# How to clean ears?



## cockapoo (Sep 24, 2007)

I have a 3 months cockapoo and I haven't cleaned his ears yet. Any advice?


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## LoveLilly (Oct 25, 2006)

Never poke anything to use anything pointed or stick like.....including the Qtip looking products for dogs. One slight move and it could poke and cause damage.

I happened to use a solution that my vet sold but I am sure you could call your vet for a reccommended solution.

What I do is I hold Lilly's ear as open as possible and do a quick squirt of the solution. then you rub the cartilidge part by the base of the ear and to know that you got the stuff in there you should hear a squishy sound. So about 10 seconds of the squishy rubbing sound and then I use a clean cotton ball and hold her ear open and dab the cotton ball around to soak up any extra solution & wipe the outer area.

I think once a week might be the norm, we do it dramatically less b/c Lilly's skin drys out from the cleaning so I do it maybe once a month.


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## Durbkat (Jun 26, 2007)

I have never cleaned my dog's ear's out except once when he was almost 3 months and the vet used a q-tip and he stuck it in there and moved it around real fast and scrubbed real good then he put another solution in their to sooth the ears. I need to stop by their and pick some up.


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## Breona (Sep 30, 2007)

I clean tito's ears when I give him a bath I just clean them out with a cloth..

There are "ear wipes" avalible at petsmart. And the soluion works well in most cases.. Tito's ears never get very dirty though and you would think that since they are always up and open they would but that also may be why they don't.


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## Ginny01OT (Dec 3, 2006)

Barring your dog does not have ear infections, which is a completely different cleaning technique if you are doing it for maintenance/hygience purposes, you can use cotton balls to clean the dogs ears out. You should get a cleaning solution from your vets office--I use oticalm and put some of the solution onto the cotton ball--gently put the cotton ball in the ear and gently wipe---you would do that several times, each time with a new cotton ball---I do it until the cotton ball comes out clean. AFter the cotton ball is clean, I then use two more dry cotton balls to absorb any moisture left in the ear from the solution. I clean my dogs ears every week to week and a half (I go thru a lot of cotton balls-- As someone said, do NOT use q-tips as that can push debri further into the ear and don't use any thing that could be rough and cause irritation.


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## DobManiac (Aug 12, 2007)

Is it a bad idea to use rubbing alcohol? My dogs don't get ear infections so I just use the alcohol to keep them clean. It dries naturally and quickly just like ear cleaner.


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## Ginny01OT (Dec 3, 2006)

No, rubbing alcohol is too strong, can dry out the ear and if there are any problems it will be painful. I would stear clear of alcohol.


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## DobManiac (Aug 12, 2007)

Ginny01OT said:


> No, rubbing alcohol is too strong, can dry out the ear and if there are any problems it will be painful. I would stear clear of alcohol.


Thanks, I will buy ear cleaner. I just thought ears were ears. I clean my ears with rubbing alcohol.


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## melvs (Aug 21, 2007)

This is new to me, too and I have start cleaning Lilly's ears. So far, I've just used the wipes but I don't think that's getting everything. Most products I've come across say to put drops directly into the dogs ear, then massage just below the ear opening. Then to let the dog naturally shake his head and follow up w/ cotton balls to get the remaining fluid and debri out. Does this sound right? Does anyone else clean their dogs ears like that? And does anyone have a brand they recommend?


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## Ginny01OT (Dec 3, 2006)

Melvs, that is the way I clean my dogs ears when he had ear infections. Now that he is infection clean--I do not squirt too much liquid into the ear canal, I prefer to wet a cotton ball--additionally, my vet told me that using the wet cotton ball was a good way to clean the ears on a maintenance schedule.


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## melvs (Aug 21, 2007)

Ginny01OT said:


> Melvs, that is the way I clean my dogs ears when he had ear infections. Now that he is infection clean--I do not squirt too much liquid into the ear canal, I prefer to wet a cotton ball--additionally, my vet told me that using the wet cotton ball was a good way to clean the ears on a maintenance schedule.


Thanks for noting that. Lilly doesn't show any signs of infection, as far as redness, inflammation, dark colored stuff, etc.,so I wasn't sure if it was neccessary to fill the canal. The vet said they looked good at her last visit, but I forgot to ask him about a maintenance schedule. I think your idea of using wetting the cotton ball would work much better for my dog, too, b/c she's really sensitive about her ears. She has the cocker spaniel ears, so I know I'll need to definitely keep an eye on those cute little ears of hers. And she's been scratching them more lately, so it's time I get on the ball!


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## Ginny01OT (Dec 3, 2006)

Yeah cocker spaniel ears need to be tackled just like standard poodles---this may sound weird but I also once in a while smell Riley's ears--The oticalm ointment I use has eucalyptus in it which I think smells good---that smell will kind of linger in his ears--if his ears start to smelled funky I would clean them but so far so good. We have now been ear infection free for a year!!!!--Tomorrow is his annual check up I will have them pluck his ear hairs a little while I am there (I sometimes do it myself but my vision and fine motor skills aren't the best)


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## Max'sHuman (Oct 6, 2007)

One quick thing about cleaning ears. How you do it will depend on what kind of cleaner you get. I went out yesterday to get ear cleaner for my pup and asked someone to help me choose one. This is a great pet store that focuses entirely on supplies and food for dogs and cats. Well there are powders and liquids and different formulas and brands. Some require cotton balls, other just squirt in a bit, massge the ear and go. I got the massage the ear and go one because my dog probably would squirm real bad with cotton balls in his ears. So just make sure you look at the instructions on the bottle before you use it.


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## WicketLeia (Oct 15, 2007)

My 3 month old Pyrenees has really dirty ears! I took her to PetSmart last weekend to get a bath and they looked a lot better and then 4 days later.. they were filthy again. 

Is it an ear wax problem or just heavy dirt collection?? I don't think it's mites because she doesn't really scratch her ears. 

She is an indoor dog, but definitely gets alot of time outside to roll around in the grass.. is that what's doing it?


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