biggest of the litter and a the others also chewed and pulled on his ears A LOT. Loki's ears were the last to stand up, I voiced my concerns to the breeder (who was giving me update photos almost daily) she began to give him salmon oil as well as more hardy chew toys around 8.5 weeks they both stayed up. At 10 weeks one dropped again but with us focusing on his chewing behaviour and keeping up with the oils both ears are up and happy. Also we now have a 7 month old who has only ever put his mouth on his toys. Good luck and congrats!

Kohdi came to me, at 9 weeks old, with upright ears...then...this happened, LOL. But, they ended up standing back up all on their own and havnt been back down since.

We got Mox at 9 weeks and he was the only one in the litter of 4 with floppy ears still. (It was OBSCENELY CUTE....seriously....it was ridiculous) 2 days after he came home one ear went up then about a week later the other went up. Now when he's really tired one will still sag a bit, but as you can see they're at attention now!

Congrats on your new baby!

Thank you everyone. I am enjoying all the pictures, shared past experiences and information I am getting more and more excited as the time grows near. We live in Maine and are still getting snow and more snow haha and with that means lots of outside playtime for the new little guy. <3 I already went and bought a bunch of different toys, blankets and a bed for this little dude almost two weeks ago, can we say ecstatic? Thank you again and I look forward to any and all help as well as future posts that I can participate in.

I had to laugh, rereading your first message. If you think his ears are big now, wait a few months and you'll swear you have a pair of ears with a dog attached - somewhere!

There's a stage as they grow up that their legs become *long* and their ears become *big* (not necessarily at the same time) and you have to wonder what type of mutant did you buy!!!

Hey guys he is 8+ weeks now. His left ear seems to be up more but, that one has always been halfway up. The right ear is still laid over all the way. Just got this guy home last night and he is such a sweet and gentle that just wants to be with us. Can't wait for our adventures.

Awww, he is a cutie! congrats!

I am surprised the ears aren't up by now, I still feel they will stand up but yeah, I'm surprised there isn't more progress at this point. Kohdi was my only Husky to get flop ear, but his ears were up when I got him at 9 weeks, the flop happened later and I was told it probably had something to do with his teething. When you picked him up, did the breeder talk about his ears at all?

Artic_Wind wrote:

Awww, he is a cutie! congrats!

I am surprised the ears aren't up by now, I still feel they will stand up but yeah, I'm surprised there isn't more progress at this point. Kohdi was my only Husky to get flop ear, but his ears were up when I got him at 9 weeks, the flop happened later and I was told it probably had something to do with his teething. When you picked him up, did the breeder talk about his ears at all?

Thank you!!!

The breeder stated many times that none of her pups have had floppy ears. I have seen pics of previous pups too. Both parents ears are of course up and I have paperwork for AKC registration. One of Atka's ears was up for a bit the other down and the other littler mates were all up. Then about 2 1/2 weeks ago all the pups ears in the litter went down.

It's my understanding that it could be that this could be because his cartilage is thicker and needs more time to stiffen up. That his ears may be larger/longer and need more time to gain strength to stand. Lastly that the floppy ears are due to teething and that puppies ears may stand and fall until teething is done.  Or floppy ears could be because of all of the above or some of these factors.

His ears are average in length,  nothing crazy but, they are thick.  I am considering taping them (only if they do not stand in a month or two) which is something I had never thought I would think of doing. He is pet quality however, I would prefer his ears to stand and do not want to wait too long to help him.

I don't know if I'd tape them.  Since his ears are thick, I'd say that is more than likely the reason. Kohdi's ears are super thick and as I mentioned, he's been the only husky I've had (out of 6 altogether) to get ear flop. Since he was the only one, I was in shock when they went down! LOLOL.

Congratulations! What a frosty little nugget!!! if they don't stand up... I'll take him off your hands , Bohdi is going to need a friend at some point

dharveyk wrote:

Congratulations! What a frosty little nugget!!! if they don't stand up... I'll take him off your hands , Bohdi is going to need a friend at some point

no thank you. I'm not the owner that re-homes for defects. He and my Shila have paired up quite nicely as well as he and my children. I have a Boston who's ears never stood up either. But I'm still going to try to help the pup if I can...

Artic_Wind wrote:

I don't know if I'd tape them.  Since his ears are thick, I'd say that is more than likely the reason. Kohdi's ears are super thick and as I mentioned, he's been the only husky I've had (out of 6 altogether) to get ear flop. Since he was the only one, I was in shock when they went down! LOLOL.

His left ear seems to be wanting to stand a lot. There are moments my husband and I look at him and say "ah, it's right there" lol. The right one is just hanging out flapping in the wind (literally)it. We are definitely going to give them more time to do their own thing. We shall see.

Here is how Atka's ears progressed. We got him at 8 weeks and 5 days. By 9 weeks and 2 days his left ear popped all the way. The right ear that had been completely flopped over since birth slowly started coming around and finally popped up this past Saturday the 24th. (9 weeks and 4 days) This has been my first husky baby with floppy ears. We were worried since it was new to us but, are so happy his ears have stood up so beautifully. He is such a sweet, and handsome little guy. He loves to wrestle his big sister and sleep A LOT!  Thank you everyone who commented with advice and support. I look forward to future interactions and seeing all your babies.

Awesome!!!! Some really great pics of him too! He looks great Shila is a cutie too!

Kohdi's went down when he was teething so in case Alka's ears go back down, don't freak out! (Like I did, LOLOL) they'll pop back up.

@Artic_Wind: Thank you! He really is a sweetheart and we love his markings. Atka and Shila have bonded so well. Since I was a kid I have always known huskies love having a husky buddy. Their energy together is just different. I love seeing them together thus far. Shila has been my baby for almost 2 years (2 in April and we got her in May) we have a Boston Terrier she has been running around with but he is an old man and were thinking about the long haul for her, that's how we got Atka

@LannA89 yes! Atka's markings are awesome!

Shila is beautiful! What is her coloring? She looks like a silver and white but I'm not positive. This is a pic of my last female Husky, Anuschka, she was silver and white and Shila reminds me a lot of her.

Shila is white with a gray saddle back I would say. Her ears have a very light tint of red that if it were a person's hair color I would say were strawberry blonde in color lol.

Anuschka is gorgeous. Your dogs have beautiful features and coats, great bloodlines from what I can tell. So pretty!

I love that they are not wearing collars eiher. We take ours pups collars off whenever we can. They look so pretty without them, majestic as my husband likes to say. We have a perimeter fence for our 3 acres so they wear a collar for that   We do not dare let them out without it. The new little guy has already shown us he wants to explore haha.

Do you use a DSLR camera or your phone for your pictures? I use my phone primarily, if they see me coming they stop what they are doing.

LannA89 wrote:

Shila is white with a gray saddle back I would say. Her ears have a very light tint of red that if it were a person's hair color I would say were strawberry blonde in color lol.

Anuschka is gorgeous. Your dogs have beautiful features and coats, great bloodlines from what I can tell. So pretty!

I love that they are not wearing collars eiher. We take ours pups collars off whenever we can. They look so pretty without them, majestic as my husband likes to say. We have a perimeter fence for our 3 acres so they wear a collar for that   We do not dare let them out without it. The new little guy has already shown us he wants to explore haha.



Do you use a DSLR camera or your phone for your pictures? I use my phone primarily, if they see me coming they stop what they are doing.

I think the red you are seeing means Shila is red factored, just meaning she carries the gene for red. Another member in here, Huskymom09, also a breeder, explained the red/tan/brown tones that show up in Huskies and I think I remember her calling it factored. Shila either had a red parent or a red further back in her lines. Anuschka had a little bit as a puppy, on her forehead and by her ears but it went away. From what I've seen, red factoring is really common in the silver and whites and I'd say the whites too cuz I see a lot of white huskies who turn almost a reddish color during certain times of the year. Anuschka also had the darker saddle like Shila, but faded away too. As a puppy it was dark black and looked just like a saddle, but got lighter and lighter as she grew. It probly was still there, but just had the white fluff over it.

Thank you so much!!! As pretty as Anuschka was, and Malukhai too, both had epilepsy that cut their lives short I did trust the breeder, she bred show dogs/pets (Huskies) for something like 47 years. She was holistic, her dogs only ate raw, she taught dog nutrition in the universities, so I don't know what went wrong but something obviously did. Kohdi and Mishka came from a different breeder. I think I did good with them though

Kohdi and Mishka are my first not to wear collars around the house. When they are outside, I am outside with them, lol. I know from my very first Husky and my Malamute, who wore collars at all times, they developed these growths on their neck as they aged. Vet said they were harmless and would/could fall off, which they did. They were right on the back of their neck where the collar sits so while I'm not positive the collar contributed to them, I'm pretty confident that they did. I feel it's more than coincidence that two different dogs, two different breeds for that matter, developed these growths on the same spot on their necks. So anyways, Kohdi and Mishka go without around the house. Worst case scenario, if they got away, they are microchipped. But yeah, if they had the run of acreage like yours do, no doubt they would be wearing collars, lol.

I mostly use a digital camera and sometimes my iPad or iPhone. Last year I went camera shopping to get a DSLR, but I just couldn't imagine carrying that thing around for the type of pics I like to take. I did find a pretty decent camera that has the capability of taking some DSLR quality pics, but it's hit and miss on quality. However, it does a better job at action pics than my old iPhone and my iPad camera just sucks. I don't know how others take such awesome pics on the same devices! Hahaha.