# Hair in ears



## bluesbarby (Apr 10, 2007)

I have a non shedding dog, Riley. He was neutered yesterday on his birthday, 6 months. The vet said he had alot of hair in his ears so she cleaned them out. I have been doing my own grooming. Didn't realize I needed to pull out the hair in his ears - although I do check for mites etc. How do you pull out the hair? And how often does it need to be done?


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## RonE (Feb 3, 2007)

Wow, happy birthday, Riley. I'm not gonna tell you when MY birthday is.

Because of my advanced years, I've had some experience with removing hair from my own ears (safety razor = bad idea) but I haven't had a dog with a similar problem. I can't imagine too many dogs would take kindly to having the hair plucked from their ears, though.


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## Betty (Apr 15, 2007)

There's mini battery-operated hair removers designed for women to trim eyebrows and facial hair (and similar ones designed for men to trim nose and ear hairs!), you can find them at Walgreens. Some have pivoting heads and lights, and they're rather thin and should work in a dog's ear. They claim to be painless, but I've never used one.


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## Ginny01OT (Dec 3, 2006)

I have a Riley, too, standard poodle. When I take the dog to the vet I have them pluck them (which isn't that often). Usually I pluck them myself. You can get an "alligator clip" through Petedge.com--you will see they use it for ear plucking but to tell you the truth, I have gotten so good at it that I just grip them and pull them right out, he doesn't feel a thing (sort of like plucking eyebrows, hurts when you start but then doesn't anymore). I wouldn't pluck too often tho as that in and of itself can cause an inflammatory response.


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## merrow (Feb 18, 2007)

i have a lhasa i groom him daily bt i pluck his ears once a week to 2 weeks depeding then wipe out with a cotten bud i use ear chalk or baby powder to help me grip the hairs then plck a few strands at a time iv got an old pair of twezers i use to make sure i get it out, i do it regular as i think its better to spend 30 seconds a week rather than 5 when there is so much hair in and that will make ur pooches ears sore some dogs ears grow fast others dont teddys grow really slowly and i only pull out a few haires each time i o them i no a toy poodle which has loads every 2 weeks

i would wait till ur boy is healed over the op and then start to do them if there is a lot of hair do a little each day it is easyer the first few times to have someone hold there heads till they get used to it as the person above said it dose hurt a little the first time teddy screamed at me the first few times now he just sits there for me


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## RonE (Feb 3, 2007)

merrow said:


> teddy screamed at me the first few times now he just sits there for me


He's probably plotting his revenge.


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## allick06 (Mar 13, 2007)

reach in and tug. use an ear powder for a better grip.


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## merrow (Feb 18, 2007)

he dosnt mind it at all now thank god because that scream was hurendus lol he likes it because he gets extra fuss after lol


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## andromelas (May 8, 2007)

my vet uses hemostats, looks like a pair of tiny baby nail clippers but has jaws instead of blades and a locking mechanism in the handles, you can probably get a pair from surgical supply house or online shouldnt be more than $20.

he says do it about once a month, or when there is hair in there, clamp on a bout 5 hairs near the root, and twist the hemostat so the hairs are wrapped around the clamp part and then give a quick tug. my dog didnt actually seem to mind that much, he needs his ears cleaned about weekly, and with less hair has less need of cleaning. vet said to use a little rubbing alcohol on a paper towel, but i found cheap generic wipes, with a little alcohol works better, cleaning the ears prevents ear infections. which makes it worth the little extra work. this is on my poodle mutt which came from a rescue.


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