How To Clean Dogs Ears - Ear Infections

get started

Does your dog shake it’s head a lot? Paw at its ears? Maybe they even have a foul smell when you lift their ear flaps…. All these signs are indications that your pet may have an ear infection and need a good ear cleaning! No need to panic though. This can be simply done in your own home, by you! I will walk you through all the steps of how to clean dogs ears just like they do at the vet. I spent time working inside a veterinary clinic and one of the first things I learned was cleaning ears. It seriously is super easy.

Disclaimer:

If your dog appears to have a chronic ear infection, they might need antibiotics and inflammatories. In severe cases, ear infections that go untreated can lead up to permanent damage, in some cases hearing loss. If an ear infection won’t go away within 1-2 weeks after doing the steps provided, please see your veterinarian.

supplies

VetOne Vetraseb Tris Flush – This is what we used in the clinic whether it was a bacteria infection, yeast infection, or general maintenance cleaning for those pups prone to infection.
Gauze pads – or cotton rounds will do.
Cotton balls – size varies depending on the size of your dog. Medium is a good go-to for most dogs.
6-inch cotton swabs – normal q-tips will work….but the long swabs help to get in all those crevices in their ear flaps from a safer distance.

Get These Supplies

start cleaning

Soak your gauze or cotton round really well
Grab your patient and while using your pointer finger, point it to guide the gauze straight into their ear. Pull out your finger, leaving the gauze inside the ear.
Using the base of your palm, grab the base of their ear and gently squeeze it repeatedly until you hear wet, squishy noises. Fun description, I know lol.
Then let the dog shake it out on their own! The shaking helps to loosen up the debris.
Repeat this, and then use some cotton balls too until they come out clean!
Using a dry swab, lift the ear flap and use it to remove any debris in and around the ear crevices. This part is very ticklish for them! So if they haven’t been too squirmy, they will be during this part!

Ear cleaning can be enjoyable for your dog! Most dogs will lean into your hand, shake their back legs, and some even roll over, belly up.

Keep your dogs’ ears as dry as you can manage to prevent further infections. This means after bath time, swimming, etc. Take a gauze square and dry them off by using your pointer finger and gently wiping the inside of the ears.

Dogs with long or curly hair, especially in and around their ears are more prone to infections. This is because when their hair gets wet, it stays moist under the ear flaps and is a great place for bacteria to develop. When dogs like this came in, we would apply an ear powder and pluck their ear hairs out of the passageway. This is definitely something that is recommended to be done at your veterinary clinic, as it is not so enjoyable for your pet. But it does work well at keeping infections away for a while!

watch the video below!

Thanks for reading! I hope this article gave you some good insight into choosing the most necessary puppy supplies. Let me know in the comments below what you think or if you have anything else to add! Check out what other supplies puppies need here.