Ear length

[Doodle Grooming]

The hair on Noah's ears continually grows and I'm constantly trimming them so he doesn't look like a girl with pigtails.  Right now they hang right next to the base of his chin, but I'm thinking he might look better if they were shorter.  What is the length of your doodle's ears?

[Bronwen Watts]

I trim Tyson's short, just because it is so much easier for us to take care of them that way. He is not too crazy about us doing anything to his ears, so the shorter I keep the hair there, the less I need to do to maintain that area. Plus he gets so many ear infections and the medicine gets really messy, so it is extra helpful that he has less hair around his ears to get messy.

[Sally loves Maple & Lucky]

Bronwen - are you plucking the hair INSIDE the ears? The hair in the canal (poodle trait) can contribute to infections because it wicks moisture to the inner ear. It was a weird thing to do at first, but they really can't feel it coming out. I try to get as much as I can with just my fingers and if I need to, then get the rest with a tweezers. Maple needs this done about every 2-3 months. - Sally

[Barb @ Gemstone Labradoodles]

I keep my dogs' ear length about 1 inch past the leather. If the dog has very short ears, maybe a bit more and if they have long ears, I do it even closer. I keep the ear hair layered and about the same length as the top of the head for balance.

[Jodi]

When you say ear hair layered do you mean the thickness of the hair on the ear? Bentley's ears are looking too thick since I cut the pigtails. I wonder if I should cut the inside a little shorter so they will won't look so thick at the bottom? It is looking like a home job. Another learning curve.

[Deb, Connor & Simon]

I like Simon's hears about an inch past his chin. I LOVE the longer ears. Here in Richmond many doodles end up with short ears and a wide face that makes them look like a Bichon stylist did their head! Connor my goldendoodle has shorter ears that break at about the jawline. :-)
Here's Simon....Connor is my profile picture

[Sally loves Maple & Lucky]

what a beauty!

[Jane, Guinness and Murphy]

Do your ears hang low,
do they waggle to and fro?
Can you tie them in a knot,
can you tie them in a bow?

This is so funny, Jane. I always think of this song when I look at Guinness's ears....they are long, really long. I keep them trimmed as much as I can, but they're still below the base of his chin. They are more like cocker spaniel ears. I can easily tie them in a bow. Murph on the other hand has really short ears...more like a Lab with lots of hair.

[Camilla and Darwin]

I like to keep Darwin's ears fairly short for the same reason you listed above, they look like girl's pigtails! I usually cut them to around a centimeter below the actual ear. This photo shows it pretty well.

[Denise, Winnie, and AngelAbby]

If you do it and don't like it, it will always grow back...

[Sally loves Maple & Lucky]

Jane - I read once that Labradoodles ear length is determined by taking both ears toward the nose. Any hair past the tip of the nose is too long. The cut should not be a blunt cut, but it doesn't say how not to do a blunt cut.