DogBoston’s Dog Blog

Recent statistics show that the second most common canine medical claim in 2006 was for ear infections.

Ear infections are a preventable condition. All it takes it the knowledge and consistency to devote time every week for cleaning your dog’s ears.

Have you ever wondered what the proper way to clean your dog’s ears is? Or if you are cleaning your dogs ears is it the proper way? You need to be sure that when you are cleaning your dog’s ears if you decide to, that you do it properly. True that’s dogs ears do vary in size and appearance but all of dog’s ears share something in common, they are all an excellent source of hearing.

Dog’s ears are very sensitive and are very important to a dog. The outer and inner are very delicate and you need to make sure that you are using the proper procedure to clean your dog’s ears. Here are five tips to help you clean your dog’s ears correctly and help prevent any damage that may occur.

1. Before you start to give your dog a bath wedge some cotton into the outside ear opening. This will help ensure that no water gets in the dog’s ears.

2. You should clean your dog’s ears about once a month. There are some different ways that you can you use to clean your dog’s ears, but the best way is to us a cotton swab dampened in either alcohol, diluted peroxide, mineral oil, or a cleansing product recommended by your vet. You should use gentle strokes carefully wipe around the fold of both the inner openings and exterior of the dog’s ear. This will lift up the wax build up in the dog’s ear. You need to be very careful as you are cleaning your dog’s ear so you do not push the wax further into the dog’s ear. To make sure that you do not accidentally push wax into the dog’s ear, only clean the parts of the ear that you can easily see. Making sure to keep in mind that wax protects the dog’s ear canal; so as you are finishing removing the wax, make sure you leave some behind. This will not only help protect the dog’s ears, but also if there has been a few wax build up from previous cleaning it will delay cleaning of the dog’s ears.

3. If your dog likes to run threw brush and tall grass you need to make sure and clean under the dog’s ear flaps. If nothing else you need to make sure there is nothing there that will harm your dog’s ears. If there is vegetative substance around the fur of the dog’s ears it can lodge inside the ear and cause irritation to the membranes. This can lead to ear infections; so if you do notice something lodge in your dog’s fur make sure to remove it immediately.

4. Certain breeds such as English Spaniels and Poodles tend to have excessive hair in the ears that can hinder air circulation and cause infection. There is one easy way to prevent this from happening, everyday you need to comb and trim regularly the hair around the dog’s ears. This will help significantly with this problem.

5. Cuts and or injuries by the dog’s ear flaps can be come infected speedily. To help prevent this you should check around your dog’s ear flaps for any injured issue. This needs to be done particularly if the dog has been in a fight with another animal.

Article by Kelly Marshall of Oh My Dog Supplies - your online source for large breed dog beds and dog travel accessories.