# Plucking ear hair?



## dianetavegia (Jan 27, 2014)

My 8 month old pup is on her 2nd ear infection, left ear only. Actually, this time she was shaking her head and the outer canal area looked red with a small amount of gunk. I cleaned the gunk with a rinse and soft cloth but then got her to the vet. A swab came up empty but because of how it looked, vet put her on meds for one week.

I want to prevent recurrent ear problems and read that hair in the ear can be a cause. I called Petsmart and they told me they pluck out the hair. That has GOT to hurt like heck! 

Daisy's ear is not red now tho we still have 3 more days on her med. 

Suggestions? Her left ear sort of 'curls' and never stands up. Her right ear is more up like she heard something and sometimes sticks straight up. We were told she was ABC and AS but other than a curled tail, snoring when she sleeps and a green ring in one brown eye, she has long and stiff wiry hair. She's a doll and we love her to death and don't want her to be uncomfortable or be at the vets ever few weeks. She's 100% a house dog except to pee and then that's a quick run around our huge back yard.


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## SydTheSpaniel (Feb 12, 2011)

Plucking ear hair can help, but if you clean the ears out daily with something like this: http://www.chewy.com/dog/virbac-epi...t=&utm_term=&gclid=COyUqay0wL8CFUwV7AodDlAAQw it would also really help prevent issues. We sell that stuff at the clinic I work at, and I've only heard good things from clients with dogs and chronic ear problems.


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## dianetavegia (Jan 27, 2014)

Thanks! The vet tech had us use something we already had but said before we buy anything else, she'd help us choose something with a drying agent. Looks like your suggestion includes that. 

Doesn't it HURT to pluck out all that hair? Daisy loves going to Banfield and I would hate to have her traumatized and not want to go again.


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## Kayota (Aug 14, 2009)

a dog with a coat like that cant have that much ear hair... roxie has none, faxon had none even with her thick double coat.


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## dianetavegia (Jan 27, 2014)

It's quite long and around the edge mostly but the way she holds her left ear, it covers the ear 'opening'. I thought they'd just trim it. Daisy has long tufts of hair on her chin but it's here, there and everywhere, not even. She also has long hair on her feet like a mini Clydesdale horse. The hair spreads out when she puts her foot down. I'm just trying to figure out how to help prevent recurrent ear problems! The photos above are from 2 months ago.


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## DaySleepers (Apr 9, 2011)

At least in poodles, the hair actually IN the ear canals is quite loosely attached. I pluck Sam's myself, and he finds it annoying sometimes, but not painful. I know because he sure as heck lets me know if I pull his hair too hard when I'm combing him! I also don't pluck everything from his canals, just the stuff that comes out easily. Ear hair traps moisture and can contribute to infections, from what I've read. No personal experience here (yet... knock on wood!) with actual infections, so that's the limit of my knowledge.


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## Gally (Jan 11, 2012)

Make sure you are cleaning her ears properly. You need to get the cleaning liquid right down into the ear canal and massage it around from the outside. We had to have the vet show us how to do it properly.


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## dianetavegia (Jan 27, 2014)

They showed us. We're hearing the squish and she seems to not dislike it at all. She barely shakes her head! Then we wipe the excess with a soft cotton cloth, as they said. She never goes in water and we don't get water in her ears when bathing her. This last time the red area was all in the outer canal and not even pink going down into the canal. Just trying to get a hold on this and prevent recurrent problems.


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## SydTheSpaniel (Feb 12, 2011)

There's two dogs that come to work at least 3 times a week for daycare. I believe they're schnauzer/yorkie mixes, and they have their ear hair plucked regularly. We either will use our hands, or hemostats, I'm sure it's annoying but not -extremely- painful. Some dogs take it worse than others, we have a harder time trimming these particular dog's nails than we do plucking their hair. lol


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## parus (Apr 10, 2014)

I pluck the more loosely-rooted hair in my schnauzer's ears and closely trim the rest with a ball-tipped scissors, as well as cleaning them weekly. He's prone to ear infections and thus far that's kept them under control.


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## NicoleIsStoked (Aug 31, 2012)

i've got to agree that it seems extremely painful. i've seen this being done to dogs at petsmart and they SCREAM bloody murder. i assume its like have your eyebrows waxed. and thats damn painful too. but at least i can make that decision on my own and prepare myself for it. i just trim the hair in my dog ears and make sure they smell clean. if they don't, a little hydrogen peroxide on a qtip does the job.


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## parus (Apr 10, 2014)

Depends on the ear hair. Most of the hair in my schnauzery dog's ears just comes right out with a little tug, and he doesn't seem bothered. It's only the hair around the edges that is stubborn, and that I cut or shave instead. But yeah, I think for more rooted hair, trimming works equally well.


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## Kayota (Aug 14, 2009)

dianetavegia said:


> It's quite long and around the edge mostly but the way she holds her left ear, it covers the ear 'opening'. I thought they'd just trim it. Daisy has long tufts of hair on her chin but it's here, there and everywhere, not even. She also has long hair on her feet like a mini Clydesdale horse. The hair spreads out when she puts her foot down. I'm just trying to figure out how to help prevent recurrent ear problems! The photos above are from 2 months ago.


if it's not *IN* the ear it does not need to be plucked and has nothing to do with the infections.


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## parus (Apr 10, 2014)

In some dogs hair immediately around the ear can trap moisture in the ear, which can contribute to ear infections. 

But yes, that hair can, and generally should, be cut rather than plucked.


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## Kayota (Aug 14, 2009)

Hmmm, I've mostly had prick eared dogs so I guess I'm not used to it.


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## PoodleDuo (Jun 22, 2014)

It doesn't hurt the dogs. Some are just babies and scream no matter what you do to them. I have 2 poodles and pluck all their ear hair.. At my work, we pluck all ear hair and sometimes shave near the bottom of the ear(like underneath) to increase air flow.

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