Hi All

You all know my westie robbie has had skin problems on/off for a few years now well touch wood over the past 9 months his skin is well under control thanks to changing to a homeopathic vet, i have been using quistel ear cleaner on his ears but have found recently he is shaking his head on/off and having the occasional dig of his ears with the foot right in, he shakes his head more in the evenings when he is laying up on the settee with us but does it during the day aswell, i have had him at the vets but they  have said there is no infection/mites there and is just he had got hairy ears but i pull the hair out on a regular basis to keep this down so not sure if this is the reason or not, i have heard thornit powder is very good for ear problems and i did get some before to use on him licking his feet but it didn't do him any good and i found that diatomateous earth powder was better for his feet, not sure how this works for the ears though as i have read you are not to put it directly down the ear canal so where actually do you put it and how much do you use?
Has anybody else found this to be good when dogs are shaking there heads quite a bit?

I've used Thornit powder.  My dog has allergies that break him out in a fungal rash and waxy ear which annoy the life out of him.  I clean as much of the wax as I can reach without going right into his ear and then dry with cotton wool.  I then get a pinch of thornit(I use the other end of a teaspoon)(tiny amount) and sprinkle around his earhole.  I then give him a good ear scratch to work it in.  I swear by the stuff and understand that it's drying out the ear instead of keeping it moist/waxy.
My vet doesn't like it at all and moans at me when she looks but even she has to admit that it works for him!lol. She tells me that the powder eventually clogs up the ear but I've never had any bother(touch wood!)
Worth a try maybe?
Edited to add - I have only used it about 3 times as each time I use it, it clears up the ear every time for a good long while.(and that's over 8 months)

I use it and find it to be really good, I love the smell of it too!
Both my breeds have very hairy inner ears, I pluck them just as and when needed, but never totally, as the hair that is left helps the wax to move out of the ear. I put just a tiny amount in their ear after cleaning and plucking, and can say they have never had any kind of ear problems, where as others in my breed, have!

thornits cleared up my daughters jack russells ear in a week,it was sore,red,and waxy.i was impressed,shall keep some in,just in case!

I pull as much hair out of robs ears as i can but he has got very hairy ears, do you find when you pull the hair out of your dogs ears it causes them to shake their head for a few days after as i always have found robbie to do this after plucking and my friend whos a dog groomer said its normal behaviour but i am not so sure, i have had him at the vets and they said no sign of infection but that his ears are moist and pinky so not sure if thornit will help him or not, the problem i have is they keep giving me ear cleaner but surely if his ears are already moist this is only going to make them moister!!! Do you put the thornit down into the ear and how much do you actually use?

Hi Hamish
I only use a pinch, literally, the size of a peppercorn (and mine are rather large dogs), but I also dip my fingers in the powder when I'm plucking, it seems to be easier to et a grip on the hair. I sprinkle it rather than put directly in, then fold over the ear flap and give it a gentle rub, to make sure it gets distributed.
None of mine shake for a few days afterwards, just immediately after, maybe you have used a little too much powder and the gritty bits are irritating them.
I've never used an ear cleaner, I use diluted Witch Hazel on a wad of cotton wool. I've seen many homemade recipes for ear cleaner, but I would be too afraid to use some of the things in the ingredients.
Maybe someone else has a suggestion about whether or not to continue with the ear cleaner.

I used Quistel on Ben when he had ear problems, it was good as a cleaner but never cleared up the problem, changed to Thornit and his ears were clear in a week. He was shaking his head too and had gotten the all clear from the vet.

I tend not to put down inside the ear canal, but instead sprinkle it into the outer shell part and then rub the ear. I suppose a very small amount just may fall down the canal, but it is not intentional. A nurse at the surgery admits to using Thornit and is is her advice that it should not be put directly into the canal and I didn't question the reason why. I just assumed it was to prevent it clogging the ear.

So good to hear that skin problems are under control.
Our two have very large ears, thankfully they haven't had any infections but do get v smelly & dirty with wax. Most over the counter (& expensive) cleaners, used to have them running for an escape route as soon as they saw the bottle and when used they were obviously  uncomfortable. Ears are now cleaned with olive oil, use a pipette & squirt down into the ear, massage for sometime (they enjoy this part). they have a good shake and then the ears are cleaned  (using & old cotton hankie) with boiled water & a very small amount of salt. Thornit applied with a small paint brush, dipped well into the powder and then into the ear & then more massaging. Two happy dogs.

Yeah i have been using quistel aswell but doesn't seem to be stopping him shaking his head thats why i have had him to the vets quite a few times and each time they just say no infection just the ears are moister than they should be and a bit pinky, but no offensive discharge or excessive wax, not sure if thornit will help him or not as he doesn't seem to have the symptoms listed that thornit treats like excessive foul smelling wax and discharge, still not quite sure how you administer this how much should i use for each ear and directly how do you put it into the ear if you mustn't let any go down the ear canal?
When i have mentioned it to the homeopathic vet about him shaking his head on/off for a couple of days after i pull the hair out of his ears she laughs and says his just hyper-sensitive as she said dogs should only do it for a short time after, but every time i do this with rob he goes on for a least 2 days after keep shaking his head.
Just thought i would give thornit a try instead of lining the vets pockets like i did with his skin and feet and managed to clear them up with diatomateous earth powder, i did initially use thornit on his feet before the de powder but found him to be really sick where he had licked it off and ingested it.

Are you sure he doesn't get swimmers ear.  He might not be able to drain it properly if it gets in the canal.  i remember my girl doing this many years ago when i had to clean her ears daily as the vet showed me, it was a lot of liquid to put down the ear and massage in, she'd shake her head.