Cleaning Dog Ears
Tips And Techniques To Get The Job Done
Many dog owners don’t know that regularly cleaning dog ears is an important step to preventing dog ear infection and the possibility of ear mites. Since many dogs have large ears that flop over their canals, most humans think they are protected from the elements, but this simply is not the case.
On the contrary, because dogs have such large ear canals, they may be more prone to ear infections, often caused by high winds or by excess water in the canal. Dogs with floppy ears are especially prone to infections because the floppy ear will reduce circulation and will usually trap moisture, making this a breeding ground for fungus and yeast infection. If your puppy starts putting their paws near their ears, attempts to scratch at their ears, shakes their head or you notice a considerable amount of dark ear wax that has an unpleasant odor, this is most likely an ear infection or could be ear mites causes excess wax build-up.
Ways of preventing infection and mites include putting cotton balls in their ears while they receive a bath, never letting dogs stick their head out the car window, keeping them in when it is windy and cold, and also regularly cleaning their ears. A regular cleaning is the most preventative way and also gives owners an opportunity to examine the ear for any signs of infection or other health problem they might have. How Often: When it come to cleaning dog ears, some dogs will rarely need their ears cleaned, although they should be routinely inspected for signs of wax build up or infection. Dogs with floppy ears are most likely to acquire infections, mites, or build-up, so should be inspected, and cleaned if necessary, at least once a month.
How To Steps For Dog Ear Cleaning…
- Before getting started, it is best to purchase an ear cleaner solution from your veterinarian. Some vets will simply recommend a homemade solution. Either is fine, but have this on hand before getting started.
- You will also need cotton balls and a soft terry cloth towel on hand.
- Begin by holding the dog’s head in your hand and pushing back the floppy ear.
- Check the ear for any hairs that need to be trimmed or removed before getting started. If there are hairs in the way, gently clip them out of the dog’s ear. If the hair is too far down in the canal, past ½ an inch, leave it. You do not want to go this far into the ear canal, for fear of damaging an ear drum.
- Follow the directions on the ear cleaning solution, but most will ask dog owners to squirt a small amount of cleaning solution into the dog’s ear.
- In order to break up the wax build-up, it will ask that you massage the solution into the ear and wait 1-2 minutes.
- From here, with care use a cotton ball or terry cloth towel to remove the excess wax.
- Check the wax for signs of mites, for an unpleasant smell, or for discoloration. These might mean an infection has occurred already. If so, contact your veterinarian.
- Repeat on the other ear and this will wrap it up for cleaning dog ears until the next time around.
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