# Havanese ears sticking up!



## Diamonddave952 (Dec 7, 2010)

We adopted a little puppy girl from a breeder back in early December 2010 when she was approximately 12 weeks old. Her baby picture taken around 6 weeks old shows her ears down along the side of her face like all the Havanese pictures on this site. Ever since we got her, her ears would stick up (kinda like a Yorkie). I don't know if she is just trying to gather it all in and listening intensely and eventually her ears would be like other Havanese or if she is not a pure breed as the breeder lead us to believe. She is an awesome dog and the family just loves her and spoils her. Just curious if the ear thing is normal. Thanks!


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## Suzi (Oct 27, 2010)

was you dog sold to you regestured AKC I have only had two Havanese but I have never herd of one that the ears go up.


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## Pipersmom (Jul 27, 2009)

I thought I remembered seeing pictures of a dog with ears like that as a puppy-I think they went down when the dog got a little older.

Anyone with a better memory than me?

No matter what, it sounds like you have a great dog


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## krandall (Jun 11, 2009)

Pipersmom said:


> I thought I remembered seeing pictures of a dog with ears like that as a puppy-I think they went down when the dog got a little older.
> 
> Anyone with a better memory than me?
> 
> No matter what, it sounds like you have a great dog


That one's ears don't stand STRAIGHT up any more, but they look more like the ears on a Kerry Blue or a collie, where the ear stands up but the tip droops down. (I'm sure the weight of the hair helps) Whether these dogs are not pure bred or whether it is just a conformation flaw is impossible to say without more information from and about the breeder. One way or the other, if they are good pets, that's all that matters to their new owners!


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## Thumper (Feb 18, 2007)

Its not really common for them to stand up and its hard to say for sure if your breeder lied, are there other non hav traits?

I would probably be mad if someone sold me a mix breed as a full breed, just for the fact that there was dishonesty involved, but you could always look up the parents and verify those facts..

The important thing is, of course, that you think she's awesome and she's loved to pieces 

Kara


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## Paige (Sep 12, 2006)

My mother's havanese had it's ears down when she got him at 12 weeks old. I'm not sure when, but they started standing up and stayed up for about a month or two maybe longer, I don't really remember. The vet said he had seen it happen when some dogs are teething and they would go back down they did and they have stayed down now for 5 years. So, it may not be something to worry about at all.


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## TrishK (Nov 29, 2010)

DiamondDave, can you post pictures so we can all see your cutie please?


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## SOPHIES-MOM (Oct 4, 2010)

I had a maltese that had normal ears until it was older, then one went up and stayed up. I also have a neice who has a bichonpoo that was on sale because one ear went up. Now it has two normal ears. The one ear was up for about a year before it went down.


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## Diamonddave952 (Dec 7, 2010)

I am having troubles trying to upload a picture of Sadie to my profile so everyone can see her cute ears. I get "upload file fail" even when I compress the picture so the file size is less than 64kb. Operator error or are others having the same problem?


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## TrishK (Nov 29, 2010)

try just uploading within this thread and see if that works. Use the manage attachments button below and it will open a dialogue box from which to navigate.


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## Diamonddave952 (Dec 7, 2010)

This is Sadie at 12 weeks old (when we first adopted her).


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## Diamonddave952 (Dec 7, 2010)

This is Sadie at 12 weeks old. Ears are down...


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## SOPHIES-MOM (Oct 4, 2010)

Cutest thing I've ever seen. Now what's the problem again?


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## Suzi (Oct 27, 2010)

Diamonddave952 said:


> View attachment 34170
> 
> 
> This is Sadie at 12 weeks old. Ears are down...


 Sadie is so cute , do her ears go up and down?


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## Beanie (Aug 30, 2009)

Beanie's ears were down at 12 weeks, then, as they got longer, one stuck up, and one was down...now at 18 months, they are hanging down again. I think this sounds perfectly normal to me...


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## Diamonddave952 (Dec 7, 2010)

This is the most recent picture of Sadie.  Notice her ears are sticking up.


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## The Laughing Magpie (Aug 20, 2009)

Sadie is adorable! Maybe the ears are just slow to grow. Did you ask your breeder? I think she is as cute as a button.


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## Kathie (Jul 31, 2008)

Sadie is so cute! According to people posting it sounds like her ears could go back down later. You could talk to her breeder if it really bothers you, though. I have a feeling you will love her no matter what her ears do!!!


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## TrishK (Nov 29, 2010)

She's adorable Dave. She reminds me of Gizmo the gremlin; his ears were like that, but Sadie is far cuter. :biggrin1:


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## dodrop82 (May 21, 2010)

Oh my gosh, that is funny...and soooo adorable! What is the deal with these up and down ear stories. We need to get a good knowledgable vet on the forum so we can get to the bottom of things like this!!! OMG, I LOVE Sadie!


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## motherslittlehelper (Mar 18, 2010)

Awwwww - so cute! Had to laugh though at your statement 'Notice her ears are sticking up'! Ummmm, no, had to really look to see that! ound:  Just having a little fun.  I am wondering if they won't go back down when her hair gets longer, from the weight of the hair. She is one cute puppy!


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## LuckyOne (Sep 3, 2009)

She's so adorable. How old is she now?


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## Diamonddave952 (Dec 7, 2010)

Luckyone - she is 4 months and 3 weeks old now. She is a really great dog and get spoiled by everyone in the family


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## Leigh96 (Dec 20, 2010)

She is so stinking CUTE!!! I also recall seeing somewhere a picture of a Hav who went through an ears-up phase as a puppy - they went down later. But either way, she is just beautiful.


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## Thumper (Feb 18, 2007)

She is a cutie patooty! 

I agree with the others, ask the breeder...couldn't hurt to hear what she/he has to say.

Kara


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## Suzi (Oct 27, 2010)

one of Zoeys ears gets stuck back kind of like it is folded back. My breeder said that some puppys do that. Is that true?


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## hutsonshouse (Oct 14, 2010)

Suzi, one of my havs has one ear that flops back over his head too. I just gave him an Indian name of "Flop Ear"  HAHA


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## SOPHIES-MOM (Oct 4, 2010)

Sophie's ears do this all the time. I'm always flipping them back.


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## Kathie (Jul 31, 2008)

I think they do that more when they're younger because Abby's used to do that a lot when I first got her and now I hardly ever see it flipped back. I think the weight of their hair makes a difference, too.


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## krandall (Jun 11, 2009)

Kodi's ears sometimes flip back too. But as someone else said, with more hair (the hair on his ears is now more than twice the length of his ears) it happens much less than when he was younger.

He actually had BIG ears for his size as a little puppy, but has grown into them. Some of his tiny puppy pix make him look like Dumbo!


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## Ellie NY (Aug 27, 2010)

Sadie is misnamed. You should have called her Cutie Pie. The ears add to her cuteness quotient. I think once her hair grows longer it will help weigh down her ears a bit. If not, she may look like a Papillon which wouldn't be a terrible thing at all.


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## krandall (Jun 11, 2009)

Ellie NY said:


> Sadie is misnamed. You should have called her Cutie Pie. The ears add to her cuteness quotient. I think once her hair grows longer it will help weigh down her ears a bit. If not, she may look like a Papillon which wouldn't be a terrible thing at all.


That's actually what the ears on some of the short haired Havanese look like.


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## siewhwee (Sep 24, 2009)

My Puppy's ears stuck out too when he was young, about 11 weeks old when we got him. My husband and I called them Yoda (from Star Wars) ears. That did not last long, much to our disappointment because he looked really cute with his ears sticking out. Now his ears are down, and only pop up once in a while.


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## kudo2u (Mar 7, 2009)

Well, I don't know, but based on the posts here I can make a relatively educated guess. I'm currently owned by two Havanese, but both were rescues and already full grown when they came to me. Their ears were both down.

However, I've had many breeds through the years, including Blue Heeler, GSD, and Akita, all of whom have upright ears. In each of these cases, the pups ears were flopped, and a they grew older, the ears become more upright. 

When a dog is teething, he chews on everything in sight, working his jaw muscles A LOT. The jaw muscles are somehow connected to the muscles that hold the ears upright. So in the teething stage, those muscles develop to the point they can hold the weight of the ears, thus keeping them upright.

If I were to guess, these smaller dogs who have upright ears are teething, working those muscles. Then as the teething ends, the muscles gradually go down to their non-steriodal size, and gravity slowly takes over, pulling the ears back into their "natural" (flopped) position.

Again, no expert, but based on my experience with larger dogs with upright ears, and based on the time frame people here seem to be referencing, my theory makes sense in my head.


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## krandall (Jun 11, 2009)

Timing-wise, I think you might be right. However, I stll think this would be outside the norm of what is expected for a Hav puppy. 

I know with one of the threads about a "Hav puppy" with ears that stood up, it turned out that the puppy (purchased from a pet store) was only half Hav. The owner, who had never seen a Hav prior to purchasing the puppy, was given a (partial?) refund. I believe that the person posted again recently, and the puppy's ears HAVE tipped over again, but are not in "normal Hav position or shape. They are set a little higher on the head, and are a bit more like the tulip shaped ears on collies and shelties, but with longer hair. 

That's different than this puppy though... this one's early pictures DO look like a lot of other purebred Hav puppies, but with exceptionally small ears. Maybe it's a combination of the pup's small ears plus the teething. In that case, you WOULD expect them to go back down again as the puppy stops teething AND the extra weight of longer hair starts to weight them back down.

One way or the other, it's a mighty cute little face!!!


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## Suzi (Oct 27, 2010)

that is a cute picture of kodey He did have big ears!.
My breeder said she would tell Zoey " Who dressed you this morning!"


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## Ginger Raspberry (1 d ago)

Thumper said:


> Its not really common for them to stand up and its hard to say for sure if your breeder lied, are there other non hav traits?
> 
> I would probably be mad if someone sold me a mix breed as a full breed, just for the fact that there was dishonesty involved, but you could always look up the parents and verify those facts..
> 
> ...


My 4-month-old pedigree Havanese has one ear that is sticking up. No idea why. I bought this pedigree ACA full registered chocolate sable gold Havanese at four weeks. I have had her for a week. She is scheduled for a vet check but they are booked out. She is not sick! Very happy, eats good, plays, sleeps; fine. But, one of her ears sticks straight up. She had a vet exam per what I have just two days before I bought her which says her ears and everything else is normal. I tried calling them but the front desk just wants me to schedule ($$$$). Actually, it is important to know. I mean, she was 4995.00 and I have all these documents. No I am not a breeder, I buy based on genetic traits hoping for certain outcomes. That is another topic. This is about ears sticking up. email [email protected].


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## krandall (Jun 11, 2009)

zz45bbjg said:


> My 4-month-old pedigree Havanese has one ear that is sticking up. No idea why. I bought this pedigree ACA full registered chocolate sable gold Havanese at four weeks. I have had her for a week. She is scheduled for a vet check but they are booked out. She is not sick! Very happy, eats good, plays, sleeps; fine. But, one of her ears sticks straight up. She had a vet exam per what I have just two days before I bought her which says her ears and everything else is normal. I tried calling them but the front desk just wants me to schedule ($$$$). Actually, it is important to know. I mean, she was 4995.00 and I have all these documents. No I am not a breeder, I buy based on genetic traits hoping for certain outcomes. That is another topic. This is about ears sticking up. email [email protected].


I am not sure what ACA is. The proper registry for Havanese in the United States is the AKC (American Kennel Club) In Canada it would be the CKC (Canadian Kennel Club) It is not proper conformation for a Havanese to have erect ears at any age, and $4995.00 is an EXTREMELY high price for a pet quality Havanese puppy. That does NOT, however, mean that she is not a purebred Havanese. She could certainly be pure Havanese with a serious conformation flaw. But it is ONLY a cosmetic flaw. (And there i a possibility that if tou let the hair on her ears grow long, it might weigh that ear down enough that it will flop over for you). It is also not anything that a vet would tell you is a physical “problem” with the dog. It does not make her the least bit unhealthy… just not to standard for the breed.

If You liked her well enough, even with her stand-up ear, to pay $5000 for her, I’m not sure why you are questioning it now that you have her. But this is something you should take up with her breeder directly.


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