Cleaning ears?

[Becky]

How often do you clean out your Doodle's ears and how exactly do you do it/what exactly do you do? Any other tips to avoid ear infections? Lucy doesn't have any problems and I want to keep it that way!!

[Teresa]

I have mixed feelings on this topic. To me, if you look inside and there is nothing wrong and the dog isn't itching them, then I believe in leaving them alone. You can buy ear cleaning fluid (or use olive oil) and BIG cotton squares to wipe out the part of the ear that is easily visible. There has been some discussion about "plucking" the hair that grows inside the ear, just around the canal - not going deep. Many dog groomers do this when you take them in for a hair cut. My only caution to you on this is that if you decide to do it yourself, be very careful you don't poke the ears if the dog jumps as you are pulling the hairs and also, if you leave an open wound when you pull out the hair, make sure to clean the wound so that it doesn't get infected. I won't pluck Hudson's ears unless there appears to be a problem, but I will wipe them and as part of his regular grooming I always look inside the "flop" and look for any kind of discharge or buildup whether brown or white (white could be yeast which usually means water in the ear and requires drops to clear it up). If I found anything significant I would take him to the vet. Oh - one more thing - if you bath Lucy yourself, try to make sure you don't get water inside the ears. I usually put some oil on the big cotton squares and stuff them in Hudson's ears and then bath him so that water and soap doesn't drop inside his ears. I'm sure you will get a lot of different opinions on this one! :-)

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

http://www.doodlekisses.com/forum/topics/2065244:Topic:70378

http://doodlekisses.com/forum/topics/2065244:Topic:98789

http://doodlekisses.com/forum/topics/2065244:Topic:54797

http://doodlekisses.com/forum/topics/2065244:Topic:196896

http://doodlekisses.com/forum/topics/2065244:Topic:109668

There are probably a whole bunch more discussions on the cleaning/plucking ears issue, but here's a few to get you started.
After food, probably the most-discussed topic on doodle forums, lol!

[Janie]

I use vinegar a couple of times a wek,too. Every time they get a bath I use vinegar, and alcohol... to dry up any water that might have got in their ears.

[Adina P]

When Rosco had a never-ending ear infection as a 5 month old...the vet said that once he is all better to wash his ears out once a week with a drying ear wash.

[Maya]

I have Cassie's ears cleaned at Petco, once a week, for $4. They pluck the hairs as necessary (and don't charge extra). Petsmart is more expensive, can't remember exactly how much, though. Last time her ears were so clean, the Petco lady didn't want to charge me! I like that it's a walk-in thing - no need to call and make an appointment. It takes a couple of minutes, and you are out the door - plus the doggie is happy, because she always gest a treat there.

Smart that you want to start taking care of it before there's a real problem! Cassie came to us with a yeast infection in her ears :-(

[Nanette de la Torre]

Unfortunately, Higgins is prone to ear infections. After his first infection which required antibiotic tablets and ear wash I said not again. So know on a weekly basis I use Chlorxhexiderm. One good squeeze in each ear, a good clean and dry and voila clean ears. My brother uses an ear wipe that come is a canister (kind of like the lysol wipes canister). That might be a good alternative to the flushes if you don't have a persistent problem. Also just as a word of a caution, if your dood likes to swim, please make sure you dry around the ears. My Higgins ended up with a VERY bad skin infection. The vet had to debrid the skin and it wasn't a pretty thing to do. Lots of ointments latter he healed. But it sure wasn't fun going through it.

[Brandi Echols]

If you haven't experienced ear infections, you most likely aren't going to deal with this as a consistent problem. Dogs that are prone to ear infections normally have elevated yeast levels in their ears. Gus has had chronic ear infections since he was a puppy. I would clean his ears with the ear cleaning solution every other day and still, we had ear infections. Then, I decided to try "ear powder" which I purchased from Drs Foster and Smith. I saw immediate results, and now I only use the stuff once a week and we haven't had but 1 ear infection in about 6 months. The power keeps the ear canal dry and therefore an unfriendly habitat for yeast. Ear infections have a distinct smell, and there is an unusually greater amount of wax in the outer canal in dogs that are prone to infections. If you want to be proactive, but yet do not already experience problems, then I suggest purchasing the ear wipes and weekly cleaning the outer canal to remove dirt, wax, etc. Hope this helps.

[Danielle]

My vet recommended that I clean Koda's ears once a week but honestly, when I clean them regularly they seem to get worse. So I clean them when they get dirty. Especially in the summer - when he is in the pool all the time.

[Tom Higgins]

We have 4 Doodles, 2 are prone to ear infections (Oliver & Truman) and two never have any problems (Shiloh & Ripley). For us, we believe it has to do with the amount of hair in their ears, our two with problems have very hairy ears. The hair seems to trap dirt, oils and moisture and with the floppy ears, it creates a perfect environment for bacterial growth. We trim the hair in their ears, but don't pluck very often.

We clean their ears a few times weekly with Epiotic fluid and that seems to have solved the problems. We just flood the ear canal with the fluid, massage the outside of the ear with the fluid inside, and wipe clean with cotton balls & Q-tips. Just to be clear, this works well as a preventative. In the case of an infection, we partner with our vet and add antibiotics into the equation as needed.