French Bulldog Ears: When They Stand Up, and How to Keep Them Healthy

The upright bat ear is the French Bulldog’s signature. The breed standard calls for ears “broad at the base, elongated, with round top, set high on the head… and carried erect”, and says anything other than a bat ear is a disqualification (AKC breed standard).

Those ears are also a health issue. This is a breed that gets a lot of ear infections, and the open, upright shape that makes them distinctive doesn’t protect them from it.

When do the ears stand up?

There’s no schedule. Some Frenchie puppies have upright ears from the start, some at a few weeks, and plenty not until they’re several months old. Most are up by the time a puppy has finished teething, at around six to seven months, and a few take longer.

What’s happening is simply that the cartilage stiffens as the puppy grows. You will often read that chewing during teething strains the muscles and pulls the ears down. There’s no support for that; the two things just happen at the same age.

One up, one down

This is normal and extremely common. Ears often come up one at a time, and an ear that’s up one day can be down the next for a week. Bigger, heavier ear leather takes longer.

If your dog reaches adulthood with soft ears, that’s cosmetic rather than medical. It matters in the show ring and nowhere else, and a dog with floppy ears hears perfectly well.

Some breeders tape puppy ears to encourage them upright. If you’re thinking about it, ask your vet first and don’t improvise with household tape or adhesives, which can damage the skin. There’s no health reason to do it.

Why Frenchies get so many ear infections

French Bulldogs have narrow ear canals, and the breed is prone to allergies, which are the underlying cause in a large share of chronic ear problems. In the UK’s VetCompass study of the breed, ear discharge was one of the top predispositions, at over 14 times the odds of other dogs (O’Neill and colleagues, 2021).

Allergies are involved in as many as 43% of ear infection cases, and moisture, ear shape and hormonal conditions all play a part (VCA Animal Hospitals).

Signs to watch for

• Head shaking, or scratching and rubbing at the ears.
• Redness and inflammation inside the ear.
• A bad smell.
• Black or yellowish discharge.
• Tilting the head, or crying when the ear is touched.

Why you shouldn’t just buy drops

This matters more than most owners realize. Don’t treat an ear infection with over-the-counter drops on your own. Your vet needs to identify what’s causing it, because bacteria and yeast need different treatments, and they need to confirm the eardrum is intact first, since some medications can cause hearing loss if it’s ruptured (VCA Animal Hospitals).

Infections that keep coming back are usually a sign of an underlying allergy. Treating the ear over and over without addressing that is a treadmill. Our guides to food allergies and health issues cover the wider picture.

Cleaning your Frenchie’s ears

Upright ears collect dust and debris, and Frenchie ears often accumulate wax. But ears aren’t meant to be spotless: some wax is protective, and over-cleaning irritates the canal and can cause the problem you’re trying to prevent. Clean when you see build-up, not on a rigid schedule.

Use a proper veterinary ear cleaner. Not water, not alcohol, not vinegar, and not hydrogen peroxide.

1. Get your dog comfortable first. Handle their ears often outside of cleaning time, with treats, so it isn’t an ambush.
2. Fill the canal with cleaner, or squeeze it onto a cotton pad if your dog objects to the bottle.
3. Massage the base of the ear for a few seconds. You should hear a squelch.
4. Let your dog shake their head. This is the part that does the work.
5. Wipe the visible part of the ear with cotton wool or a pad.
6. Treat and praise.

Never push cotton buds down the canal. You’ll pack debris deeper and risk damaging the eardrum. Clean only what you can see.

Dry the ears after baths and swimming, since moisture sitting in the canal invites infection; our bathing guide covers keeping water out in the first place, and ear wipes are handy for a quick tidy-up between proper cleans with an ear cleaning solution.

Stop and call your vet if the ear is painful, very red, smelly or discharging. Cleaning an already infected ear hurts and won’t fix it.

Hearing and deafness

French Bulldogs can be born deaf in one or both ears. Congenital deafness in dogs is linked mainly to the genes that produce white in the coat, particularly the piebald and merle genes (OFA), which is one of several reasons our colors guide is careful about merle.

The BAER test is the way to know for certain, and good breeders of predominantly white dogs test their puppies. A dog deaf on one side often seems normal; signs of deafness include not responding to their name, sleeping through noise, or being startled easily when approached from behind. Deaf dogs live full lives with hand signals and some sensible safety rules, especially around traffic.

Hearing that fades in an older dog is a separate matter and worth mentioning to your vet.

Sunburn

Thin-furred ear tips burn, and repeated sun damage contributes to skin cancer. Keep your dog out of the midday sun, use shade, and if you use a sunscreen, use one made for dogs: never a human product containing zinc oxide or PABA, since dogs lick it off and zinc is toxic to them (AKC; VCA Animal Hospitals). Our tail guide covers sun protection in more detail, since the tail area burns just as easily.

The short version

Let the ears come up in their own time, and don’t worry about a puppy with one ear down. Once they’re up, the job is keeping them healthy: check them weekly, clean only what you can see and only when there’s build-up, dry them after water, and see your vet at the first sign of an infection rather than reaching for drops. Ears that keep getting infected usually mean an allergy that needs sorting out.