Dog Ear Infections - How to Prevent, Identify, and Treat
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Popular with a lot of great feedback/reviews = Mister Ben's
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A nice smelling cleaner with drying agent
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For drying and PAIN
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Use the Mister Ben's and or this Aurocin Ear Cleanser once a week AND every time after swimming or bathing - this will save you money by preventing ear infections that will land you at the vet asking for antibiotics! The Zymox solution works well if your dog is on verge of infection and it has hydrocortisone to help with the pain.
Many people ask if Doodles are prone to getting ear infections. It definitely is on a dog by dog case basis. Sometimes you'll have a dog that never gets ear infection, and then some dogs get chronic infections. Some dogs will just occasionally have an ear infection to deal with. If the dog has floppy ears, most likely there will be an infection at some point during his life.
Some breeds do tend to get ear infections more than others, and it's really dependent on the 'floppy' ear style, not really a "genetic" component. If your dog has floppy ears, then, yes, that stuff is 'cooking' in there and the moisture could lead to an infection.
One of our Goldendoodles, Benji, is an F1 neutered, active, 11 year old male. He's sweet and very shy. He has long ears that flap over (most doodles do) and he occasionally gets an ear infection. Occasionally meaning once every six months or so.
How to prevent an ear infection:
Buy (and don't forget to use) a good brand of ear wash that has a drying agent in it - many types do not work, so we are sharing this kind that has worked for us. The Cucumber Melon Otic ear cleansing and drying solution (there is also plain with no smell, but the cucumber is very nice). Our vet carries it but it is also on Amazon (see below for these products). We've tried others, including the organic and all natural ingredients types, but we've found this one to work best and is the easiest to use. Some of the products leave a hard to remove chalky, clumpy white residue - and this does not look good in your dog's ears. {Note: we do not have a relationship or agreement with the product manufacturer to recommend this product, but we do receive affiliate fee from Amazon if you purchase using our link}
If you can, use the ear cleaning wash outside of your house and let your dog shake his ears. This will help move the ear cleaning all around and keep the solution from flying onto your house walls and cabinets.
By using this ear cleaning wash weekly, your pup will either never have another ear infection, or much less frequently than your pup has had them before. If we are vigilant about using it, Benji does not get an infection at all. If we forget to use it (don't criticize, you'll forget too!), and he goes swimming, he'll get an infection within a day or two.
Also, we use a Q-Tip (yes, you'll see the vet do this too - they call it 'swab') and clean any gunk out of the ear WITHOUT GOING INTO THE CANAL. Our vet told us that there is a protection curve in a dog's ear that makes it very difficult to get far into a dog's ear, but we are still careful about only getting the outside and edge with a Q-Tip. Yes, you can also use a cotton ball, but we've found that premium brand Q-Tips work best for us. Sometimes you have to start with a cotton ball, if there is a lot of gunk, and then finish up with a Q-Tip.
How to identify an ear infection:
Usually you will first notice an ear infection because your dog will keep scratching his ears. If you flip his ear over, you'll see that it's all red, probably dirty, and maybe even 'wet'. It might smell a little too. If it gets pretty bad looking, you'll need more than ear wash or OTC products to get rid of it. That means a visit to the vet for medications! You can try to use the epti otic ear wash with drying agent first, but sometimes it is just too far along to avoid the vet.
Here is poor Benji with his infected ear (owie!!):
Some breeds do tend to get ear infections more than others, and it's really dependent on the 'floppy' ear style, not really a "genetic" component. If your dog has floppy ears, then, yes, that stuff is 'cooking' in there and the moisture could lead to an infection.
One of our Goldendoodles, Benji, is an F1 neutered, active, 11 year old male. He's sweet and very shy. He has long ears that flap over (most doodles do) and he occasionally gets an ear infection. Occasionally meaning once every six months or so.
How to prevent an ear infection:
Buy (and don't forget to use) a good brand of ear wash that has a drying agent in it - many types do not work, so we are sharing this kind that has worked for us. The Cucumber Melon Otic ear cleansing and drying solution (there is also plain with no smell, but the cucumber is very nice). Our vet carries it but it is also on Amazon (see below for these products). We've tried others, including the organic and all natural ingredients types, but we've found this one to work best and is the easiest to use. Some of the products leave a hard to remove chalky, clumpy white residue - and this does not look good in your dog's ears. {Note: we do not have a relationship or agreement with the product manufacturer to recommend this product, but we do receive affiliate fee from Amazon if you purchase using our link}
If you can, use the ear cleaning wash outside of your house and let your dog shake his ears. This will help move the ear cleaning all around and keep the solution from flying onto your house walls and cabinets.
By using this ear cleaning wash weekly, your pup will either never have another ear infection, or much less frequently than your pup has had them before. If we are vigilant about using it, Benji does not get an infection at all. If we forget to use it (don't criticize, you'll forget too!), and he goes swimming, he'll get an infection within a day or two.
Also, we use a Q-Tip (yes, you'll see the vet do this too - they call it 'swab') and clean any gunk out of the ear WITHOUT GOING INTO THE CANAL. Our vet told us that there is a protection curve in a dog's ear that makes it very difficult to get far into a dog's ear, but we are still careful about only getting the outside and edge with a Q-Tip. Yes, you can also use a cotton ball, but we've found that premium brand Q-Tips work best for us. Sometimes you have to start with a cotton ball, if there is a lot of gunk, and then finish up with a Q-Tip.
How to identify an ear infection:
Usually you will first notice an ear infection because your dog will keep scratching his ears. If you flip his ear over, you'll see that it's all red, probably dirty, and maybe even 'wet'. It might smell a little too. If it gets pretty bad looking, you'll need more than ear wash or OTC products to get rid of it. That means a visit to the vet for medications! You can try to use the epti otic ear wash with drying agent first, but sometimes it is just too far along to avoid the vet.
Here is poor Benji with his infected ear (owie!!):
How to treat an ear infection:
After analyzing a swab of the gunk in your dog's ear and diagnosing an ear infection (versus ear mites or other), your vet will most likely prescribe Otomax or another type of Ear Solution. Oftentimes it is an antibiotic, sometimes it is a yeast clean up solution. Follow the directions!
Here is Benji's "all better" ear:
After analyzing a swab of the gunk in your dog's ear and diagnosing an ear infection (versus ear mites or other), your vet will most likely prescribe Otomax or another type of Ear Solution. Oftentimes it is an antibiotic, sometimes it is a yeast clean up solution. Follow the directions!
Here is Benji's "all better" ear:
So, again, if you keep your dog's ears clean (most importantly, DRY) by using the drying agent wash, you'll find that he/she won't have ear infections or they will be greatly reduced.
If you have a dog that is prone to ear infections, you should definitely use the ear wash: after swimming (!), after rolling in dirt or mud, after a bath, and definitely once a week! If your dog does not get ear infections, clean his ears out anyway once a week.
Oh, and do not forget to give your pup a really good treat after you're done terrorizing him with the ear wash and Q-Tips. Otherwise, he'll be hard to catch next time he sees you with that bottle in your hand!
Have any tips for ear infections? Let us know!
If you have a dog that is prone to ear infections, you should definitely use the ear wash: after swimming (!), after rolling in dirt or mud, after a bath, and definitely once a week! If your dog does not get ear infections, clean his ears out anyway once a week.
Oh, and do not forget to give your pup a really good treat after you're done terrorizing him with the ear wash and Q-Tips. Otherwise, he'll be hard to catch next time he sees you with that bottle in your hand!
Have any tips for ear infections? Let us know!
TO PREVENT:This is the non-cucumber kind - Epi-Otic is what you want to keep the ears clean and most importantly, DRY - keeping your dog's ears dry is the key because yeast is usually the issue.
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TO TREAT:This has hydrocortisone to help with pain, and also dries and cleans. If the ear infection doesn't get better quickly with this, you will need to go to the vet for prescriptions.
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These are what the vet uses - they are bigger than standard Q-tips for humans. You can use a paper towel first, to get most of the gunk, and then use these 2nd.
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Some people really like to keep these on hand to use weekly - they are a good general cleaner for a host of ear problems.
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FOR MITES:
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We only had to use this once, but it worked great and was very fast working....
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We heard from another dog loving person that this Doctor Beasley's is also a good product.... (but we have not tried it)
We do receive affiliate fees from Amazon if you purchase using our links.