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Awkward ear stage?

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8.7K views 22 replies 18 participants last post by  Rainheart  
#1 ·
Starting yesterday, I am noticing Beamer is holding his ears very awkward and unnatural. I cleaned them out at work today (not that there was anything in there) but just as a precaution. He is now holding his ears like this all the time, when it was just occasionally yesterday. Is this just a stage pups go through? It has been over 10 years since I had a golden pup. Here is a picture of how he normally holds his ears.

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This is a picture of how he is holding his ears today during our walk.

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Any comments are greatly appreciated!
 
#2 ·
:) My only comment is he is adorable X100!!! I cant help with the ear thing though, but it will be interesting to hear if their ear set changes as they grow.
 
#7 ·
Bentley sometimes holds his ears up and sometimes down. I just thought it was something new he figured out how to do. Maybe it's a puppy thing but I hope somebody will know because now I'm worried :uhoh:

Beamer is adorable!!! I just told my husband yesterday if we ever get Bentley a brother we should name him Beamer :)
 
#8 ·
Couldn't it just be that he is more relaxed in the first picture, and more up and about and watching you in the next? To me he just looks like hes more alert, inquisitive, listening, and watching :) But hey... I dunno just a guess from looking at the pics.
 
#12 ·
Thanks everyone for your replies!! Beamer is a sweetheart (and very adorable, I know!)

I'll have to see how he does today, since I just got up (it's my day off, yay!)

If it is just a stage, that is great, if not, then that is alright too! He seemed to be holding it like that all day yesterday, even when relaxed.

It is not an ear infection starting; his ears are sparkling clean, and I did clean them at work yesterday just for good measure, but they look great.
 
#14 ·
I think it's just that he's a puppy and his ears are starting to grow into the ever cute big ear phase. It also looks like he's in a mid-perky ear set, like he just heard something that caught his attention. Anyway, he's uber cute and his ears will only make him even cuter, no matter which way they end up setting.

As for his ears possibly bothering him. Ike's ears were always pristine yet he was always itchy. You could see his ear muscles moving as he flinched with each new irritation. He didn't always shake his head or scratch, but did flinch or 'move' the muscles around his ears/head a lot. He eventually did develop ear infections at about a year old, which never fully healed so he was on meds constantly. Turned out he had food allergies. I switched his food and his ears have been fine since.
 
#20 ·
Thank you all again for your responses. He is still holding them like that today, pretty much for the whole day. I do think he is rather adorable, but here is to hoping it is just a stage! Regardless, I love him no matter what!

Hopefully this is not an indication of some ear problems when he gets older. My first golden had a bunch of ear problems. My labs, however, do not. I hope that he does not have a food allergy. I love the food that he is on, and his stools are normal. He used to be rather itchy during the first few weeks, but I think (and the vets) it was due to the environment change from NC to northern VA.
 
#21 ·
Funny; Edgar's ear started doing that same exact thing yesterday. Just one ear though. I'm really hoping it's just a phase. He doesn't have an ear infection. I've been keeping them clean and I had the vet check just incase.
So I guess we'll see how their ears progress!
I can get a picture of Edgar's if you want. :)
 
#22 ·
I know this post was a couple of weeks ago, and don't know if Beamer's ears are still doing that. But when I saw the second picture, I just thought "oh, good Lily's not the only one." Lily's ears were doing that for several weeks. I called her "goofy ears." I too, checked her ears to make sure there was nothing in them, and they were fine. They don't do that anymore, though.

Here's a pic of one of her goofy ears.:)
 

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#23 ·
Thanks for posting, Michelle. Lilly is too cute.

Beamer's ears had stopped doing that for a while, and now started back up again this past weekend for a few days. This morning he is still doing it.