A month or so ago, our 2.5 year old FC picked up a nasty ear infection, with lots of black stuff coming out of one of his ears. Went to vet, who charged an absolute fortune to investigate and gave anti-biotics, and eventually it cleared up. Then this week it started oozing black stuff again, about 2 weeks after it had been sorted. We went to vet again, and she gave us cleaning ear drops and some other ear  drops, we clean him twice a day

Spoke to another flatcoat owner who said 'this is quite typical of the breed' and happens a lot, as their ears are quite closed and get sweaty'. Main suggestion was just to clean regularly and go to vet usually if very serious, e.g. if stuff coming out of ears is green, but other than that, expect this to happen every few months and just clean it regularly.

Wondered if other FC owners had similar experience and any advice??

first is it a bitch or males

bitch i have found fcr ear flare up on homoman charges coming to season.8 to 9 weeks later when they are due to have puppys or not.
my boys touch wood have a problem
but one of my fcr bitch had very bad ear due to malassezia dermattis due allergies problems
to clean the ear i would only use seline.
if it keep flaring up i would get a 2nd opinon could be his diet,allergies to dust mite the list could go on.

I tend us use ear cleaner and havent got a problem. Although many years ago I did have a dog that had regular ear problems.

Never had much problem with their ears, just keep on top of them with cleaning and check often especially when they have been swimming.
Keep ears nicely trimmed and less dirt will hang around after they have been out in mud.

My bitch often had very red ears although not infected, and twice an infection.  I now use Thornit ear powder on her at the first sign of redness and that soon clears it up.  You can also pluck away the hairs inside the ear to allow a little more air flow, this seems to help. Also try to dry the ears after swimming.  If it is infected though you will need some treatment as it can be very painful.

dont pluck hair away in side the ears.

plucking like us having our legs wax it open up the pores on the soft tissues lining of the ear and if the ear is dirty the dirt will go into the pores and causes an infecting.

trim in side the ears with nail scirrors.wash out with seline.

It does depend on what is the cause of the ear problem, the black matter that comes out is old blood, either from where the dog shakes the head or scratches because of irritation, or where mites are causing infection.  There are a number of reasons, infection either bacterial or yeast, or mites or a combination of all.   The drops that the vet gives you treat bacterial/yeast and also kill ear mites.   In the case of mites if you have cats, or other dogs in the house these would need to be treated as well.   Otherwise the mites would just go from one to the other.   There are also a number of spot-ons that kill the ear mites.   Some dogs and usually cats are not always troubled by the intense irritation that they cause, others react badly.  Also it can be caused by the dogs' ears not being dried properly after swimming and a moist, warm environment is an ideal breeding ground for bacterial and yeast infections.

Some people swear by Thornit, it is claimed that used as per instructions it keeps ears, clean and healthy (do not put in ear canal).   Vets are not so usually so enarmoured with it.   Everyone will have their favourite treatment, what works for one does not always work for another.

meant to conclude by saying that sometimes a swab is needed to see exactly which bacteria/yeast is causing the trouble.   It may require a return to the vet.

A really good and natural way to help sort this problem out is an equal measure of vit e oil and almond oil mixed together you can gently put drops of this in your dogs ears and then massage, leave for a couple of minutes and then clean out with cotton wool pads, you will find this really helps move all the black gunk and the vit e helps to heal the ear.  Repeat two days after, you should find this will help.

Hello,
Diagnosis begins with a simple otoscopic examination by your veterinarian. During this examination, the veterinarian will be looking for foreign objects that may have entered the canal, presence of fleas, ticks or mites, and quantity and color of ear discharge. A sample of the ear discharge may then be viewed under a microscope to determine if it contains bacteria, white blood cells, yeast, fungi, ear mites or ear mite eggs.

If this isn't related to ear mites and is a recurring issue it's my personal knowledge that it's spawned from yeast. That's right. A yeast infection. The trick with a yeast infection, which is extremely common in the dog's ear, is to keep it dry. Easier said then done even in breeds that have erect ears. I've gone through this with expensive medications for YEARS battling a recurring ear infection in my Chinese Crested champion stud. Literally spending hundreds of dollars on medication that would "control" the infection only to have it bloom again badly. Yeast infections of the ear stink have brown or yellow discharge and/or waxy build up. The ears may even appear to "flake".

The solution that I swear by? Yogurt. Plain yogurt contains Acidophilus which is a powerful pro-biotic that not only manages the digestive tract but the live bacteria in the yogurt also attacks yeast. My dogs get 1 tbsp of plain or sugar free vanilla yogurt with one human grade capsule of acidophilus ground up and mixed into their yogurt. Don't put this over food because you'll wind up with a mess. Feed it alone before the regular morning feeding to make sure they get it all. I swear you'll see results within 3 days where the ear's "wax" will dry up and look like peeling skin from a sunburn.

Before spending hundreds of bucks on the vet? Give that homeopathic remedy a try. If it doesn't work? Book your dog into the vet because there may be something lodged in the ear etc etc.