Another "doggie" question..hair in ears

[Terry Wallace]

Appyday where are you? I forgot to ask you this on the phone the other day....

What is the best way to get the hair out of poodle-like ears? Do you just pull it with hemostats?

I can pull some out with mu fingers... and I can pull it out with 'stats...BUT...it never looks as tidy or cleaned up as if the vet does it?
What do vets use? Do they use a doggie dipilatory cream?
Is there such a thing as doggie ear NAIR?
Would that be an ill-advised thing to use on a dog?

Please give me some responses folks! THANKS

[PasoVicki]

Terry --
I don't recommend pulling hair out of your dog's ears. I used to have a Lhasa who had a "problem" with hair in her ears. The vet told me to pull it out on a regular basis -- he said it would sting a little the first few times but the dog would eventually get used to it. WRONG! It hurt, and she didn't get used to it. She became extremely sensitive about anyone touching her anywhere near her ears. She lived to be sixteen, and I spent most of her life warning people not to pet her, because she'd get scared and snap if a hand came too close to her ears.
There might be a lot of dogs who will tolerate hair pulling, but I won't ever do it again.

[Terry Wallace]

Vicki...pulling hair from his ears does not seem to hurt him at all... that hair doesn't even seem to be real well attached...not at all like coat hair...
I can actually pull it out with my fingers... and he just lays in my lap...

I sure would like to figure out how to get those ears as cleaned out as my vet does... the problem here is he likes to go "wabbit hunting" in the weeds and he gets weed seeds & stickers in his ear hair sometimes...

[appyday]

Poodles and other hairry earred dogs need their ears plucked..I use R-7 Ear powder it has a rosin grip so you can pull the hair out either with your finger or hemostats...easy easy..

You can also if he is good use your 30 blade to clip it out of his ears when you clip his face..

[Terry Wallace]

Thanks...I'm afraid I am not good enough with clipper to even try that!
I like how smooth and clean the inside of the ears are when it is all pulled out...it makes his ears so much easier to keep clean... they look "smooth as a baby's bottom" when the vet does it ;-)

[JennLM]

Powder same kind as Appyday uses is what I have used too. It's meant to come out in a handful of breeds.

[NikiGA]

Terry, I have always either plucked or used nose hair or bikini line trimmers. Never had a Poodle, but both methods worked on Bouvs and OES's.

[tinomino]

Terry, use the ear powder and pluck only a little at a time with your fingers or the hemostats. Go slow and try to get down into the ear canal as much as you can. It takes a little while to get the hang of it. If he's letting you do it without a fuss that's good. Man I wish all my groom dogs were so good!! :D If you aren't comfortable with it, petsmart does ear plucking as a walk in service. If you have a petsmart close to you. Just bring your rabies paper with you the first time you go in. It's around $8 for an ear plucking. Cheaper than the vet I'm sure. If you were closer I would do it for you but alas you're too far away I fear. :(

[Abejita]

ok I have to ask .The hair in a horses ears is there for a reason (keeping out debris, bugs, cold wind) so why cant the dogs keep theirs? Just ease of grooming (Terry mentioned stuff getting in the hair from going outside)? WHat about the old argument that mother nature put it there for a reason? Just wondering.

[NikiGA]

Because human beings have bred dogs to have floppy ears and lots of hair in so many breeds. Not to mention how we have messed with their diets. It is very difficult to maintain a sanitary environment in the ear when it is so hairy it can't be cleaned. I have never plucked hair from a standing ear, just trim around the edges to keep the long guard hairs from picking up burrs. Same as we do with our horses. Fortunately, we have not yet bred horses to have floppy, hanging ears.

[appyday]

ok I have to ask .The hair in a horses ears is there for a reason (keeping out debris, bugs, cold wind) so why cant the dogs keep theirs? Just ease of grooming (Terry mentioned stuff getting in the hair from going outside)? WHat about the old argument that mother nature put it there for a reason? Just wondering.


Do me a favor...stick a cotton ball in each ear...leave it there for say..a week or two...take your baths (leave it in) do all your barn chores etc..let it get wet and gooey and warm and tell me what fungus/bacteria grows in there........yuk

[Terry Wallace]

This dog is half Poodle and half Yorkie. The weeds are MUCH taller than he...so he "bounds" through them and his ears catch a lot of stickers & such. He does not shed... and his coat must be clipped just like a pure-bred Poodle. His ears don't shed either. They would get dog ear wax and debris caught and held in the hair, which will also mat if allowed to get too long.

Letting that hair stay in there would make a great environment for ear mites and other creatures I think.. ;-)

[tinomino]

terry you are right. the hair left inside the ear canal is just asking for an ear infection. moistier(sp?) gets caught in there and breeds infection. Taking out the hair allows the air to get inside and dry out the ear. Also clipping the underside of the ear helps keep the ear from getting matted so much. Do you keep his hair short? If his ears are long like a poodle you can have the groomer run what's called a snap on comb over his ears to keep them a little shorter to help with the matts. I would suggest a 1/2 snap on comb. Any groomer should know what that means. It will leave the hair longer but not big and poofy.

[Terry Wallace]

Yep..I keep his hair fairly short...about 1/2 inch long on the body, and 1-1/2" long on the legs "puffed sleeves" my husband calls it... I do keep the ear hair about 1" on the outside, and shorter on the underside.

[appyday]

Yep..I keep his hair fairly short...about 1/2 inch long on the body, and 1-1/2" long on the legs "puffed sleeves" my husband calls it... I do keep the ear hair about 1" on the outside, and shorter on the underside.

Terry you still use a 10 or 15 on the face when you do him? Flip his ear over and strip the inside flap when you groom him..it will help alot

[tinomino]

he sounds cute. you should post a pic. :D We had a an amazing golden-doodle in today who was a big poofy teddy bear it was cute. Not a mat on the dog either. amazing. Most dogs like that have at least a few. :D