Why do dogs shake their heads so that their ears sound like they are going to take off? My young pointer does this regularly especially at 5am! lol

They were Wood pigeons in a previous life? ;)

Daisy is particularly adept at using the ear shake technique to wake me up, it never fails to amaze me how loud and effective it is, especially as she doesn't have particularly large ears.
It's possibly only superseded by the slow loving noise of male dogs licking their dangly bits lol.

My girl does this frequently, and particularly at night waking me up each time. She does it so violently that I am surprised her head does not come off. Because she has large floppy ears it does sound quite loud.

When she stayed with one of my daughters recently my daughter phoned me up to ask why does Daisy keep going into a 'spin cycle' LOL.

It can be a stress release action. Often if the dog has been a bit tense about something it will do this. Not necessarily serious problem. Ear problems can also cause this type of thing as well I would check that out as well if its frequent

It's not her ears, it's something she has always done. ( I was going to edit my post so that I didn't get the 'check the ears' response)

Her whole body shakes - just as a dog that has come out of water. It's louder because she has larger floppy ears.

Reading this I am glad my dogs have erect ears. :)

a stress habit , quite normal a bit like us having certain habits when we have been concentrating or a bit stressed. By stress I don't mean to rush to the vets a normal dog response. erect ear dogs do it too just not a so bvious perhaps. Its like the yawning as a calming signal not always noticed

Is it usually after they've been asleep? Id think it was the same as us stretching, rubbing hands over our faces and yawning, coming to life slowly!

Thanks for the variety of answers! My girl's ear are extra floppy and would make an alarm clock redundant!

Daisy mainly does hers first thing in the morning, she sleeps under the duvet, and has gotten into the habit of the ear flap as a means to wake me up and take her out for a wee, so the mild stress theory could be right in her case.

Mine normally do the head shaking ear flapping thing when they've just woken up :) Not really sure why they do it, but I love that ear flapping sound.

Mine do it after they wake up.  A long stretch then the full body shakes nose to tail.  They often do it when coming in from outside.  I liken to us stretching out after being in one position for a while.  To be honest all my dogs (dachsies, mixes, and whippets) have always done it back as far as I can remember

my ex used to call it"rattling her tabs"!