I dislike the procedureused to remove hair in my dogs ears. Recently needed to go to vet $50. for infection due ti tecnique of piulling hair out . His ear was full of blood and infected. Any better ideas???

-- Anonymous, September 14, 1999

Answers

I don't have and answer because my poodle keeps getting ear infections also. I hate the way the vet pulls the hair out it hurts me. So if you find a solutuin please e-mail. Thanks

-- Anonymous, December 23, 1999

My poodle has alot of trouble with hair in the ears as well...after a recent visit to the vet for an ear infection I found out that if you dont keep the hair out, it will cause a very bad infection. It is quite simple to fold his ear back, take a little bit of hair in your fingers (tweezers are easier for me) and pull...it might not be comfortable to our best friend, but it is alot less painful than the ear infections the hair can cause!!

-- Anonymous, March 16, 2000

My vet (recently emmigrated from Romania) told me the ear hair removal is unnessesary unless the dog has an ear infection. He also told me that ear hair removal often causes more infections that it prevents. His reccomendation was to keep my std. poodles ears clipped short (1 inch or less on the outside and a quarter inch on the inside and carefully sissored near the ear cannal) so they can flap around and the rear corners can prick up a bit. This allows plenty of air flow inside of the ear which allows the ear wax to dry up and fall out in flakes naturally. I use Desert Sudz ear wash twice a week as well.

-- Anonymous, January 16, 2001

I would try cleaning the ears with 1/2 poroxide mixed in a bottle with 1/2 alchohol. The poroxide heals while the alchohol dries. A friend of mine had 3 of her 8 standard poodles operated on for the ears, and since she has tried this, she no longer has ear problems. Good luck, that can't be any fun for the dogs.

-- Anonymous, February 26, 2001

Hi I'm Zygmunt and I have a beautiful standard poodle Charlie. Charlie is 20 months old and so far very healthy with no problems with ear infections. My vet doesn't seem to recommend hair removal unless it is necessary but I keep hearing a lot from people who do it regularly. I clean Charlie's ears approximately once a week with special solution from my vet. I also groom his ears little shorter especially from inside.

-- Anonymous, November 08, 2001

I just got an 11 month old cream standard. He came to me with raging ear infection. Took him to the vet who did not scope, and said continue with meds for a couple of days and should be fine. It was not fine. Finally I got in the "good" ear and tweased out a two inch long and 14 inch wide string of hair encased in brown dry guck. Then got into "bad" ear and pulled out worse! Has been great since that - week and half ago- tell me you don't have to pull out the hair!

-- Anonymous, April 18, 2002

Hi, I'm a professional groomer and standard poodle breeder. The infection isn't from pulling hair from the ear. Actually keeping the hair pulled will aide in cutting down on future infections. Removing ear hair is NOT complicated. The easiest and most humane way to remove the hair is to clip the inside of the ear with a #10 or #15 blade. The use an ear powder...it breaks the hair folicles and makes the hair come out VERY easily. I mainly use my fingers to remove the hair...see no need to use hemostats unless there is a TON of hair to be removed. None of my poodles have trouble with their ears.....because I maintain them faithfully. With each grooming I remove hair from the ear and clean with an ear cleaner made for dogs.

-- Anonymous, April 23, 2002

O.K. This is the easiest solution I have found for removing hair from our black standard's ears, and it works! But please please, check this out with your vet first. I haven't, but plan to soon! In a irrigation bottle mix 1-2 Tbsp. of Vodka[yes, Vodka] with approx. 1 Tbsp. of powdered boric acid [purchased at Walmart, cheap] create an almost pasty texture, put into dog's ears, massage, leave overnight. Next day hand pluck hair out of ear area, thoroughly wash ear area with warm water to remove ALL left over boric acid solution, then apply standard ear solution of your choice. My vet recommends the alcohol, hydrogen peroxide, and water recipe. My dog, Kada, didn't mind the Vodka solution to her ears, but isn't found of the hydrogen peroxide solution. Caution: Boric acid is a poison, you must use extreme care in making sure solution doesn't drip down to where your dog could lick it, again, check with your vet. before trying. Added bonus, my source for this recipe said, her dogs never got another ear infection again!

-- Anonymous, April 28, 2002