Cleaning your dog's ears

What’s the correct way to clean my dog’s ears?

This is especially important to owners with large-eared dogs like weimaraners, cocker spaniels, and Bassett hounds. While a little ear wax is fine and helps protect the inner workings of his ears, excess ear wax can indicate or lead to infection and should be treated. This balance can be tricky because of the composition of dog’s ears.

Rather than having one canal directly into the ear, pups actually have two that form a right angle. While the first may be fresh and clean, the second can retain moisture and form wax. Ask your vet’s support staff for an ear wax remover and wipe the outer portion of your dog’s ear with a cotton ball. Do not insert the cotton ball into his ear canal.

Keep checking his ears - if the wax returns with a vengeance before the week is out, schedule a check-up with your veterinarian. If your pup is wirehaired (Yorkshire terriers, poodles, shih tzus, etc.), he probably has ear hair to rival your Uncle Frank’s. While it’s a built-in defense against infection, loose hair falling into the canal can actually cause infection itself and should be removed. This is way easier than plucking Uncle Frank. Grasp your dog’s ear hair loosely between forefinger and thumb, then pull lightly. A few strands should come out easily and painlessly.

He has some weird thing in his ear. What is it?

That depends - what does it look like? If it’s a dark or black waxy substance, it may be ear mites, and you can find more information about them on page 35. If it’s a smallish particle, it may be a grass seed or other foreign object. You can try to remove it carefully with tweezers to avoid infection, but if it has worked its way into the ear canal you may need to seek professional help from a veterinarian or groomer.

If his ear is puffy, swollen, and hot, he may have a hematoma. These blood blisters are common in labs and golden retrievers and can result from a lot of head shaking. Your vet will probably drain the area and may add a few stitches to the flap to keep it from filling up again.

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