# Ear hair



## sgeorge (Jul 31, 2011)

I haven't had to deal with this yet, but would it be possible for you just to trim some of the hair? It means you don't have to pluck, in case it did trigger the ear infection, whilst still keeping the excess hair at bay.


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## catsaqqara (May 20, 2011)

I'm not sure but I think mine have some mild food allergy, Bambi was in bad shape until I found a food she was good on and Jaden had lots of staining(yeast overgrowth) and even his nose got a touch lighter after I experimented with different foods. This was this past summer and his nose is back to normal now, no more staining after I found the right food combo for him that I'm sticking to for a while and probiotics to help it clear

They both had mild yeast in their ears, no infection. I used to keep their ears pretty hair free but a couple times in a row I didn't have time to do the plucking, I still cleaned them with a solution. Well Bambi's ears cleared up totally, but I decided to pluck again and I noticed after plucking again she had little brown dots, she never has bled so it must have been the yeast. So I stopped plucking but keep them trimmed really short. Her ears are doing great and I recently committed to no plucking for Jaden and his are doing better but not clear yet (his ears have more hairs growing in there). 

I think its a lot to do with food allergies and trimming instead of plucking helps out a little for yeast, not sure about infections. Bambi is clear now but I'm not going to test plucking on her again to see if it would make a big difference, they both tolerate the trimming a little better.


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## Carley's Mom (Oct 30, 2011)

I know Carley got her ears plucked every 2 weeks before I got her. I do pluck them, but not as well as her breeder did. I know this because she showed me how she did it... anyway , I prefer to use ear powder and just my fingers , few plucks each week, not a big deal . The breeder swore by a product called " Wonder Ear", made me promise to use it . And I do use it about every 3 weeks the day after I bathe her. When I ordered the W.E. product the woman asked me what kind of dog I had. She then said the 95% of their product is sold to poodle owners. So do any of you guys use it. They tell me if you use it you never have to worry about ear infections again!


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## Fluffyspoos (Aug 11, 2009)

Did you clean them right after you plucked them? Vegas developed a similiar problem, but I don't know what was wrong with my head that day, but for some reason I cleaned them right after (which I NEVER do) with an alcohol based solution. Then later that day we went hiking, where he played in the waterfall. BAD ear infection! He kept making it worse by scratching them, so he wore a cone.

Now, if I pluck, I either clean the day before I plan on doing it, or the day after, and we don't have problems. I don't do it often though, I'll wait months before doing it. And at the grooming salon with my regular clients, I do their ear hair every other groom.


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## Olie (Oct 10, 2009)

I plucked Olie for almost a year and was at the vet three times with yeast and infections build up likely from some alergy however I felt the plucking was making things worse and I was right as far as Olie goes. He has not had an ear infection since then 18 months later. 

I trim and do not pluck - however some spoos need plucked so I say try both and see what works.


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## ArreauStandardPoodle (Sep 1, 2009)

My vet is a firm believer in "nature put the hair there for a reason". She believes we should keep the opening as clear of hair as possible, to allow air in to keep the ear canal dry. So, we use R7 Ear Powder, which makes the hair easy to grip and pluck with our fingers, but no digging or plucking in the ear canal. Then we clean the ears out with this: Blue Power Homemade Dog Ear Cleaner | eHow.com We have found this to be the best system yet for keeping infections at bay.


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## Sookster (Apr 11, 2011)

Fluffyspoos said:


> Did you clean them right after you plucked them?


I actually always do this. I use ear powder, and I always thought you were supposed to flush them to get the powder out after plucking. I use a non-alcohol based flush though. 

Arreau: thanks for that information. I use R7 ear powder as well, but I always try to get the ears really really hair free so maybe I am overdoing it. I'm definitely capable of trimming the hair, and can probably will myself to just pluck the visible hairs and leave the ear canal alone. 

Thanks everyone for the input. It's always helpful to hear other poodle folks experiences. I just really don't want Nova to have to go through another infection like this one that took her nearly two weeks to start getting relief from. I especially don't want to be inadvertently causing an infection.


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## Rowan (May 27, 2011)

I don't really pluck/pull ear hair. I shave around the outer ear canal and pull the small, tiny hairs I can reach with my fingers. Mine don't have unusually hairy ears though. 

I occasionally clean with the Les Poochs/Chris Christensen ear cleaners, especially after bathing though. I've had good luck with this program and none have had an ear infection to date.  (Merlin came with one that was a bear to get rid of! It took over a month and three different medications.)


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## MrsKaia (Dec 3, 2011)

I use the same home made blue ear solution Arreau uses. Great stuff! I flush Cal's ears about once a month with it. More often when he starts to shake his head after a bark. In between months, I pluck, cut (scissors with round tip), and shave the area around the ear canal. I never flush and pluck on the same day. He is very sensitive to ear infections, although it has gotten somewhat better since I started feeding him raw.


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## cliffdweller (Jan 31, 2011)

I don't know if I count as "familiar with the breed" as Rain is my first Poodle. But I do have something to say about this, since I had to decide what to do for Rain. When she came to me, she had fairly significant yeast infections in both ears. I decided it was best not to pluck (which can irritate and leave the flesh open to infection) _unless_ the ear infections persisted or returned. The Vet & my groomer want to pluck; so far I have resisted and, though full of hair, her ears have remained infection free.

= She is grain free.
= I carefully clean her ears about once a week, alternating the products used between a cleaner that has a drying agent and one that does not. (I was advised by the Opthalmologist -- who is treating Rain for an eye condition -- not to use a product with a drying agent too often, since this can cause problems.
= I frequently check her ears -- everyday --, and make sure the hair is not "balled up" in the ear canal, if it is, I "pull out" (straighten) any clumps of hair.

When Rain was in for Spay, now almost 3 weeks ago, I had the Vet take a really close look in there and agreed that if anything looked bad, that the ear hair could be removed at that time. Rain came back to me with her ear hair intact, so I guess all's well (yay !).

Hope this is a help in some way.


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