Hair from ears

[Nga and Cinni]

I was wondering what your thoughts are about pulling hairs out from a doodle’s ears. My vet said it’s not good to let groomers pull out the hairs because it can cause an infection I took Cinni to the groomer today and asked her to clean her ears. I meant for her to wipe them out with ear cleanser. I looked over towards the end of the grooming, and see that she has inserted scissors into Cinni’s ear and began to pull. I shouted no, don’t do that. Cinni let out a yelp and I said it hurts. She replied, just for a second and pointed to a little clump of hair. She said if that’s left in there, an infection will develop.

My vet suggests pulling a bit of hair from her ears while watching tv. She pulled a bit of hair and it didn’t seem to bother her at the time.

[Trudy Harlow]

We don’t strip our dog’s ears unless he’s got a really bad infection. My vet and I agree that stripping irritates the ear canal and creates a better environment for infection. There are a lot of people who feel otherwise and so I expect you’ll get conflicting advise.

[Nga and Cinni]

Thanks for your reply. I won’t let it happen again. I was annoyed because I was standing near the grooming area and she should have asked me if I wanted her to strip the hairs. I know we must be the only dog owners who stay with our doodle while she gets groomed at this place. We want to make sure our dog is treated well as we have heard horror stories. For all the hours we have been at this place, I’ve never seen any of the groomers strip any dogs’ hairs from their ears.

[DonMarie and Picco]

I agree with Trudy.  Unless the dog is prone to infections, let it be.  Picco has one ear only I have to watch and the hairs that the vet plucked out were really deep and gunked up.  I clean his ears once a week with hydrogen peroxide solution for prevention of buildup as the vet recommended. 

[Stella]

It really depends on the dog, my Chase has "the hairiest ear canals" my vet has ever seen!  I have to pluck them. I tried leaving them for a while to see what would happen, and they got disgusting - so moist and full of dark brown wax. So, every couple of weeks we sit down together and I use my fingers to gently pull the hair from each ear. Some groomers can be too aggressive when removing hair from ears, so it is better to learn how to do it yourself in my opinion ;)

[Lynda Kamrath]

And it is definitely better to not put a scissors into the ear canal.  Fingers or a tweezers are safer to use.  Hairs that are cut tend to be more irritating for the dog.

[Lynda Kamrath]

I would agree that scissors in the ears is a bad idea.  My sheepadoodle recently had a yeast infection in one of her ears and I had the vet clean her ear with some long q-tips.  Yeast infections are contagious so we had to use ear cleaner that you pour into the ear and then massage and remove with cotton balls.  That has always worked for us.  Their bowls are separate and I wash them whenever there is room in the dishwasher.  Other than that, resist medications and pull out the hair frequently with a little pair of tweezers.  Just a little clump of hair at a time and they don't seem to mind.  Like cleaning their pads on their feet, it is something that is just routine care for your dog.

[Paula Shawber]

I know this is an old post but I have recently come across this issue.  Every time Roxy has had the hair plucked from her ears she has gotten an ear infection.  The vet said this is different with each dog, some it may be just the opposite effect.