Poodle Ear Cleaning And Hair Plucking

Poodle Ear Cleaning And Hair Plucking needs to be done regularly for your poodle's ear health. The ear canal is a dark, warm and moist environment and is prone to ear infections unless steps are taken to prevent this from happening.
The best and simplest method is to simply pluck a few hairs at a time from the ears while your dog is laying on it's side. Do not try to get rid of more than a hair or two at a time. Otherwise it can cause the ears to bleed and it is also very painful.
If you have a Poodle, whether it is a toy, miniature or standard, it is very important that Cleaning Your Poodle Ears is a regular part of your routine each month. If you are getting your dog or dogs groomed each month, as I tend to do, make sure that the groomer is checking the poodle's ears for hair and removing all of it. In between grooming appointments, you may find that the hair is growing back so quickly that you have to keep up with it at home more than once a month.
Get into the habit of checking your poodle's ears frequently, just to look inside the ear and give it a smell. Look for any signs of infection or dark brown discharge. If the ears smell very bad or you do see any discharge, you should call the vet and have it checked right away. Another sign that your pup may have some ear problems is if he or she is scratching the ears often or holding it's head to the side often. Poodle Ear Cleaning And Hair Plucking After you have gotten rid of the hair in the ears, you want to use a cotton ball and gently wipe and clean the inside of the ear. I do not suggest using a q-tip because there is the possibility of damaging the ear or the eardrum. Just use a cotton ball with a few drops of a cleaning solution. Some suggest rubbing alcohol, but this may be too harsh. You can dry a few drops of white vinegar mixed in with a cup of water and just swab the ears to clean them.
Symptoms of a problem: If your dog has a brown material in the ear, shakes its head regularly and even cries when the head is shaken then suspect an infection or worse yet, a foxtail in the ear. The ear may smell bad as well. You may need veterinary help to get the problem under control. Treatment of infections: If your dog has a mild infection it can usually be cleared up by cleansing the ear and putting a drying agent into the ear twice a day for about a week. If there is hair in the canal you must remove it. If the problem is not resolved or gets worse you will need to see your Veterinarian . If your dog has frank pus in the ear then you should immediately seek veterinary help and not delay with the above series of steps. Before any antibiotics, either systemically or topically, are used a culture must be taken to be sure that the antibiotic is the correct one for that particular infection. Be VERY careful of what antibiotics are used as many can damage the hearing of your dog. Be sure to discuss this with your veterinarian. Some of the topical drugs often induce allergies so also discuss this with your veterinarian. Most of the "mycins" can quickly damage hearing.
Allergies: Some dogs have multiple skin allergies, allergic diarrhea, flea allergies, and some even have frequent sneezing and scratching. This type of dog frequently also has a chronic ear problem. The ear leathers may be red and itchy. There may even be hives on the ears. If this is the case you need to find what your dog is allergic to, be it an environmental problem or a food or they type of shampoo you are using on the dog, or a flea product. You may need the help of a Veterinary Dermatologist. As long as your dog has a topical allergy problem you will not be able to clear up the irritated ear problem.
Fungus infections: Because the ear canal is dark and damp some dogs develop a chronic fungus infection. This should NOT be treated with steroids, as it will make the fungus infection worse. Some veterinarians attempt to treat an allergic dermatitis with steroids and this usually results in an overgrowth of fungus in the ear. The treatment of a fungus infection is dry, dry, dry, and then perhaps a topical fungus medicine. Usually keeping the ear DRY and acidic will clear up the fungus infection.
For the serious chronic ear infection it may be necessary to put the dog on a rigorous program of twice a day cleansing with TRIS-EDTA solution mixed with an antibiotic such as Baytril plus systemic antibiotic for as long as as six weeks. Your veterinarian may recommend a short course of topical steroid drops to reduce the inflammation and swelling so that the dog will be more comfortable until the infection gets under control. Another good topical ear drop that is in use has a combination of antibiotic and silver such as "Baytril otic".
Swimming and bathing: If your dog loves the water make sure that after every session of swimming you clean the ears and put a drying agent into them. If you keep your dog with long thick ear hair, then you must be sure that the ear hair is also dry when you put the drying agent into the ear canal. When I bathe my dogs I always pour dilute shampoo into the ear canals, massage the ears and head and then rinse very well with the spray nozzle. I find that this REALLY cleans out the ears and I have not had an ear infection since starting the routine of shampooing into the ear canals and then using the Ear Relief Wash followed up by the Ear Relief Dry.
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The information in the paragraphs above comes from parispoodles.com and should provide some additional tips and helpful advice on Poodle ear cleaning and hair plucking, and why it is so important.