# Long waxy hairs in the bottom of spoo's ears



## elem8886 (Sep 19, 2012)

Tika gets that sometimes but fortunately not as often as the rest of her ear hair grows in. I have found that for Tika most of that icky clump is not actually attached. As you say it is gunky but a lot of the clump seems to be old hair that has been shed (I pluck her ears every few weeks and I certainly don't leave that hair in her ears so I assume some of her ear hair sheds and just gets stuck). 

I usually just grasp the tip of this clump and pull. Could you try hemostats? Or maybe if you put ear cleaner on a cotton pad you could hold it around the tip of the clump (assuming it protrudes far enough and Gatsby lets you) to try and remove some of the wax/oil?


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## NYNIC715 (Oct 15, 2012)

you need to get that out - if left in too long and ear infection can start to brew in there... I do use hemostats - makes it much easier - but you need a pooch who is willing to stay still for it - because yes you can do damage if you poke the canal with the hemostat... If you are unable to get the hair out the groomer can or even the vet... If the hair is really waxy *and *an odor is present - I'd first go to the vet to make sure you do not have a yeast infection in there...

My routine - apply powder... Pluck whatever hair I can *without *hemostats first. If anything gross is still there - do a few plucks with a hemostat to get rid of it (such as those long waxy pieces are are referring to)... wash ear with ear wash to help loosen/lift remaining wax - wipe the ears clean...Then I re-powder ears really good (as the powder helps soothe any irritation & I think keeps ears cleaner longer)... praise and give many treats...

Definitely not the highlight of my day nor of Polo's:dog:


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## Fluffyspoos (Aug 11, 2009)

I wouldn't personally, I've stopped plucking for the most part here, it's really not going to cause much damage (if any) at all.

BBird TALK: NO MORE EAR HAIR PLUCKING!


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## 3dogs (Nov 3, 2010)

Pluck it out with hemostats. Much easier to get flush in the ear & meds too. That yuck needs to come up & out. If you have not plucked the ears then be shocked to see 3-4" of yucky hair being pulled out deep in the canal.


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## CT Girl (Nov 17, 2010)

With Swizzle I have found the long gunky hair is usually not attached. I have used gauze to get a good grip and since it is not attached it comes out easily. I am lucky, Swizzle has never ad an ear infection.


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## outwest (May 1, 2011)

I stopped plucking ear hair, too. I trim it from the top of the ear canal and clean the ears gently then dry after a bath.


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## Ciscley (Jul 16, 2013)

*Hemostats & ear powder*

That is the only type of ear hair that my vet pulls in the office. He says when it's long and coiled down in the canal and brown with yeast / bacteria / fungus / whatever, it needs to come out so the meds can get to where they need to go.

Here's a groomer blog web page that shows a photo of what I'm talking about, though in this dog the hair is straighter and doesn't keep growing and curling like a poo's can in the ear: The Good the Bad and the Furry, Tuesday Tip

For my own dogs, I only pluck if there is an issue and when they were a puppy to get them used to it. 

My rescue Spoo Danno hates having his ears plucked, so I try to leave them alone, and one of them (the left one) never has an issue. After about 3 months there will be a bit of white cottonball stuff showing but only clean clear wax on it and it's easy to just trim the length or grab with my fingers and a paper towel and get out in a single tug while I feed him a treat.

Unfortunately his right ear has constant issues. Ottomax helped some but never 100% and ear washes seem to make it worse. Plucking regularly keeps it under control, but he hates it and I don't think it's safe to pluck when a dog's fighting you, it's too easy to scrape or pinch something. It's not bad enough that it bothers him (he doesn't scratch and it doesn't smell), but I read another poster here recommend a vet dermatologist who can do a culture and make a specific med for the exact buggies he has, so we're definitely pursuing that.

Edited to Add: Here's another post she has with photos of that blackish coated ear hair.


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## Ciscley (Jul 16, 2013)

Fluffyspoos said:


> I wouldn't personally, I've stopped plucking for the most part here, it's really not going to cause much damage (if any) at all.
> 
> BBird TALK: NO MORE EAR HAIR PLUCKING!


I really like trusting the body to heal itself and not doing an intervention that ultimately precipitates a worse response, so that was a really interesting article for me. Thanks for sharing! 

Do you know of one that lists in more detail how to clean an ear like the one in the photos I linked? The article mentioned plain clean water but also mentioned ear wash.

I'll definitely try to google, but just in case you already know of one, or have a protocol you do yourself - not with a healthy ear, but a black gunky one.


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## Carrie-e (Oct 23, 2012)

My first standard poodle had ear problems,he went under anaesthetic at about 3 years old and had them cleaned out and plucked very deeply and never had any more problems after that. My second standard had really bad ear problems and had to have one ear resurrected and he never had any problems after that. My present standard Billy,touch wood has no problems. I pluck and clean his ears twice a week and put thornit powder in them. I am very observant about his ears as my other two had so many problems when young. His hair seems to come out easily but I think because I do them frequently his ears never get hairy.


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## JudyD (Feb 3, 2013)

Even though Jazz has a lot of hair in her ears, I've asked my groomer to stop plucking them. She had an infection in both ears shortly after the last time her ears were plucked that was very difficult to clear up. I wondered at the time if maybe some fungus or bacteria was introduced during the plucking, or if the ear canals were so irritated that she was more easily infected. 

I'm using Epi-Otic cleanser in both ears every two or three weeks. I saturate a cotton ball, put it in the ear canal, massage the base of her ear for about 20 or 30 seconds, remove the cotton, and wipe out the ear canal. She shakes out any excess cleanser. So far, so good. There's been nothing on the gauze when I wipe, and her ears smell and look healthy.


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