Puppies Ears - Page 1

I was given this female, from a breeder going through hard times. She had just been bred a couple of weeks prior to my getting her, to this lady's GSD  male, who is all German working lines. I agreed to take the female, whelp the pups, spay the female, and place  her in a pet home. The bitch is American lines and all my dogs are European working lines, so I have no interest in keeping her in my program, but she is a very nice dog regardless. To the point....she whelped a litter of ten puppies on 12/21/07. All are black/tan or black/red, and many of them have white toes/paws, chest spots, and two even have tiny white tail tips. My biggest concern though is their ears. They seem larger than they should be too me. Of course, I've had a couple of breeders tell me that the American line dogs have larger ears, but still, these ears don't seem right to me. I have contacted the previous owner and she assures me that there is no way this female could have been bred by anything other than her male GSD, but I am skeptical....maybe I'm just being paranoid, but I'd like some other opinions. I will not register the litter or place these puppies as purebred if I have any doubts of their parentage. I guess only time will tell as they grow....I would think that if they are mixed it will show up more as they get older, right? I've never had a mixed litter, so am not sure. I do know this breeder's husband owns coonhounds....possible sire??? That and the big ears have gotten me extremely concerned. It's hard enough to find good homes for well bred purebred puppies, let alone mix breeds. I'd just like to know as soon as possible so I can get to work on advertising and finding proper homes for them...ten is a lot of work to place! Here are some pictures. They are almost three weeks old in these pictures. Now they are almost four weeks old and it seems like their ears are getting bigger!

Not trying to hyjack your thred but i will share this. We rescued a female german shepherd from a Shelter last week. She was pregnat with black lab puppies. Here are 2 day old pictures of these 1/2 shepherd 1/2black lab puppies. to me they dont looked mixed at this point but i do know for fact that they are...

Anyone who knows of someone looking for a nice pet these babys needs homes small adoption fee with neuter contract.. thanks.

Some show line puppies have white like that. but if there is a black and tan coon hound there is a posibility.. Keep up with pics and maybe there may be noticable changes... If there is any doubt in your mind dont register them..

They have a walker coonhound male, black, tan, and white. She insists there's no way the puppies are mixed, but....

AKC requires studs to be DNA registered after they have sired 3 litters.  We had a litter that took awhile to get registered because it was the studs third litter and the owner had not had the DNA testing done after his second litter.  He did do it but it just delayed our paperwork by three weeks.  Anyway the point is if this litter is AKC registerable, and if the sire has 3 or more litters on the ground, DNA testing should be an option if you are truly concerned.

Thank you for your responses. Yes, I have thought about DNA testing. Being that the puppies in the litter could have different fathers, I think DNA testing for all the puppies would be the best idea. That is most likely the route I will have to take to put my mind at ease.

And yes, I also think that their ears look like they are set low. Some of the puppies seem to be smoother haired than others. I have never had an American bred litter, so didn't know if these things were common with them, or if they were things I should be concerned about. It seems strange to me though that if they were mixed, especially with a dog that has a lot of white on the body, that all ten puppies would come out uniformly marked as GSDs. Maybe just coincidence. If one had come out with body splashes or something like that, I would have then known for sure there had been a mishap. I honestly feel there is a good chance that some of the puppies are purebreds and some are mixed. Only testing will tell for sure...

I dont see anything wrong with the ears...My working lines all have large ears and I dont have any American anywher near my lines..and I dont have any mixed or problems....I really cant tell where you see anything wrong....have the male dna that is the dan and dna the pups...make her pay for it...if you  are that uneasy...

Yes , I saw a litter advertised as akc gsd one time and the man that left my kennel , pups too expensive,,went to this kennel...and bought one   for a lot less...and she never would show him the dad....a year later he was at my gate and crying the      "hound dog blues.."

I made a trip to this house out or curiosity , and I saw a plain haired male dog on the place, and i questioned her as to why the tails were curled on there of the pups at 10 weeks old....????????  you guessed it...the dog that walked across the yard had a screw tail...she swore to me the dad was her fathers big  full blooded registered gsd,,,

the man the came to my gate, crying,,said the dog looked like a mutt at 1 year old...I laughed and told him , dont cry over my gate...you got just what you paid for....told him he could find him a dog at the pound ...

dad    spelling   didnt proof read   ,,,thats why im not posting much, any more here...i dont have time to proof every jot and tittle...sorry    wouldnt want to offend the ELITE OF THE BOARD.