Question:

My dog has hair growing out of her ears. She is a Poodle. How do I pluck her ears? And what should I use to clean them? They have lot’s of wax in them. Are ears that are floppy dirtier than pointy ears? She scratches at them a lot too. Could the hair and wax be bothering her?

ANSWER:

Poodles of all sizes, Bichon Frise, Maltese and all non-shedding breeds to varying degrees have hair that grows in their ear canal and possibly right up to the eardrum. Without regular plucking, this hair can develop into a matted plug that leads to hearing loss (temporary), infections and overall discomfort for these breeds.

Imagine leaving a cotton ball in your ear for a month and you begin to realize how uncomfortable this would be for these dogs.

If you look in the ears of a Lab, Border Collie, German Shepherd or any of the shedding breeds, you see a canal virtually free of any fur except for a fringe around the edge that helps filter dirt and debris. Not that these breeds are not prone to their own ear problems, invariably they rarely suffer from the same conditions that develop in the non-shedding breeds.

It sounds like your cock-a-poo already has an infection and needs treated by your veterinarian. Before the infection can be resolved, the hair needs removed. Normally this is not an overly painful procedure for the dog but when the canal is already inflamed, it is best to have your dog either put under a general anaesthetic or at least administered a strong sedative. Not only will it make the procedure less painful, it will also lower your dogs stress level considerably as the last thing you want to do is make them nervous about having their ears handled or poked. The vet will then clean out the ear with a solution that helps loosen any particles and dries the canal out so that bacteria does not find a welcome home there. Any goop they pull out is analyzed as there are a number of critters that cause ear infections including yeast. Once they know what set up housekeeping in your dog’s ears, they will prescribe the appropriate medication to exterminate the invaders.

Take home instructions will invariably be to clean the ear with the same solution the vet used once a day and administer the ear medication every twelve hours for anywhere up to three weeks depending on the type and severity of the infection.

Once that the infection is cleared up it is only a matter of making sure that it does not come back. Your groomer should pluck the ears as part of the grooming process and if they don’t, you will need to take him to the vet and have them teach you how to do it. It is not hard but there are some tricks that are best shown versus explained.

The other trick is to continue to use the ear cleaner solution to clean and dry out ear canals about once a week and every time your dog gets wet from either swimming or bathing.

Breeds with heavy earflaps and/or a lot of fur around the ear canal are prone to problems as not enough air can get to the canal to keep it healthy (think athlete’s foot). These breeds generally include Poodles, Cocker spaniels and Labrador Retrievers. Left untreated, the ear will go deaf and eventually there is so much scar tissue that the canal closes up. At this point, there is not much that can be done except to open up the ear canal in a surgery called a bilateral ear excision (bilateral if it is both ears). It is not a nice surgery. If you feel your own ear hole, there is the bit nearest your cheek that sticks out to cover the opening a bit. Put your finger on that and go straight down to where the ear lobe attaches – that is all soft cartilage. Now picture that whole area being removed – ouch! In a dog, it is an even larger area in a dog and the bigger the dog, the bigger the area.

Dogs with pointy or prick ears are prone to ear problems as well unfortunately. Although airflow is far superior, that upright pinna can act like a funnel for debris so regular ear cleaning is necessary.

I have seen a number of ways to help increase airflow especially while trying to clear up the infection. With Poodles and Cocker Spaniels, trimming the ear hair helps immensely but it that is not an option (if your dog is a show dog etc), ask your vet or groomer to show you how to safely wrap the earflap in a product called Vet Wrap so the fur is contained in a sheath.

A warning though: Vet Wrap can self-constrict and cut off blood supply to the ear so do not leave your dog overnight or unattended with their ears bound and check frequently that the wrap is not tightening.

Lastly, if the problems continue and become chronic even after regular cleaning and maintenance, there may some food allergies going on. Talk to the vet about this and see if a hypoallergenic food helps solve the problem.

Good luck and keep on top of those ears!