Removing hair from ears

[Joyce (Casey & Cody's mom)]

Ok - I know I need to get the hair out of Cody's ears. He has a LOT of hair in his ears --- but do I REALLY have to pull it out? That just sounds SO painful! Casey has almost no hair in his ears, so I'm not concerned about him.

[Joanne ~ Spud*]

Good for you.  Sounds like you are doing this correctly, especially since your dog did not mind and you were successful.  

Do get some ear powder as it makes all the difference in the world. I thought what that video showed was about 200% too much.   Still, the video did explain a lot and was beneficial.

For me, I put a small amount of powder in and do the ears the next day.  That way I am not using too much and the moistness is absorbed a bit better.

[Joyce (Casey & Cody's mom)]

Got the ear powder this afternoon and put in a bit. He wasn't fond of that and I actually ended up with more on me than in his ears. I will work on them a bit more tonight during the football game.

[Joanne ~ Spud*]

Rub his ears a bit too. It feels so good to them.  Give cookies and reward for tolerating all of this.  You will be just fine.

Remember, dont make this perfect.  Just a little at a time this time. Eventually, you should be okay.

If after this, you notice the dog's ear is bothering him, get him to a vet right away.  Sometimes, you can get the ear infected and it takes forever to clear those up. The earlier, the better

[Gwyndolyn Morasko]

I haven't done this yet and it doesn't LOOK like my doodles need it (they are both right around 1 year old).  My vet told me not to do it and to not let groomers clean the anal glands.  So far so good.  No infections or funk.  So maybe I lucked out and just got doodles who don't need it.  I'll have to look at that you tube referenced earlier to see what "hairy ears" look like.

[Rose Thompson]

There is a lot of controversy on this subject. Back in the 80's an 90's it was common practice for groomers to pull th hair from a dogs ears (all breeds) now it has been proven to cause more ear infections since you are literally ripping the hair from the ear. Unless the hair is matted in the ear canal or is keeping moisture trapped in the ear, you should not pull the hair out of a dogs ears. Plus it can be quite painful for your pup!
-Rose
Shampooch Pet Styling

[Gwyndolyn Morasko]

My vet told me not to do it, and so far, there have been zero ear infections or problems, so I'm leaving them alone.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

The problem is, you can't see what is going on with the hair in the ear canal. 

Every dog is different, and the structure of the ear canal (width, shape, etc) varies from one dog to another. In some cases, not removing the hair from the ear canals has resulted in such damage that the ear canals themselves have to be surgically removed. (Ear ablation) 

"Poodles, Bichon Frise and many of the small, hypoallergenic breeds that need regular grooming have an added problem – hair growing within the ear canal itself. How much or how far down the canal the hair grows varies from dog to dog but in most cases, it needs to be plucked (normally done as part of the grooming process). Without removal, the hair can grow into a thick plug that not only affects the dog’s hearing but also holds bacteria and debris in the ear while substantially limiting the airflow." http://www.professorshouse.com/Pets/Dogs/Health/Articles/Chronic-Ea...

With all due respect, I would like to see some source for the statement that "it has now been proven to cause more ear infections". Do you have a link to some study or research on this? I agree that there is much controversy on the subject, but to my knowledge, it has not been proven one way or the other. I do know that when the ear canal is completely plugged by hair, there is no way to properly clean it and prevent the build-up of debris. 

Done properly, pulling the hair from the ears does not cause infections and is not painful. I had poodles for almost 50 years, and the only time that it caused pain or an infection was when it was done by a groomer who didn't know how to do it properly. 

Here is a photo of the ear hair that was removed from the ears of an ALD belonging to a member of this site, by the dog's dermatology specialist. Look at those long "tails"...that's the part you can't see, that was down in the canal. Does anyone here seriously think that should have been left in there? 

[Gwyndolyn Morasko]

Wow!!!!  I guess that I have completely lucked out with my puppies not having any noticeable hair in their ears at all.  I took Maggie in for a check up because the adoption folks said that there was barb caught down by her eardrum, so I know that she was looked at carefully by a doctor with a lighted magnifying lens.  They said to leave it alone until it caused redness or bothered her in any way since they would need to put her under to get it out.  I asked then about the hair and they said that she doesn't have anything but tiny fine hairs (like mine) that don't need to be plucked at all.  That was two months ago.  Still no redness or hair to be seen, so I obviously lucked out.  And Kona (ALD and GD Double Doodle mix) has similar looking pink flesh ear canals with tiny fine hair almost invisible.  I hope that remains the case for the rest of their lives, but they are only 12 months old, so that could change.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Generally speaking, the denser and woollier the coat, the more chance of there being a problem with hair in the ears. Purebred poodles, especially show poodles who are bred for excessive coats, have the most trouble with this. In fact, chronic severe ear infections are called "poodle ear" . But it also has to do with the width of the ear canal. If they are nice and open now, that probably won't change. 

[Rose Thompson]

Those pictures and impacted poodle ears are exceptions and fall under the matted and causing infection part. But if the ear is healthy and dry an the hair
Is not causing a problem there is no need to remove it. I will find the articles given to us at the Barkleigh Groom Expo. They have classes on this subject every year.

[Marie Dennen]

I agree, those are pics that are from overgrown matted ears. You can see the matts on the top. I don't think anyone was doing anything to those ears before they got those clumps of hair were removed. I have been to Barkleigh classes too. It is a topic debated a lot. I think the old school groomers were taught to get every last ear hair out. The last Barkleigh class I went to that touched on the subject was given by a vet. He said ear hair does serve some purpose as a filter. I pluck on a case by case basis never doing too much. I do take issue with any literature that refers to dogs as hypoallergenic though. All dogs have skin cells that produce dander, hair/fur, saliva and the ability to roll in stuff thereby always potentially producing allergens. I have an article that references a medical study done by allergists that concluded no one breed of dog is hypoallergenic. I will dig it up.

[Gwyndolyn Morasko]

I had Kona (multi-gen double doodle) for about 8 months in my house with me and I had zero allergic reactions to him.  Then I adopted a stray "goldendoodle" and started to have a few allergic reactions to the new doodle when I groomed her.  She doesn't shed beyond the hair that comes out during thorough grooming sessions with a slicker brush on her thick undercoat, but I did have some breathing issues when grooming her.  I have to let my boyfriend do the deep grooming on her and I stick with grooming Kona.  But this week....I had her DNA tested since her hair was coming in more and more like a Samoyed than a doodle, so I started doubting the "oodle in the doodle" claim from the rescue place.  Sure enough, she is an American Eskimo-Briard sheepdog mix with Rottweiler and MinPin in her.  Ha!  No wonder I'm a bit allergic to her!  So I'd aree that no dog can be guaranteed hypoallergenic, but I certainly live very comfortably with a multi-gen ALD- F1B GD!!!!!  I have to say that there is something to them being LESS allergenic than some other breeds. (And fortunately, the American Eskimo-Briard mix is also pretty tolerable for me.  I don't know of claims that they are less allergenic, but I suspect that they must be since I only have a problem when spending hours on the thorough groomings)