I pluck hair (with ear powder on my fingers) and use zymox in the ear after I pluck. I also add a drop of zymox every week or two even when I'm not plucking just to keep the ears healthy. I plucked the ears thoroughly once when Misha was a puppy and they've never grown back thick like they were at first. I do wonder if starting plucking early helps with this. It is my thinking that lots of hair in the ear cannot be good for hearing. I'd rather clear it out.
Yes I am going to try that!! Thank you our poodle is just a puppy he’s only 7 months so we are trying to start him early!! But he sure does hate his ears being done! Maybe he will get better. Thank you again!
Gracie had yeasty ears for a brief period when she was a puppy. I started using this product and haven’t had a problem since. I just squirt some in every time I bathe her. I don’t pluck her ears either, and they are hairy! If she had continued to have a problem I would have considered it, but for now it seems OK. Every dog is different. This product is cheap and might be worth a try.
So far at the tender age of 1 Lacey hasn’t had any ear issues. My ear cleaning routine coincides immediately after baths (about every 3 weeks). I squirt tropiclean ear cleaner in and massage the base of the ear so it makes a squishy sound. Then I let her shake her head and wipe the outer ear canal and folds with half a cotton ball. Every 6 weeks when she gets her full groom I use short, blunt tip scissors to carefully trim the hair coming out of the ear canal as short as possible. For a little while I did an experiment plucking one ear but decided to stop since the unplucked ear was doing fine.
edit to add: Lacey doesn’t produce much of any earwax and she has pretty hairy ear canals. I also keep her ear length pretty short. If she was a waxy girl I might pluck occasionally.
I pluck a couple of hairs every few days; Fluffy’s ears get super waxy, so I err on the side of caution and make sure they always stay unplugged. If I notice that they’re getting a little too waxy for my liking, or if he starts shaking his head a little, I use one of the solutions that gets all bubbly and rub his ears with it, then give him a bath. That usually stops it. It’s been a while since I’ve had to use that, however, and I can’t seem to find the product I used anymore.
I had a dog who got infections if I didn't pluck, but now I have a dog who gets infections if I do pluck. I do what is best for the individual dog: with my current dog, I don't pluck.
When I went to a groomer who insisted on plucking his ears he was constantly getting ear infections. I now go to someone who never does that. We do trim a bit with blunt ended scissors occasionally. He hasn't had an ear infection in 2 years.
1- I never pluck hair as I feel this irritates the sensitive skin
2- Use a liquid ear cleaner if I feel it's necessary
3- Once I started giving my dog probiotic chews - his ears stopped getting dirty wax - which leads me to believe that ear problems are less of a hair in the ear issue than an immunity issue.
You're right. But this was just one of many threads bumped in a very short period of time. Many of the others were from years ago, which is what Liz was referring to.
Then hopefully keep the comments to the appropriate old threads?
This thread about ear cleaning is actually very important as this problem is so common. Thanks
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