# Mali Ears



## John Wolf (Dec 12, 2009)

I recently got a new malinois pup. It almost 10 weeks old. I have seen the pup since 4 weeks old. His ears have never been up. I really couldn't care less about it unless there is some sort of negative that goes along with it. When i got him at 7 weeks, he had a little case of coccidia that we got cleared up and he seems to be feeling great with tons of malinois energy. I know to wait and they will probably come up but I just wanted to know about any cons that could come from a floppy eared Mal.


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## Candy Eggert (Oct 28, 2008)

John Wolf said:


> I recently got a new malinois pup. It almost 10 weeks old. I have seen the pup since 4 weeks old. His ears have never been up. I really couldn't care less about it unless there is some sort of negative that goes along with it. When i got him at 7 weeks, he had a little case of coccidia that we got cleared up and he seems to be feeling great with tons of malinois energy. I know to wait and they will probably come up but I just wanted to know about any cons that could come from a floppy eared Mal.


John I can't really address the "ugliness" factor with a floppy eared Malinois :razz: But if you can give him some ground up chicken necks it will go a long way to helping his ears stand. Right now his calcium supply is going to his bones and teeth, ears last. 

For the raw feeder experts here on the board can he give whole chicken necks at this age with no issues?


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## John Wolf (Dec 12, 2009)

Haha... I already think Malinois are horribly ugly. I didn't get it for the looks. I have been feeding chicken backs and beef brisket.


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## Maren Bell Jones (Jun 7, 2006)

John, are you feeding anything besides chicken backs and beef brisket? Is this your first dog on a home prepared raw diet?

And I think Mals can be quite gorgeous. Mine are, at least.


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## nathan cram (Jun 9, 2008)

if you want use foam tape like what is used for installing kitchen sinks its 10mm wide by 5to 10mm thick and the the adhesivs used isnt harsh do it for 5 or so days at a time on the inside of the ears

as well as what what said about the chicken necks whole will be fine at that age just supervise him for the first one if your unsure


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## Patrick Salerno (Apr 6, 2009)

Candy Eggert said:


> John I can't really address the "ugliness" factor with a floppy eared Malinois :razz: But if you can give him some ground up chicken necks it will go a long way to helping his ears stand. Right now his calcium supply is going to his bones and teeth, ears last.
> 
> For the raw feeder experts here on the board can he give whole chicken necks at this age with no issues?


Yes the dog needs more clacium. As far as the dog being able to eat whole necks and backs vs. gorund. Well that really depends on the individual dog.


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## Candy Eggert (Oct 28, 2008)

Patrick Salerno said:


> Yes the dog needs more clacium. As far as the dog being able to eat whole necks and backs vs. gorund. Well that really depends on the individual dog.


That's why I suggested "ground" chicken necks for the puppy because I'm not a raw feeder and wasn't sure. ;-) Ground chicken necks are pretty safe. Worked for my young pup, with big heavy bone.

Yes taping gives additional support as well. If you're willing to keep it up. Since John's pup has always been floppy it might give him a little more help in that department.


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## Bob Scott (Mar 30, 2006)

Could be genetically weak ears. How were the parents/siblings?
Remember that (aprox) 12-18 wks the teeth are comming in so don't expect them to come up during that time.


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## Maren Bell Jones (Jun 7, 2006)

Patrick Salerno said:


> Yes the dog needs more clacium. As far as the dog being able to eat whole necks and backs vs. gorund. Well that really depends on the individual dog.


Whether he needs more calcium is going to depend on what else the pup is being fed. Pups cannot exist on necks and backs alone. ;-)


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## Kadi Thingvall (Jan 22, 2007)

How floppy is floppy? IE hound dog ears, pit bull ears, sheltie ears, ??? Lots of Malinois pups ears aren't up at 10 weeks. As long as there is "lift" to the base, I don't worry about it. If they are total hound dog ears, then I might worry.


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## georgia estes (Nov 3, 2009)

Just thought I'd interject here from personal experience. We have a dog in our club, (a mal) a bad ass one at that, who had hound dog ears. They were never taped, just left alone. All of the sudden at 1 year old they stood up. It seemed like it happened overnight, right when his owner gave up and accepted the fact that he had a floppy eared mal. The dog's ears look fantastic. Don't worry about it.


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## James Downey (Oct 27, 2008)

John Wolf said:


> I recently got a new malinois pup. It almost 10 weeks old. I have seen the pup since 4 weeks old. His ears have never been up. I really couldn't care less about it unless there is some sort of negative that goes along with it. When i got him at 7 weeks, he had a little case of coccidia that we got cleared up and he seems to be feeling great with tons of malinois energy. I know to wait and they will probably come up but I just wanted to know about any cons that could come from a floppy eared Mal.


 
Do you plan on showing him in a conformation show? Other than that....Who gives a shit about his ears, it's his bite and nerve that matters, he's a Malinois.


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## Erica Boling (Jun 17, 2008)

georgia estes said:


> Just thought I'd interject here from personal experience. We have a dog in our club, (a mal) a bad ass one at that, who had hound dog ears. They were never taped, just left alone. All of the sudden at 1 year old they stood up. It seemed like it happened overnight, right when his owner gave up and accepted the fact that he had a floppy eared mal. The dog's ears look fantastic. Don't worry about it.


This is SO good to hear and gives some of us hope! I have a 7 month old Mal with one ear that flops at times. I've been putting moleskins in his ears... starting around 6 months of age.. and it's really been helping. His ears popped up a few minutes around 11 weeks of age, and then were quite floppy. The right ear would come up and down, but wouldn't stay up for very long. After using the moleskin, it started to get a lot stiffer. He doesn't use the moleskin in the right ear anymore, but I'm still using it for his left ear. I have a sister with a large German Shepherd. She said his ears didn't come up until he was about a year old. She didn't provide any additional support either. They just came up on their own.


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## Erica Boling (Jun 17, 2008)

James Downey said:


> Do you plan on showing him in a conformation show? Other than that....Who gives a shit about his ears, it's his bite and nerve that matters, he's a Malinois.


My Malinois looked like a Lab with floppy ears when he as younger. It's nice when they look like a Malinois  ... but I agree.... I'd rather have good nerves and a good biting dog with floppy ears rather than a pointy eared dog with horrible nerves and no bite.


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## John Wolf (Dec 12, 2009)

Thanks for all the replies. No I do not plan to show in conformation. I just know that some dogs are prone to yeast infections in their ears. I couldn't really care less about the looks. I have raised a couple of dogs on raw. Backs and brisket are just the foundation of the diet. I feed a well rounded diet. 

His nerve and bite have been great so far. Just been doing a little rag work. I've just had him out seeing the world. Hasn't been terrified of anything yet. 

Thanks for all the replies. It just looks like I am going to wait and see if they come up and if they don't I've just gone one ugly-ass dog. haha


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## Martin Koops (Oct 15, 2009)

I always hoped that one of my Malinois ears would not come up to annoy the show types. But sure enough both came up perfectly. Not an issue imo.


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## Michael Swetz (Jul 27, 2009)

Lets see some pics of the little bugger. Just out of curiousity, what made you decide to go with the mali over the GSD?


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## Carol Boche (May 13, 2007)

Candy Eggert said:


> For the raw feeder experts here on the board can he give whole chicken necks at this age with no issues?


Absolutely, that is what I start all pups on...as well as chicken backs. 

You can also tape the ears up as well....however I would wait until after teething....about 5 or 6 months.


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## Candy Eggert (Oct 28, 2008)

Carol Boche said:


> Absolutely, that is what I start all pups on...as well as chicken backs.
> 
> You can also tape the ears up as well....however I would wait until after teething....about 5 or 6 months.


Thanks Carol  I knew the raw experts would know best.

The teething stage is when I saw Rico's ears go down a little. Gave ground chicken necks and viola c'est upright and stayed that way. Since he's a resource guarder and gulper I was afraid to give whole anything to the boy. #-o


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## Martine Loots (Dec 28, 2009)

Kadi Thingvall said:


> How floppy is floppy? IE hound dog ears, pit bull ears, sheltie ears, ???* Lots of Malinois pups ears aren't up at 10 weeks*. As long as there is "lift" to the base, I don't worry about it. If they are total hound dog ears, then I might worry.


Exactly. Nothing to worry about at all. They should be up after the teething (6mths). Before that time, no need to worry, it depends on the dog. Some have their ears up at 5 weeks, others at 6 mths.


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## georgia estes (Nov 3, 2009)

Martine Loots said:


> Exactly. Nothing to worry about at all. They should be up after the teething (6mths). Before that time, no need to worry, it depends on the dog. Some have their ears up at 5 weeks, others at 6 mths.


 
I don't know if Mals are the same as bull terriers but a while back when I was way into EBTs and I had one, I heard from breeders that if the dog was going to be a heavier boned dog, the ears wouldn't come up for a while, and if they were going to be lighter boned terrier-types, the ears would stand quickly. Mine was a 'terrier type' and his ears stood almost from birth. A friend of mine had a heavier 'bully type' and his ears didn't come up for almost a year. I know I've seen some huge mals and some 'terrier' looking mals so IDK


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