How to care for a dog’s ears and prevent problems

Dog ears come in various shapes and sizes; floppy, folded, small or large.

Unlike humans, a dog’s ears are a central feature of the dog’s face.

It takes around 18 muscles to rotate, raise, tilt and lower their ears.

They can even move them independently, and any dog owner knows how ear movement can add to your dog’s facial expression.

Dog ear muscles work hard to serve two essential purposes: hearing and communication.

While they often look cute and one of the favorite parts for the dog owner to play with, there are a few things pet owners must know about dog ears, how to care for them, and things not to do.

Dog Ears: Everything You Must Know

Dog ears are an essential part of a dog’s body language and are even more important in reading your pet’s mood than his tail.

When your dog is interested, his ears will perk up, or when she is sad, she might droop her ears, and of course, if your dog feels threatened, her ears will be flat against her head. Dog ears that are forward mean your dog is paying close attention to something or may also be aggressive.

That is why it is a good idea to read other body language clues to gauge the mood of your or other dogs.

But other than showing a Fido’s mood, dog ears are also remarkable hearing devices, so much so that when you are fast asleep at night, it is still noisy for your dog because he hears the smallest sounds.

It sounds you don’t even realize exists. Your dog’s ears are far more sensitive than human ears and are capable of hearing at a higher frequency. This is how and why dog whistles work only on dogs.

While the nose is their primary tool of sense, ears are the second. Dogs actually rely on their ears more than on their eyesight.

They turn their heads to locate the source of a sound and rotate their ears to precisely target the origins of what might be an intruder, a rodent, or a visitor’s car pulling up in the driveway.

Dog ears are an essential part of a dog’s body language and are even more important in reading your pet’s mood than his tail.

When your dog is interested, his ears will perk up, or when she is sad, she might droop her ears, and of course, if your dog feels threatened, her ears will be flat against her head. Dog ears that are forward mean your dog is paying close attention to something or may also be aggressive.

That is why it is a good idea to read other body language clues to gauge the mood of your or other dogs.

But other than showing a Fido’s mood, dog ears are also remarkable hearing devices, so much so that when you are fast asleep at night, it is still noisy for your dog because he hears the smallest sounds.

It sounds you don’t even realize exists. Your dog’s ears are far more sensitive than human ears and are capable of hearing at a higher frequency. This is how and why dog whistles work only on dogs.

While the nose is their primary tool of sense, ears are the second. Dogs actually rely on their ears more than on their eyesight.

They turn their heads to locate the source of a sound and rotate their ears to precisely target the origins of what might be an intruder, a rodent, or a visitor’s car pulling up in the driveway.

Dog Ear Types

Bat Ears

Bat ears come from breeds like the french bulldog.

Blunt Ears

Blunt ears are ears that have a rounded tip at the top. As you can see from the image above that the ears stand straight up.

Button Ears

Button ears are slightly upright but hang over. Pugs also have ears like this. You could argue this is similar to semi-prick ears.

Drop Ears

Drop ears are large long floppy ears that hang down completely.

Dogs like the basset hound, beagles, and cocker spaniels both have drop ears.