Reason 5: It’s Their Genetics
Healthy adult dogs, depending on their breed will either have floppy ears, pointy ears, or semi-prick ears.
Usually, dogs that have erect or semi-erect ears could end up with one floppy ear. I’ve personally seen plenty of Russell Terriers rocking the one floppy ear look!
However, if lop ears are a characteristic trait of a certain breed like a Spaniel for example, then they should both remain floppy, and if one is erect then it could be a sign of a health problem.
Mixed breed dogs on the other hand could end up with one ear up and the other down. This can also happen with stray dogs that don’t have a clear breed ancestry.
When it comes to ear genetics, you might be also interested in finding out that floppy ears can be a sign of domestication.
Dmitry Belyaev, a soviet scientist, and researcher started a breeding program using foxes as an experiment in the late 50s.
In his effort to domesticate foxes by selective breeding, he noticed that their characteristics changed.
The tame foxes developed floppy ears due to pedomorphosis, the retention of juvenile traits throughout adulthood.
Reason 4: Their Ears Haven’t Been Fully Developed
As a new dog parent, you may not know that having one ear up and one down is also a common phenomenon in puppies.
When puppies are born, they are both blind and deaf, so, they mostly rely on their sense of smell to navigate in this new world.
When it comes to their ears, hearing is the last sense they will fully develop, and they’ll start perceiving sound after they’re three weeks old.
But even as your dog begins to hear, their ear muscles, or to be more precise the part of the outer ear called pinna is still not fully developed, and that process takes time.
As I’ve mentioned before dogs can move their ears independently of one another, and this also means that one ear muscle can grow faster.
The size of the dog and their breed could also affect how fast their ear muscles develop. In some cases, small dogs will have both ears erect faster than larger breeds.
If you notice that your dog’s ear remains floppy when it should be erect, then you should talk to your dog’s veterinarian. They’ll be able to tell you whether your dog needs more time, or that’s they’re ears will remain lopsided.
#3: Ear problems
You should get worried about your dog’s lopsided ears if they always get ear infections.
When it’s painful, your dog will keep that ear flat against their head. They do that as a protective behavior.
Ear problems include infections such as:
Despite one affected ear flat against the head, the other can function normally.
Warning: If not given treatment asap, the ear may not stand erect anymore.
My DOG Has a FLOPPY EAR (Causes and Solutions ✅)
Dogs’ playful nature makes them do silly things that their owners might find cute or funny. One of these is when they have one ear up and one ear down. When a dog’s ears are erect, it means that he is paying attention.
But what does it mean when only one is up? In this article, we will talk about possible reasons for it.
