How to Clean Your Dog's Ears

Basic maintenance is usually all that's required to keep a dog's ears healthy. Ear cleaning is important as the twisty, often hairy anatomy of a dog’s inner ears makes it easy for bacteria, parasites, and yeast to thrive.

Ear infections result from trapped debris. Dogs with allergies are susceptible to infections, as are breeds with floppy ears, like Labrador Retrievers.

You should examine your dog's ears at least once a month, or whenever regular grooming is done.

The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA provides the following safe ear cleaning tips:

• If your dog’s inner ears appear dirty, clean them with a cotton ball dampened with mineral oil, hydrogen peroxide or a solution formulated specifically for this purpose. Inner-ear skin is delicate, so allow your vet to demonstrate the proper method for cleaning your dog’s ears.
• Do not clean your dog’s ears so frequently or deeply as to cause irritation, and take care to NEVER insert anything into your dog’s ear canal.
• If your dog sprouts hair from his ear canal, you or your groomer may have to tweeze it out every few weeks to prevent problematic mats and tangles from forming. Please discuss with your vet whether this is necessary for your dog.

Frequent bathing and swimming can cause ear irritation and infection. To prevent infection, you can place cotton in your dog’s ears before baths or water sports, and then dry the ears carefully after the activity.

Ear drying solutions are available at pet supply stores and can be used to help evaporate any water trapped inside the ear.

The ASPCA advises that if you see these danger signs to contact your veterinarian:

• Ear discharge
• Bad smells
• Redness
• Swelling
• Crusty skin
• Hair loss

Brown or black ear wax—and dry, dark wax resembling coffee grounds—are classic indicators of microscopic ear mites, according to the ASPCA. Only your vet can tell for sure, so please don’t delay bringing a gooey-eared pooch in for a checkup.