Wonky Ears
German Shepherds are born with floppy ears. Their ears will stand up all on their own without any posting or clipping in most circumstances. Somewhere around 8 weeks old, you will begin to notice that their eras start doing crazy stuff.
They are up, down, and somewhere in between. I call this the wonky ear stage.
It is very common for each ear to be doing something different from the other. Sage had one ear that laid across the top of his head while the other was still floppy.
Sage weeks old
It is also very common for a pup's ears to be standing completely up and then fall down during teething. Please don't panic if this happens. It is normal and the ears will stand back up once teething is over. They will probably go up and down the entire time they are teething. They say if your German Shepherd's ears ever stood up they most certainly will again.
I went on vacation and when I returned Sage had lost all of his front upper teeth. His ears were standing but leaning against each other in a tented or teepee position which is a hilarious stage and the ears do separate in time.
His ears stayed this way for two weeks. When his adult teeth started cutting in his left ear flopped completely down and the right ear laid back down on the top of his head.
Your dog should be done teething before 6 months of age. Once the pup gets through the teething stage the ears should stand up all on their own.
Sage 15 Weeks Teepee Ears
There can be a few reasons that a German Shepherd's ears don't stand on their own. One of those reasons is genetics. This is called soft leather where the cartilage is not strong enough.
Another reason can be nutritional. I feed my pups a high-quality kibble 3 times per day. During the teething period, I change the 2nd feeding to a mixture of scrambled eggs and goats milk to increase their calcium intake. I also provide them with lots of bones and bully sticks to chew on as chewing helps develop the ear muscles.
Sometimes a pup can get a crease in its ear which can cause the blood flow to the ear to stop. A crease can be caused by playing too rough or some other trauma to the ear and the ear cartilage gets damaged.
Sage 17 Weeks Teething
If you don't see the ears starting to move up by 7 months of age it may be time to post the ears. I do not recommend posting ears before 7 months of age.
I have used a product called Red Line K9 Ear Supports and they work great. Place the supports inside the ears using a medical grade adhesive. Allow the supports to stay in the ears until they fall out on their own. Once they fall out determine if the ear is standing up well on its own and if it is not reinsert the supports. It can take up to a month with the supports in for the ears to be strong enough to stand on their own.
Although, most German Shepherd's ears will stand up on their own, once in awhile there will be one that no matter what you do the ears are not going to stand. This can be because of a genetic flaw or a trauma to the ear. This is unfortunate but it does not change the personality of this wonderful breed. Love them for who they are. 
Please remember that all German Shepherd pups are different. What one pup's ears do the others may not. Willow's ears were up when she came into my life at 12 weeks of age and they never went back down even through teething. Sage's ears are all over the place. Up, down, and somewhere in between. 
Willow and Sage are each 12 weeks old in these pictures 💕💕💕
Update on Sage: Sage ended up having issues with his teeth. His baby teeth would not fall out and most of his adult teeth grew in long before the baby teeth came out. The canine teeth were the worst and he ended up running fevers and not feeling well for a month or so with both the uppers and then the lowers. By the time the lower teeth finally came out Sage was 7 months old.
His right ear was still flopped over so I decided to go ahead and post that ear. Red Line K9 Ear supports were out of stock so I used Tear Mender glue.
I took a few pieces of hair from the top of his head and twisted them and put a little of the glue on the twist. I then stuck the twisted hair to the ear. This held the ear in an upright position. It stayed for about a week. When it came apart the ear was better but still not standing. I repeated the process and it stayed for about two more weeks. Now the ear is standing on its own. Sage is now 8 months old.
![Photo_1622163272757[1]](https://adventuresofwillowandsage.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/Photo_16221632727571-scaled.jpg "Photo_1622163272757[1]")
The photo gallery above shows the issues Sage had with his teeth. I have never experienced anything like this with any other pup that I have ever had but this is what led to me posting his ear. You can click through these photos with the arrows on the sides of the pictures.
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