# HELP! Groomer plucked ears, wont stop shaking!



## PaddleAddict

Sounds like they are infected, I would take him to the vet. Thus happened to my mini last time he was plucked. The meds the vet prescribed took care of it pretty quickly. 

I am torn about pluck vs. no pluck. He gets a lot of hair in his canals and it is very thick. I can't clean his ears well because they are so full of hair. This was the first time the plucking caused an issue. Next time I might ask them to pluck just a little to get the big, thick hair only.


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## spoofly

Exact thing happened to Fly about a month ago. Take your pup to the vet. They are probably infected.


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## Fluffyspoos

I do mine every 6 weeks, they shake for a few minutes afterwards, but never for very long after and I wont ever use ear cleaner within 24 hours after ear plucking. Also, I make sure my fingernails are really short (like no white) and filed down so there's no sharp edges. A lot of groomers will accidentally cut the insides of dogs ears with their nails getting the hair out, then use ear cleaner after, causing irritation. Perhaps this is what happened?


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## Soleil

Please let us know how this goes!

I've been thinking of getting Charlie's ears plucked but there isn't that much hair and I feel if I just clean them weekly and after baths, he should be okay.


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## partial2poodles

My black girl underwent cyst removal surgery yesterday and they REALLY plucked her ears when she was sedated...I told them to go deep and get out every last hair. She is fine...She hates it and I only get minimal plucks once a month...I guess I do it enough cause she rarely rarely gets an infection...its been


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## SECRETO

Question...when you message the ear drum gently, can you hear a squishing noise?

It sounds like to me that the groomer put too much solution/ear cleaner into the ear. My boy is very sensitive to the liquid and will shake a TON if this happens. I take a cotton ball and put it down in the ear as far as I can hold it, then message the ear in a upward position so you can try and soak up some of the liquid. Then after I've done that a few times I put some ear powder inside the ear so it can remove some of the moisture. I don't know if you have tried that but its just a suggestion 

In my opinion though, the hair should be removed! If not removed regularly, at least occasionally. Otherwise the ear cant breath and leaving it will eventually cause a ear infection.

Also forgot to mention that the blood your seeing is prob from you wiping the ear out often now and its just raw from cleaning more often then usual. . Unless however, its a heavier amount but I don't think you stated that.

I hope you both get some relief soon!


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## SECRETO

I forgot you mentioned that a lot of gunk it still coming out. If thats the case they probably are already infected and my suggestion wont be of much help.

Let us know what becomes of his ears though. I cant imagine the feeling of irritated or infected ears...poor guy!


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## meganc66

I'm not sure how thick the hair in your dogs ears was, but 7 months is quite a long time without plucking. I know people have different opinions but I think that the ear has to breathe and if it's blocked up for so long and then suddenly it's all gone and whatnot, an infection has probably started. I'm not a huge fan of vet prescribed drops because I don't think they really do much cleaning, but I suggest you probably go get them checked out. I know some dogs don't grow lots of thick hair in the ears and it's not as important, but other dogs get so thick that it's a problem.


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## bigpoodleperson

I agree, have him checked out by the vet to see what his going on there. 



> I'm not a huge fan of vet prescriped drops because I don't think they really do much cleaning, but I suggest you probably go get them checked out.


Most of the vet prescription drops are not ment for cleaning. They are ment for clearing up the yeast/bacteria/whatever in the ear. An actual cleaner is used in conjunction with these.


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## Birdie

Last time I plucked Desmond's ears they got SO infected... I just didn't realize that not plucking them for a long period of time (it had been months and months for us too) and then just totally clearing them out could be so bad. He shook his head just like yours for a while and gunk was all coming up, I could massage the ear drum and hear the liquid inside his ear (which was not ear cleaner!). They were really bad. I would wipe it out with an ear cleaning wipe twice a day and still get tons of gunk. ): 

Take him to the vet and get them to look at it. They are probably infected and he might need antibiotics. A week on ear drops cleared up Desmond's ears nicely. 

I feel like I should pluck them again because they have gotten quite hairy since but... after that awful infection, I don't know if I should. I know plenty of people can not puck their poodle's ears and they are fine... S: I don't know.


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## fjm

Way back in the dim and distant days of the 1960s, my mother used to groom poodles, and I have never forgotten the state of some of their ears. When I brought Poppy home, I steeled myself to pluck a little ear hair on the first day - it was more to get over my fear of hurting her than anything else, and she was so obviously not bothered that I have been comfortable doing it ever since. I usually do a few minutes every week or two - that way any tiny lesions have time to heal, but the hair never builds up enough to become a problem. And I use just fingers - I am not confident enough to start putting metal tweezers into her ears!


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## neVar

Do it a couple plucks per ear every few days/once a week each thn it's never bunch of sores. 

I also prefer to flush ears and this is what I do when I groom dogs and I think it's less irritating then a lot of cleaners. plus cleans it the best. I'll pluck but I never got a huge amount on client dogs to prevent that


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## Lilith

Lilith has a lot of hair way down deep in the ear canal, where even the vet won't pluck it. As such, it seems odd to me to pluck what is visible while I know that deep stuff is still there and is what causes the problems (since I clean out the outer part of her ear with a cotton ball).

Someone on this forum recommended Zymox otic cleaner to me a while back, and I now use it. The vet plucks out the visible hairs during grooming every 6 weeks - but the deeper hairs never get plucked. I just use the Zymox cleaner and rub it into her ear canals, wiping out the excess (and cleaning outer ear in process). It's only been 2 months of this routine, but so far so good,...


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## Ray'nBC

Lilith,
When Amos was about 7 months old, he was showing signs of food allergies. As we started an elimination diet, he reacted badly to chicken and started pawing his ears (among other unpleasant reactions). When we took him to the vet, he couldn't get the otoscope down far enough to view the eardrum because the hair inside the canal was so thick and matted. After sedation, the hair was removed and the gunk started flowing out (and the medication/antibiotic could then reach the site of the infection). With a new diet (raw beef) and regular plucking of the canal hair, he has been fine since. Hair in the outer ear we pluck intermittently and trim down at grooming time, just enough to see skin underneath the hair. We pull hair out of the canal every 3-4 days with a device like a curved hemostat or scissors with rounded, flat, "tweezer-like" tips . By carefully reaching in and pulling on the hairs just a fraction of the way into the canal, we can pull out hair that's an inch or so long and keep the passageway clear. With just a few plucks on a frequent basis, he doesn't seem to mind the hair removal at all.


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## Gh VB

Lilith said:


> Lilith has a lot of hair way down deep in the ear canal, where even the vet won't pluck it. As such, it seems odd to me to pluck what is visible while I know that deep stuff is still there and is what causes the problems (since I clean out the outer part of her ear with a cotton ball).
> 
> Someone on this forum recommended Zymox otic cleaner to me a while back, and I now use it. The vet plucks out the visible hairs during grooming every 6 weeks - but the deeper hairs never get plucked. I just use the Zymox cleaner and rub it into her ear canals, wiping out the excess (and cleaning outer ear in process). It's only been 2 months of this routine, but so far so good,...


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## Gh VB

There are a couple of different Zymox optic cleaners, which one do you use. I am having the same problem with my 4 month old.


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## fjm

This is a very old thread Gh VB - you may be more likely to get a response if you start a new one.


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## CharlieandStella

Gh VB said:


> There are a couple of different Zymox optic cleaners, which one do you use. I am having the same problem with my 4 month old.


ZYMOX Pet King Brand Otic Pet Ear Treatment with Hydrocortisone is what we have used and the ONLY thing that helps when needed 🙌🏻


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