Hi,

I have a 3 month Dob and was wondering when (if we should) start cleaning his ears? What should we use and how should it be done?

Thanks for your help

Lou

I use baby wipes, fold the ear flap back and wipe the inside gently with the wipe, do not poke anything into the ear, such as cotton buds, keep an eye on ears during teething as they usually get a wax build up at this time.

I must say, I never clean ears unless I have reason to think they need it. I check in them regulaly for visable wax and always have a sniff at the same time, If the nice "Clean" smell changes then I know there is something going on inside even if I can't see anything. I'm not in favour of putting anything into either eyes or ears without good reason

Regards, John

Have to agree with John here! I asked our vet last week how to clean our pups ears (he has floppy hairy ones! the pup that is not the vet!) as I had read about using cotton wool balls and he said use nothing, they are self cleaning, smell them to get to know their usual smell and if they do not smell right then take him in for a check up.
He also said most ear infections were caused by wax being pushed into the ear during cleaning or after a visit to the groomer where the hairs inside had been trimmed or plucked.

HTH

Jude

Yes I agree with John too,
I have this theory about dogs ears,the more you clean them the more you HAVE to clean them.When you poke and prod down a dogs ear you interfere with the self cleaning mechanism that mother nature provides and for some reason it goes into over-drive
and produces excessive amounts of wax.I too have a hairey lop eared breed and sometimes you have to clean the ear leathers.I buy the economy baby wipes but I add some Witch Hazel into the baby wipe container,this moistens them even more and they can also be used as antiseptic wipes.I do this because the surface of the skin of the outer ear is very delicate and easily damaged and the more moist your wipe is the less pressure you have to apply when cleaning.It works out a lot cheaper than buying ear wipes and they last a lot longer and have 101 uses
around the home as well.In my days as a student nurse I can remember a tutor saying never put anything smaller than your elbow down your ears,
conjures up a funny picture I know but I have never forgotten the advice.
Carole

I must admit I never clean my dogs ears. They only get wiped on the inside of the ears when I have bathed them, but i don't poke into the ear at all.

It probabky does help that these are primitivbe/natural canine type ears being Elkhounds.

I leave it to my labs to clean each others ears out - they do an okay job of it too!