Ear plucking bad first grooms

[Rachelle Rigos]

My poor five month old Koda had his first groom which was a disaster. I asked for an introductory puppy groom and they ended up shaving him all the way down (he was not matted). What's even worse is they plucked his ear hairs out which I wasn't too happy about and now his left ear is really bothering him. When I touch it I hear liquid sounds coming from deep in ear...I'm afraid he's gonna get an infection now. His ears were just fine. Why couldn't they have just left them alone. I feel so bad for him a first experience should not have included such trauma. I'm pissed plus he doesn't even look like a puppy anymore. Who would shave down a five month puppy? Now he just looks like a botched poodle. What should I so about the ears? Thx
Concerned momma.

[Rachelle Rigos]

Well sure enough ear infection in both ears...vet said it's not normal ear bacteria more like a strep type which makes her think it might have been due to groomer not sterilizing tools or not plucking hair properly...she also said in her experience most ear infections are allergy related so I was given a gentamicin/cortisone ear drop regimen and will follow up in two weeks...hopefully it's not allergy related...he was brave but not happy about having his ears flushed...she was also not happy with the groomer putting the tee tree oil in stating it could cause the abx not to be as effective etc. poor guys a mess. I will never just drop my dog at the groomers; I will insist to be there. She also (the vet) said not to have him plucked and that times have changed re: doing this especially for sensitive dogs. Trimming in her opinion at this point was completely adequate...so we shall see. Thanks for reading.

[Lucy & AnnaBelle's Mom]

Our Lucy has allergies (both food and environmental) and is under the care of a dermatologist.  She (as am I) is of the "if it isn't broke don't fix it" philosophy.  She was fine with my not plucking Lucy's ear hair.  She has a lot of hair in her ears and I will trim it down occasionally just to keep the moisture down to a minimum, but I don't pluck it all out.  Hope your little guy feels better real soon.  You have just found reason #1 to learn to groom yourself.

[Nancy Pyzynski]

Sorry to hear Koda had such a traumatic experience! Ask around to find a groomer who is experienced with doodles and is well liked by the clients.  It's important that they listen to you and do what you ask.

Your dog needs some length left on their coat to protect them from the sun as well as insulate them from cold and even keep them cooler in the heat. Shaving a dog completely down in not good or necessary.

We have never had our doodles ear hair plucked and she has never had an issue. I guess this can vary quite a bit between dogs.  Ask your vet to check his ears.  We use ear cleaner with cotton balls and it works just fine for cleaning Coco's ears.  She seems to enjoy the massage and then shakes her head to get all the excess moisture out of her ears.

His hair will grow out in time.  Good luck to you in finding the right fit for you and Koda!

[Sue, Murphy and Bella ()*o*()]

Our Murphy has had many severe ear infections in his first 2 years of life and I am certain it's not allergies and the only Vet that ever mentioned allergies was from Banfield, which we left long ago. As for cleaning his ear hair, his ears grow thick thick hair and will cake with debris, waxy buildup that is hard to clean well or keep dry.
I do remove his hair about 3 times a year and clean with a drying cleaner after every swim in the summer and at least once a week when not swimming. I can't imagine how I would keep his ears clean if I never removed the hairy bush he grows at least occasionally.

I do feel that it prevents potential infections for him, anyway and I also feel there is a risk of irritating the ear by removing hair which can cause an infection. However, my experience has been that he already had some type of infection starting and the hair cleaning just ascerbated it. It's seems fine to do in an otherwise healthy clean ear. But this is just my observation with one dog. Not scientic research by any means. Lol

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

This is exactly the case for every poodle or dog with a poodle-type coat I have ever known. There is no question that the hair must be removed from their ear canals.