Archive for the tag 'French Bulldog ears'

And now, a word from your French Bulldog Experts Admin

admin July 7th, 2008

Wow, we’re all pretty amazed at the responses we’ve gotten in the short time the blog has been up. We’ve had some great questions, and hopefully we’ve helped some of you with your problems.

Here’s a recap of some of the questions we’ve dealt with a few times, in hopes that anyone just arriving here might find some answers -

French Bulldog Skin Conditions

French Bulldog Ears

The main reason for this post, however, is to ask that those of you who’ve written us with some really worrisome conditions let us know how you - and your French Bulldogs! - are doing. We really do worry about you, so hey - write a letter now and then, and let us know how you’re all doing!

You can reach us at frenchbulldogz@gmail.com

Carol, French Bulldog Experts Blog Admin and general Frenchie Geek

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Ask the Frenchie Geek - French Bulldog pups ears up?

bullmarketfrogs July 3rd, 2008

A reader writes to ask:


I enjoyed reading the web site. I do have a question and it probably strange. Is a Frenchie born with ears erect or do they become erect later?
First off, there are no strange questions! Ok, I’m actually going to take that back, because we have had a few strange questions - but this isn’t one of them.

French Bulldogs, like all dogs, are born with their ears sealed. The flaps seal the ear canal shut, making pups effectively deaf for the first week or so of life. At about 12 - 15 days, the ear flaps open, and pups begin to hear.

Like most erect eared dog breeds, Frenchies adhere to their own personal schedule when it comes to ears ‘going up’. Some pups spend time with one ear up, one ear down (a syndrome we refer to as “Squeeee!” ear, because “Squeee!” is the sound you make as you almost die from the cuteness of the partially flopsy eared pup).

Solo with Flopsy Ears
Solo with ‘flopsy’ ears

Sometimes both ears go up, only to come back down during the traumatic teething period. Sometimes, especially with larger, softer leathered ears, the tips might ‘curl’.

French Bulldog Puppy with Ear Curl
Dexter with a ‘curl’ on his ear

The only rule of thumb is that each pup’s ears will do what they want on their own schedule, and usually without any need for owners to muck around with taping or popsicle sticks or worrying themselves frantic.

Leave them be, and they’ll come up in time.

Carol

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Ask the French Bulldog Veterinarian - Floppy Frenchie Ears?

lorihuntdvm June 5th, 2008

A question about floppy ears -

Floppy French Bulldog EarsI just acquired a 10 week old male brindle French bull dog from a not very reputable breeder, totally our fault, my husband got him on the spur of the moment as an anniversary gift and we did not do our home work. The baby was sold to me with a taped ear, the breeder stated he was developing a kink so I should tape it and it will straighten out with time.

Eight days later my puppy was diagnosed with cheyletiella. My husband, two pugs and I had to be treated for this mite issue and are still under treatment. It has resolved in the dogs, I have not been that fortunate.

Ten 10 days after we brought him home his other ear started bending back as well. Two vets have told me his ears will most likely not grow straight. I have read over the internet that taping the ears and giving calcium may help this issue. I continue to tape his little ears at night with a breathable non adhesive tape and I am giving him calcium and vitamins. I have noticed an improvement but I am not sure if the improvement is due to the taping of the ears at night and I am afraid to stop the calcium or the taping for fear that they might bend back again. I have enclosed photos of one of the ears and how it started to turn back, unfortunately I do not have photos of the other ear which is taped in the photo and was much worst. The third photo is after giving him calcium and taping every night.

What are your thoughts.

Where are you located ? If you are not located in the area, would you be so kind as to recommend a French bulldog expert close to Los Angeles.

Dr. Lori writes -

Hi there… I would stop worrying about those ears… they will end up just fine and they are just a growing phase… the calcium and taping may end up doing more harm than good… I have seen many many frenchie puppies have ears just like that and they end up as big beautiful bat ears…

As for the cheyletiella issue, it is great that you have it cleared in the dogs as that is more than half the battle. Humans are an accidental irregular host, so your symptoms should resolve in their own within 3 weeks, but of course, I am a veterinarian, so if you symptoms are not resolving, you should consult with your physician.

You may be able to find a veterinarian by checking out the links available on this site - http://frenchievets.ning.com

Good Luck, but please don’t lose any more sleep over those ears!

Dr. Lori Hunt, DVM

Tucker with Floppy French Bulldog ears(editor’s note: As Lori said, there’s really no need to worry about your little guy’s ears. In the photo above which you sent to us, he looks like a typical French Bulldog puppy of his age, and his ears do, too.

I’ve had pups with ears that flopped over and curled up until four or five months of age, but I’ve never had one whose ears didn’t eventually end up just where they should be. Tips, especially, can tend to ‘curl back’ for quite a long time. Once the ear leather stiffens up, the curl will usually disappear. I don’t tape or muck about with them - just leave them be and let Mother Nature do her thing…

Here’s a photo of Tucker, whose ears seemed to take forever to go up - and, even when they were up one day, they’d be back down the next.

Now, at almost 8 months old, he has lovely, perfect Frenchie ears. It’s all in the waiting..)

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Where’s the ears?

patpearce February 8th, 2008

Where’s the ears?

My Frenchie is 4 months old and his ears are still not fully up in
“bat mode”.  When we did get him his ears were fully flopped over, now
they stand up and the tips curl forward.  

How long till his ears stand up completely?  

Some have said I need to wait out his teething as they
tend to fall in this stage.  Others have suggested having a vet post
them up.  I would really like to know your take on this.  Thank you.
Pat Writes -

Ahhhh…   the ear question…..  Ok the first question would be for your breeder -  Are the ears in the line large or long? If so it will take a little longer for them to come up.

Most ears are up by 3 months, however I recently had a girl whose ears were FINALLY up at 6 months..  and yes I was very nervous about it…

You should make sure the ears are clean, that there are no ear infections or a lot of dirt in the ear - if there is dirt, clean the ear with water that is barely warm and perhaps a bit of dandruff shampoo….  swish it all around for a couple of minutes, then flush 2 or 3 times with barely warm water…..

Teething, a growth spurt, food changes,  or an illness can affect the ears standing…  when you say the tips are curled forward - do you mean just the very end?  or half way down?  if is it just the tippy-tips I wouldn’t worry at all  - if it is halfway down, then I’d be a little more concerned..

Things to do…  You can add vitamin c- a childrens chewable - and calcium to the diet.  Yes in pill form..

And you can tape the ear….  use as little stuff as possble - you don’t want to weght the ear down….   the best is a bit of mole skin cut an oval about the size of the ball of your thumb (maybe a bit smaller - you are going to put it across the crease in the ear where it droops - for reinforcement),  Before you put it inside the ear, be sure to clean the ear thoroughly with alcohol - and dry, then add the moleskin.  THEN take a 1/2″ wide strip of tape - white surgical works well. - you will need enough to go around the base of the ear. put outer edges of the ear leather together or nearly together in an oval or circle and run the tape around the base and lap it over itself so it will stick. so the ear is standing even tho it is smaller than it will be when on it’s own.

Do be aware if you have more than one pup, the others will have the tape off in a nano-second.  So you will need to separate the ear pup for at least a couple of hours at time..  If it will stay on for 3 days or so that will usually be all you have to do.. If you have to do 2 hour sessions it may take a week or more.

Now my girl with the ear, it just finally came up after a number of false starts…   what a relief..  There should be no need for a vet to intervene unless there is an ear infection.

Good luck

Pat

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