We have created so many names for our dogs’ ear that “prick” or “drop” do an injustice to the variety in which ears come. We have our hooded ears, drop ears, filbert-shaped ears, prick ears, vine ears, heart-shaped ears, folded ears, high set ears, pendent, rolled, button, semi-pricked, propeller, tulip, trowel, round tipped, semi-drop,v-shaped and bat ears……..and there’s still more!
But don’t “rose ears” sound wonderful? These smallish, drop ears with small relatively thin leather folds backwards and over to expose the “burr.”
The burr? What’s a burr?
It’s that bump thing (cartilage, actually) that’s on the inside of a dog’s external ear canal. Bulldogs have high set rose ears, as do some Staffordshire Bull Terriers. In some sighthounds, this type of ear, when set low, serve the purpose of ‘streamlining’ the dog. Greyhounds and Whippets are such dogs.
Greyhound charcoal head study by Justine Osborne
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