# Pulling Hair of her Ears? What?????



## FlamingoFan (May 8, 2009)

Our little Stella, who we've only had for three weeks went for her first grooming last weekend. She's a Schoodle and I guess I'm a bad dog mom for not asking exactly what goes into a grooming. Our last dog was a lab and never needed a professional groomer.

Anyway...she looked so cute afterwards and they said she did great....and then they mentioned that they pulled out her ear hair??? I didn't realize that and it's my fault for not researching.

Do you all try this at home....or do you leave it to a groomer/vet? I don't know if I could bring myself to yank her ear hair out?


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## Xie (Feb 5, 2009)

It is absolutely essential to pull the hair out of a dog's ears IF they have hair that goes down into the ear canal.

Hair in the ear canal is a major cause of ear infections and I go over this with every new client we see at work (vet's clinic) who has a breed with ear hair. If your pup got the poodle hair in her ears you might have to do it at home. Well, that or your are going to be at the groomer at least once a month if not more.

What you want to pull out is ONLY the hair that is going down in the actual ear canal. Don't pull the hair that's on the ear flaps (pinna), your pup will not appreciate that. If you are pulling the hair that is in the ear canal it shouldn't bother her to much and it's much healthier for the pup overall. They sell ear powder at most pet stores that will help with the removal.

Poodles that have the ear hair removed on a regular basis are not that prone to ear infections. In poodles where the ear hair is not removed they can be a regular occurence because the hair traps all sorts of stuff in there and it stops good airflow.


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## Tankstar (Dec 30, 2006)

Its very common thing to do. I do it to all breeds who have hair going in to their ear canal. Not hard to do at all. You may need some ear powder to make your fingers stick to the slippery haiir. it doesnt harm them, just irratates them having it pulled.


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## Elana55 (Jan 7, 2008)

Yup. Had standard Poodles and a Mix dog. Had to keep that hair outta there. Hair retains dirt and moisture you you get infections. Did it myself.. but then I bathed and clipped the dog too.. nothing fancy.. just a kennel clip. 

Dog didn't seem to hurt when it was pulled.. actually acted like it sort of felt good?


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## FlamingoFan (May 8, 2009)

Our lab was so different....put solution in her ears...wiped them out with cotton balls.

the pulling scares me that I'll hurt her. I'll have to ask the groomer to show me how or the vet. I don't want her to get infections.....

it really doesn't hurt them??? My eyes water when I pluck my own eyebrows!



Tankstar said:


> Its very common thing to do. I do it to all breeds who have hair going in to their ear canal. Not hard to do at all. You may need some ear powder to make your fingers stick to the slippery haiir. it doesnt harm them, just irratates them having it pulled.


and you just use your fingers and not the metal hair pullers that look like scissors that I'm seeing online?


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## Keechak (Aug 10, 2008)

YOu'ed really have to ask the dogs if they feel pain. I've seen some dogs that screem and whimper when they get their ear hair pulled and I've seen others that simply look very bored and don't seem to care. The "screemers" might not be actually feeling pain but they might just be screeming because they hate their ears and head held.


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## Tankstar (Dec 30, 2006)

FlamingoFan said:


> Our lab was so different....put solution in her ears...wiped them out with cotton balls.
> 
> the pulling scares me that I'll hurt her. I'll have to ask the groomer to show me how or the vet. I don't want her to get infections.....
> 
> ...


Some dogs whine but I thinks its more due to they dont like it and are spoiled by their ownrs or dont get it done often enough to be accustomed to it.

I use my fingers and/or the "hair pullers". just depends on how much hair there is and how hard it is to pull out.


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## SMoore (Nov 9, 2007)

Yep I do it to my own standard as well as any dog in the grooming shop that needs it. I've only ever had one person tell me that her vet specifically said that pulling the hair is what causes the infections in her standard poodle and im pretty sure she heard wrong or didn't want anything to hurt her precious poodle, bleh. So... i left it there. I use my fingers or hemostats.


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## agility collie mom (Jan 26, 2008)

Yep I use my fingers. Some people will pull a little every week while they are holding their dog and watching tv. I use hemostats at work.


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## GroovyGroomer777 (Aug 21, 2008)

It is a controversial subject of the grooming world. Some are pro, some are not.
I do it because I was taught that way and the vet I work for wants me to do it. 
However if it has been neglected for months and there is a forest in there, it is very difficult on the dog. If the dog becomes too stressed, it then becomes the vet's job to remove the hair.

Like the post above said, do a little at a time and keep it maintained.


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## Love's_Sophie (Sep 23, 2007)

Well you don't exactly 'yank' it out! Lol! You only pull a few hairs at a time. And in some breeds it is important to check the amount of ear hair in the ears routinely, otherwise they could get too much in there, and it get's painful to pull a bunch out at one sitting. So, yes, and no...you could leave it to the groomer, but you "may" have to keep up with it at home too, if she seems prone to alot of hair in her ears; I would ask the groomers if she had alot in there, and if she didn't, you should be fine to have them do it every time she goes in for a groom. If she had a lot of buildup, then you may want to have them show you how to do it at home, so you can stay on top of it every few weeks.

Like groovy said, it is one of those things that some people think that a vet should only do, but I was taught to do it, and unless it is so severely impacted that i can't possibly get a handle on it, I will gladly do this small maintainance thing that keeps the dog a bit more happy and healthy.


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## poodleholic (Mar 15, 2007)

SMoore said:


> Yep I do it to my own standard as well as any dog in the grooming shop that needs it. I've only ever had one person tell me that her vet specifically said that pulling the hair is what causes the infections in her standard poodle and im pretty sure she heard wrong or didn't want anything to hurt her precious poodle, bleh. So... i left it there. I use my fingers or hemostats.


I agree that plucking ears clean can, and does create ear infections.

I have 3 Standard Poodles; one is 8 yrs. old, one 7 yrs. old, and a 10-mon. old puppy. The older two haven't had ear infections since I stopped allowing a professional groomer to pluck their ears (more than 6 years now). I trim the hair, and once in a blue moon I may use my fingers to pluck a little on my 8-yr. old, but not much. I never use a hemostat. The puppy (cross fingers and paws) has healthy ears, and I do not pluck - but use the Wahl trimmer to shave, and keep all of their ears clean by cleansing 2x/mo. (once a week in summer) using 50/50 vinegar and Witch Hazel.


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## HersheyBear (Dec 13, 2008)

There is also something called ear powder, which i imagine most pet stores sell. It makes it easier to gently pluck out the ear hair.


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## Binkalette (Dec 16, 2008)

This is one of those things that I make my husband do


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## FlamingoFan (May 8, 2009)

I'll take a peek in there this a.m.....it didn't occur to me to ask the groomer if there was alot in there. Guessing that she had never had it done before. She loves to have her ears rubbed....maybe I'll try sticking my fingers in the ear...not to pull anything til someone shows me, but to get her used to my fingers in her little ears!


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## Pai (Apr 23, 2008)

Here is a video of it being done. It really helps reduce the chance of bacteria or infections festering in the ear, and if it's done properly it doesn't hurt them. Think of it like getting your eyebrows plucked.


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## FlamingoFan (May 8, 2009)

Thank you so much for the video!!!!!!! And great advice!! I want my Stella to be healthy and happy!!


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## spugs (May 4, 2009)

My puppy hated having it done and screamed, they used the tongs and pulled out big clumps and it was his first time at the groomers. I dont want to have it done if he doesnt have to so im using a baby wipe once a week to clean his ears and hopefully that will keep he muck levels down.


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## Pai (Apr 23, 2008)

Horrible! Sounds like they didn't know how to do it properly.


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## luvntzus (Mar 16, 2007)

poodleholic said:


> I agree that plucking ears clean can, and does create ear infections.


I'm curious about how ear plucking could cause infections.


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## FlamingoFan (May 8, 2009)

spugs said:


> My puppy hated having it done and screamed, they used the tongs and pulled out big clumps and it was his first time at the groomers. I dont want to have it done if he doesnt have to so im using a baby wipe once a week to clean his ears and hopefully that will keep he muck levels down.


I was wondering if there was some kind of wipes that I could use. With our lab we squirted in a liquid cleaner and were able to dig down in with a q-tip to get the gunk out.....Stellas ears seem way too small and delicate for that.


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## tunisianswife (Aug 11, 2009)

so glad I did a search and found this, and thanks for the video link as well. I had my dogs in for their yearly physical and shots when I mentioned that no matter how much I clean the one ear of my shih tzu, the cotton ball is brown.

My groomer that I had right up until I started grooming them myself would not pluck their ears. My vet said that there was/is a debate about this. Several years ago the consensus was not to pluck that it caused more infections by having no hair in the ears to trap, but in some breeds where ear infections are common(he referred to the hair in the ears as dogs that have 'poodle hair in their ears'), they found that infections were more common if not plucked.

I found some ear powder online and ordered it last night. Just for the sake of things, after watching the video, I decided to see if pulling some out w/o the powder caused any type of reaction from my shih tzu and it didn't. I'll wait until I get the ear powder though before I do a thorough job on him and the lhasa.

thanks again!


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## Jennet19 (Feb 8, 2010)

OH YES--I learned to do this with my 8 yr old min. poodle- he lays down and lets me do it now- I only do him about every 3 wks now and I use the hemostat tweezers. Now I have a yr old schnoodle and I have to do him every week- my husband hold and I tweeze. When we first started with him he cried and screamed like a baby- now he just moans occasionally and lets us do it. I think it is just a little dog thing- I have never heard of people with big dogs doing this.. Good luck and get a helper..


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## LazyGRanch713 (Jul 22, 2009)

Keechak said:


> YOu'ed really have to ask the dogs if they feel pain. I've seen some dogs that screem and whimper when they get their ear hair pulled and I've seen others that simply look very bored and don't seem to care. The "screemers" might not be actually feeling pain but they might just be screeming because they hate their ears and head held.


It never seems to fail in my shop. The "perfect" dogs, who let me comb mats, cut ingrown toenails, and stand there like sweeties HATE the hair pulled out of the ear canal! The goofballs who fight everything else stand there like "who cares" when I clean the ears. It's odd


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## Labsnothers (Oct 10, 2009)

I have never done it and seldom seen ear infections. I did clip the hair in the ears of the Golden we had last year.


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## LazyGRanch713 (Jul 22, 2009)

tunisianswife said:


> My groomer that I had right up until I started grooming them myself would not pluck their ears. My vet said that there was/is a debate about this. Several years ago the consensus was not to pluck that it caused more infections by having no hair in the ears to trap, but in some breeds where ear infections are common(he referred to the hair in the ears as dogs that have 'poodle hair in their ears'), they found that infections were more common if not plucked.


Maybe someone else here can answer a question for me. Many, many times, we've had new dogs come in with badly infected ears. The owners tell me that the vet is treating the ear infection with ear drops, but told the owner "to tell the groomer to clean the ears out". What is the point in trying to treat an infected ear with the hair plugging the canal? Can the medicine even be doing any good? And why wouldn't they clean the ear out at the vet visit BEFORE treating the ear infection? Thoughts?


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## kazuldra (Jan 4, 2010)

Ooooh, yeah, Schnauzers and Poodles both have some mega ear hair going on. And if you're going to do it yourself, ear powder is a must-have. It soaks up some of that oil, and adds texture to give you a grip and make the pulling easier. For home use between groomer visits, you probably won't need hemostats or other mechanical pullers, your fingers will work just fine.

I have had one customer who specifically asked me not to pluck the ear hair, because her vet told her that if the dog doesn't have problems with ear infections, then it was unnecessary. We followed her wishes of course, though it was the first and only time we'd heard that.

As far as whether or not it hurts...I am unsure. I bet it's uncomfortable, and perhaps not unlike plucking a hair from your eyebrow (I guess I should ask some men if it hurts to pluck _their_ ear hair?). I tend to believe that the long-term benefits outweigh the short-term discomfort, though. Different dogs also have different levels of tolerance, too. I've had screamers and biters, then the next dog will LOVE it, pushing his head into my hand like he's getting the best-ever ear scratch in his LIFE.

*To LazyGRanch:* Personally, if an ear is very badly infected, I don't pluck the hair in there. I'm afraid to open the skin in there and introduce the infection into the bloodstream. I always inform the owner if that's the case, and let them know they may want to get back with their vet.


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## NRB (Sep 19, 2009)

Schnauzer owner here. My girl hates being restrained. So I pluck the ear hair a little at a time. Usually during a play session. I just pluck a few times in one ear and stop before she objects. Then play more, and pluck a few more hairs from the opposite ear. It seems easier on her to space out the plucking session like this.


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## Binkalette (Dec 16, 2008)

LazyGRanch713 said:


> Maybe someone else here can answer a question for me. Many, many times, we've had new dogs come in with badly infected ears. The owners tell me that the vet is treating the ear infection with ear drops, but told the owner "to tell the groomer to clean the ears out". What is the point in trying to treat an infected ear with the hair plugging the canal? Can the medicine even be doing any good? And why wouldn't they clean the ear out at the vet visit BEFORE treating the ear infection? Thoughts?


I don't know.. When Zoey's left ear was infected the vet pulled hair out and cleaned it before putting the ointment in it. I guess if it had been a really bad infection or something she may have wanted to wait, but it wasn't very bad at all.


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## Xie (Feb 5, 2009)

LazyGRanch713 said:


> Maybe someone else here can answer a question for me. Many, many times, we've had new dogs come in with badly infected ears. The owners tell me that the vet is treating the ear infection with ear drops, but told the owner "to tell the groomer to clean the ears out". What is the point in trying to treat an infected ear with the hair plugging the canal? Can the medicine even be doing any good? And why wouldn't they clean the ear out at the vet visit BEFORE treating the ear infection? Thoughts?


A couple of thoughts...

Nope, the meds do no good without having the ears cleaned.

You would be AMAZED at what an owner will say they were told when it is NOT the truth. I hear quite often at work that we don't need to clean the ears because the dog is going to the groomer (ie, they don't want to pay for a cleaning). So we always tell them the same thing, the drops won't work without the ears being cleaned and make sure to specifically ask to have the ears cleaned if you don't want us to do it.

I can easily see that being turned around once at the groomers to "the vet told us to have the ears cleaned and prescribed these meds."

Heck, it's pretty much a daily occurrence for an owner to tell me one thing and say something completely different to the vet. The vet knows me well enough to know that a lot of the things owners claimed they were told were flat out false, just things I wouldn't say in a million years. It's almost like people don't think the vet and I talk about the case.

I learned loooong ago to take anything an owner claims another vet said with a grain of salt. I'm not saying it's always malicious but it seems things are fairly often misunderstood.

Okay, done ranting, this is a subject I could go on forever about.


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## Laurelin (Nov 2, 2006)

Are you supposed to just do this on the 'hair' breeds? I never have heard of it at all.


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## Morrwyn (Aug 13, 2009)

I'm with Laurelin on this one. What breeds are supposed to have their ear hairs plucked


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## Purplex15 (May 28, 2007)

ok this is a very conusing subject for most, even amoungst groomers.

Ill start with whether or not it causes infections. honestly i dont know. but poodleholic is not the first person that i have heard say that infections stopped (or were considerably less) once regular ear pulling was stopped. i used to work for a poodle breeder, whos best friend and mentor bred Mini poodles. they both heard of this from vets and other poodle people, and decided to try it out (one of my bosses' poodles had an infection that wouldnt clear up after a year, even after they tried everything). that was about a year and a half ago, and last i talked to them, the ear infections have been a lot better. the ones who never had problems still dont, and the ones who did have problems havent had one since about 3 months after the pulling stopped. even the one with really bad infections finally started clearing up. 



> I'm curious about how ear plucking could cause infections.


It has been explained to me that dogs naturally need hair in their ears, to protect them from airborne bacteria and whatnot. when you pluck the hair, it leaves them vulnerable to something they are not used to, thus causing more infections. also, if you have a dog who went 5 years without ever having the ear hair plucked, and it is suddenly plucked, i can see how that would cause irritation (they are not used to anything going down their ear canal). i think a lot goes into it, but i dont think plucking out the ear hair is as necessary as some think. 

i also think a lot of groomers take out every peice of hair and leave the ear completely naked. i dont do that. i only clear the ear canal. 



> What is the point in trying to treat an infected ear with the hair plugging the canal?


no matter what, if your dog needs ear medicine, and there is too much hair to get it down the canal, then the hair needs to go, at least a little so the canal can be clear. but it is annoying to get dogs in that are being treated for an ear infection, and i lift up the ear to see nothing but a big goopy mess. it makes no sense for the vet to see that (most likely an infection that sat for too long and matted the hair around the ear), then just prescribe ear drops with no mention of it not working if it cant get in the ear. 



> I'm with Laurelin on this one. What breeds are supposed to have their ear hairs plucked


i dont know every single one, but it is usually dogs who have hair not fur. Poodles, Maltese, Bichon, Schnauzer, are some breeds i can list off the top of my head that usually need it done (and mixes of them). So, basically nothing either of you need to worry about (lucky you, lol)



> I learned loooong ago to take anything an owner claims another vet said with a grain of salt. I'm not saying it's always malicious but it seems things are fairly often misunderstood.


So much word to this. I dont know what the problem is; if vets are that awful at relaying information (which i have experianced first hand, and thanked my lucky stars i was knowledgable enough to get it), or if people are really that bad at listening. when i worked for petco, we once had an owner bring in a just spayed JRT mix (like spayed that morning), and said her vet told her to take her dog right away to a groomer, as the dog needed to have a flea bath asap or risk dieing from being infested with fleas. we told the woman we would have to call her vet, b/c we are strictly never allowed to take in a dog that has stitches (not to mention you cant get them wet). we call the vet, and he says NO, he did not say that, he said make sure to get the dog some flea prevention from a pet store (he happened to mention one that had a grooming salon), and to make an appointment to get the dog a flea bath (so she could get rid of the fleas in her house while the dog was being groomed), and explained to her the consequences of what not treating the dog for its fleas would be. either the vet didnt tell her any of that (or not nearly as descriptive), or the lady half listened, and took action based on half the information. either way, the dog is the one who would have suffered.


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## Angie's Bella (Dec 28, 2008)

Morrwyn said:


> I'm with Laurelin on this one. What breeds are supposed to have their ear hairs plucked


I think it is just the non-shedding, or dogs with "hair" dogs that have to have their hair pulled out. I am guessing it is because their hair is always growing!

On my big girls (the standards) I have to pluck Bella's ears, but only have to trim Emma's. I don't pluck Bella's completely, I just have to thin it out. She has REALLY hairy ear canals! Emma's ears only have to be trimmed as well as my havanese. Bella actually prefers the plucking to the trimming


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## LazyGRanch713 (Jul 22, 2009)

no matter what, if your dog needs ear medicine, and there is too much hair to get it down the canal, then the hair needs to go, at least a little so the canal can be clear. but it is annoying to get dogs in that are being treated for an ear infection, and i lift up the ear to see nothing but a big goopy mess. it makes no sense for the vet to see that (most likely an infection that sat for too long and matted the hair around the ear), then just prescribe ear drops with no mention of it not working if it cant get in the ear. 

*I agree, but my main question was why do vets prescribe ear drops and tell the owner "Take the dog to a groomer to get the ear hair pulled out"? If they diagnose an ear infection and treat it, shouldn't clearing the ear canal be part of the treatment? *



So much word to this. I dont know what the problem is; if vets are that awful at relaying information (which i have experianced first hand, and thanked my lucky stars i was knowledgable enough to get it), or if people are really that bad at listening. when i worked for petco, we once had an owner bring in a just spayed JRT mix (like spayed that morning), and said her vet told her to take her dog right away to a groomer, as the dog needed to have a flea bath asap or risk dieing from being infested with fleas. we told the woman we would have to call her vet, b/c we are strictly never allowed to take in a dog that has stitches (not to mention you cant get them wet). we call the vet, and he says NO, he did not say that, he said make sure to get the dog some flea prevention from a pet store (he happened to mention one that had a grooming salon), and to make an appointment to get the dog a flea bath (so she could get rid of the fleas in her house while the dog was being groomed), and explained to her the consequences of what not treating the dog for its fleas would be. either the vet didnt tell her any of that (or not nearly as descriptive), or the lady half listened, and took action based on half the information. either way, the dog is the one who would have suffered.

*Makes sense how wires can be crossed  She probably heard the words "flea", "bath", and "die" and panicked...*


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## Laurelin (Nov 2, 2006)

Ah, it just seemed weird because paps have such hairy ears but you'll be massacred for pulling hair and fringe off of them. lol I've never had an ear infection in any of my dogs so I guess it's not a problem.


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## PappyMom (Jun 5, 2009)

Laur, I just read this whole thread going..'OMG, ARE THEY GOING TO PULL OUT THEIR EAR FRINGEEEE??' lol. Thank you for asking that question and relieving my stress before the end of this thread.


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## Crantastic (Feb 3, 2010)

Haha, I was wondering the same thing as I was reading this! Sometimes Crystal's ear hair will get turned around and poke into her ear and and irritate her and she'll start scratching at it, but I grab it and straighten it back out and it's fine. I've never heard that you should pluck a papillon's ear hair, so I don't think we have to worry about it. Crystal barely ever has wax in her ears, anyway, let alone ear infections.


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## lucidity (Nov 10, 2009)

Lol, I've seen it done on shih tzus before.. but, to clarify.. the fringe that they pluck out isn't like the fringe growing from a pap's ear. The fur that they pluck is WAYYYYY deep in the canal, you actually have to put your fingers pretty far in to pluck them out.. not like the fringe on paps' ears that kind of grow on the outer part of their ears, lol.


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## flyingduster (Dec 10, 2009)

IMO, if it ain't broke, don't fix it. There are many dogs that have a little hair in their ears that are clean pink healthy lil ears. There is NO reason to go pulling the hair out of them unless they do have a history of problems if left with hairy ears. There are plenty of poodles with perfectly fine ears left hairy too. If it isn't a problem, then do go causing them by plucking IMO.

Plucking ears does open up the pores (duh, you've just pulled the hair out, of course it'll leave 'holes' where the hair was!) Minute as the 'holes' are, they are are an open door for infection to set in if there's a problem.

On the other hand, I have a number of dogs I DO pluck every time they're in, they NEED to keep their ears clear, or it WILL turn into a solid plug and cause problems because no air can get down their canal. If I don't get the deep stuff they just get yuck. (seriously I can grab a hair barely poking out the ear canal, and it'll be 2 inches long. On a lil bichon!)

And then there's also others who just get a light 'thin out' by me plucking a little but not trying to get it all out, just keeping it from becoming a thick carpet but not stressing about getting the deep stuff out.


If a dog has an infection, I won't deal with it. Plucking a dogs ears when there's already an infection there is just asking for trouble, and I let the owner know that they need to see their vet and get it dealt with. I will not open up those pores when there's already nasties right there to set in worse than ever and be blamed for doing it!


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## Dotaileen (Aug 5, 2013)

What about using a rotating nose hair clipper...would that work? They are safe and I would think quicker and easier. Has anyone tried this?


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## Kayota (Aug 14, 2009)

Laurelin said:


> Ah, it just seemed weird because paps have such hairy ears but you'll be massacred for pulling hair and fringe off of them. lol I've never had an ear infection in any of my dogs so I guess it's not a problem.


Dogs with up ears are less likely to have infections too so that might be part of it.


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