Quote Originally Posted by venus74
Do you think this is a fluke, or could it be a problem with the breeding? She is just concerned that they paid quite a bit for this dog and the ears seem to be way out of breed standard.

She was told by her vet to put a piece of chewed up gum to hold the ear down and maybe eventually it would stay. Have you ever heard of such a thing? It seemed so ridiculous.
There is really no way to tell from when the puppies are born what ear sets they will have. If she will not be showing him, there is no problem. It is still a pure Aussie whether their ears are perfect or not. You can breed two flawless examples of the breed and get puppies with wonky ears. I wouldn't call it a "fluke" since it's pretty common.

I don't understand why this is such a big deal to her? She really would have a problem with my two then... lol. Some dog's ears are just different. Just because they aren't within the breed standard doesn't make them any less perfect OR any less an example of that breed, it's just considered a "fault".

If she wanted a perfect example of the breed, perhaps she should have adopted an adult that is already grown. From what you've describe it seems she's more worried about money and the way her pet looks than what pets are there to do -- love and be loved. You can't put a price or a visual on that.

I would personally never use GUM (of all things!) to try to hold the ear down for a number of reasons... first off, it would get stuck in the fur and knowing Aussies they have a LOT of fur around their ears, you'd have a horrible tangled mess!! It just sounds like a horrible idea to me...

EDIT: Also there is a difference between "conformation" dogs and "stock" dogs. My two are pure 100% Aussies, but they look nothing like what you'd see in dog shows. Why? Because stock dogs aren't bred to look pretty, they are bred for work. What the breed was originally intended to do. Aussies were never originally bred to look pretty and be in dog shows or be "perfect" by someone's standards, they were bred to do a job. Just because their ears may be pricked or "standard" does not mean they will do their job any less than a "perfect example of the breed".

So my two's ears may be "way out of the breed standard" by your SIL's definition, but they are STILL 100% genuine bonafide Aussies.