# Ugh ear issues after groom



## Mvinotime (May 25, 2015)

My seven month spoo had a bath and FFT on Friday am and my groomer plucked his ears pretty much clean. My fault, I had forgot to say to please just do enough to thin it as I have previously just been using my fingers and gently getting whatever was loose and we had discussed at his previous grooms that maybe this time I would have her do some. Well poor guy had a literal forest of hair so thick it was crazy so since she got them basically clean I can imagine how irritated that must be  She told me the right ear was the worst and it was super thick really deep so he might shake his head for a bit after. Well he is still shaking. And tilting his head to the right. I have gently massaged them but have been afraid to put anything in them to further aggravate. I am taking him in to my vet this am to have them looked at. I don't see any discharge but hate seeing him bothered like this. He does while eating even and was doing it during the night too. Since this is my first poodle can anyone advise if this seems normal, not normal and what you do when your dogs ears are irritated from plucking etc. I'm worried he may of had an infection brewing under all that hair and now it is in full force but in general if the plucking ( which I was learn to even do ugh) irritates what can you do one help soothe etc? Thanks for any info.


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## MiniPoo (Mar 6, 2014)

While it is best not to pluck all the hair at one time, he probably will be fine. If you do not have some liquid ear cleaner, pick some up from the vet when you go. You usually use the ear cleaner once a week. I use it after plucking to prevent infections. Sorry that his ears are irritated from his grooming visit. It should get better.


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## Mvinotime (May 25, 2015)

I have EpiKlean from the vet that I usually use anytime he has a bath etc I was just afraid to put in after In case it irritated it more since it has acid etc in it....would that be ok to use? I guess I am having trouble determining if it is just irritation from having it all done at once or an infection....from what he will let me see I don't see any real redness or discharge but I can't see very far in obviously.


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## Michelle (Nov 16, 2009)

Do the ears have a fowl smell? Very dark brown discharge? Those are typical signs.

As for the ear plucking, since he had so much hair pulled it might feel funny now that he is getting air flow in his ears...or maybe some deep rooted hair in his canal got pulled and it is a little sensitive. It should pass in a day or two.

On the bright side, if you plan on keeping his ears plucked they will be very easy to keep up with now, and easier to clean!


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## Mvinotime (May 25, 2015)

Thank you both  my hubby thinks I'm overreacting taking him in but it's been 48 hours....it's not constant shaking but it's quite a lot. I don't smell anything bad and they don't seem really red just a little dirty. I see little bits of waxy brownish crud kinda stuck inside like maybe they need wiped out? There has previously been so much hair I have no idea what it normally looks like in there lol


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## MiniPoo (Mar 6, 2014)

When my dogs do have an ear infection, I can tell by putting a kleenex on my finger and inserting in the ear to wipe it out. If I get brown stain or gunk on the tissue, they have a problem.

Each dog is different, but I like to clean out the ear with liquid ear cleaner, then wait a while, then put in ear medication if the ear is infected. So I do not worry about using ear cleanser on my dogs if they have an infection. You might put cleanser in one ear, then use a tissue gently to absorb excess liquid and look to see if any brown gunk on tissue. If the cleanser does not irritate the one ear, after a while, do the same for the other ear. Just a suggestion.


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## peepers (Apr 13, 2012)

To pluck or not to pluck, that is the question. We use scissors and trim the hair flush and remove any visible gunk.


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## MiniPoo (Mar 6, 2014)

I would rather NOT pluck, but with some dogs you can get away with plucking a little and clipping hair short around outside of ears. With other dogs, this is simply not enough. My PWD Phoenix has so much hair in her ear deep down, any ear medicine would never make it down inside the ear canal. When I forget to pluck, that is when she will get an ear infection. With my other PWD Neeka, I do not need to pluck at all. Since Neeka is a wavy haired PWD, I wonder if it is the texture of the hair that is part of the difference.

With my minipoodle Dakota, he is somewhere in between Neeka and Phoenix. At 11 months, he has hair in his ear but it is nowhere near the amount of Phoenix. A clipping of the hair around the ear and a few plucks and we're done.

So it just depends on the dog how much you need to do.


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## Mvinotime (May 25, 2015)

Well that was no fun. He did not want that right ear messed with and protested loudly even peed on the floor while they were restraining him poor guy  the left ear is fine which it did look much better than right and his head tilting is only to right so I knew that ear was the culprit. He said it was extremely red and inflamed and had a yeast infection going on. He got an anti inflammatory shot and drops to use ( 8 in ear once a day) and the vet said he should be feeling much better by dinner time with the shot. Vet says absolutely need to pluck especially when hair is a thick and dense and deep as his was  so we are hopefully on the mend now and he is napping at my feet..so much for a lazy rainy sunday lol thanks again for all your input lots of good info!


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## MiniPoo (Mar 6, 2014)

Sorry that your pup has a painful ear infection. I am sure that he will be better soon. Good thing you took him to the vet.

You might want to set a schedule, like pluck a little every other Sunday, so that you keep it under control. Plucking too much at one time is leaving a lot of open wounds for an infection to set in. It is almost as bad as not plucking at all.


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## Mvinotime (May 25, 2015)

Yes thank you I'm going to for sure do that and Sundays is a great idea. I am sure her plucking all the hair in one shot made everything worse so we won't be doing that again. Definitely glad I took him in and didn't wait. Now for my first submission to PetPlan lol I assume I should send everything in even under the deductible so it is all accounted for.


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## Ragamuffin (Nov 12, 2015)

Mvinotime said:


> ... Vet says absolutely need to pluck especially when hair is a thick and dense and deep as his was ...


I've been getting very different advice from different vets on the plucking issue. An old vet (no disrespect intended, just stating the facts) we visited was clear on the need to pluck the ear hair. A younger vet friend (about 40 years old) has said 'absolutely not, it creates more problems than it solves - the latest conference recommendations and dermatological advice is not to pluck ear hair' and he stressed that included poodles. Obviously I'd much rather not pluck ear hair and go down the trimming and cleaning route but the breeder also advised me to pluck ear hair (but she is closer in vintage to the older vet than the younger one so may also not be up to date with recent research?). Very confusing!


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## MiniPoo (Mar 6, 2014)

It really really depends on the dog. There is no right answer that applies to all dogs. Try not plucking and see how it goes with your dog. If he gets infections that are hard to cure, you might want to revisit the idea of plucking.


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## MiniPoo (Mar 6, 2014)

I just wanted to add why plucking may be absolutely necessary for some dogs but not for others.

If you have a poodle that has a lot of thick hair in their ear that goes down deep into the ear canal, and water gets into that dog's ear, how is the ear suppose to dry out? And if your dog has a natural waxy discharge in his ear, if you use ear cleaner how is the waxy discharge able to come out. Instead, the hair will mat in his ear forming an kind of ear plug in which yeast and bacteria can grow. You absolutely have to pluck most of the hair out of this dog's ear, but if you pluck it all out at one time, you give the bacteria and yeast that is in his ear a place to take hold and infect his ear.

Now if you have a dog where the hair in the ear is not heavy and is mostly located near the entrance to the ear, then air can circulate in his ear and not much plucking, if any, is needed.

I know there are things other than a non-plucked ear that can cause ear infections. Allergies to food or environment can help cause ear infections. But when I forget to pluck my dog's Phoenix ears and one or both gets infected, then I have to pluck out gunky, bloody hair because overnight it got very bad and she scratched her ears till they bled. I would rather pluck the hair when the ear was not infected.

Sorry if I am going on and on about this, but when I hear someone say your poodle's or a PWD's ear NEVER needs to be plucked because current research says it is not necesssary, I just remember Phoenix's bloody gooey ears, and I have to respond in the hope that someone else won't have to see their dog's ears look like that.


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## Caddy (Nov 23, 2014)

This was/is a hard decision for me, because everyone from vets, groomers and people on this forum all have different opinions. I went with the theory, if it's not broke don't fix it, I trim the hair and clean weekly but do not pluck. Abbey's ears have been fine so far "touch wood", but that's not to say I still don't wonder if I should be plucking as she does have a fair amount of hair. Of course I've never had a standard poodle before, so is it a Lot of hair?!?


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## N2Mischief (Dec 3, 2012)

Just like food, you have to find what works for YOUR dog. When I worked at the groom shop I watched dog after dog have the hemostats grab the entire chunk of hair in the ear. Then the groomer would twist and twist with the poor dog screaming. Finally a carrot shaped wad of hair came out. I always felt there had to be a better, more humane way.

With Misha, we keep the hair at the entrance trimmed very short. The groomer lightly plucks with her fingers every two weeks. Misha has not had problems with infections since she was very young. 

At the groomer, they also put a cleaner in the ear before the bath and let it sit while they are bathing. Then when they are rinsing, they flush the ear with warm water. Then afterward add something that helps it dry. Misha's ears are always so clean, never smell, and never itch.


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## Tiny Poodles (Jun 20, 2013)

Well like everyone said, you have to find what works for your dog.
I will say though that when Timi arrived I said uh-oh when I looked at her ears - small opening and Thick deep rooted hair.
But you know what, I trim around the outside of the ear, allow clear water to run into it during her bath. Let her shake real well after she gets out of the tub. And then dry with a q-tip, and knock wood, her ears have been perfect!
No plucking, no cleaner, no powder.
So there is no rule that such an ear MUST be plucked!


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## MiniPoo (Mar 6, 2014)

I think it is great when we do not have to pluck the hair. I agree there is no rule that we MUST pluck our dogs' ears. There is also no rules that we should NEVER pluck their ears. We should not be afraid to pluck if the dog needs it.

If there were a rule, I would not have one dog that does not need plucking, one dog that needs minimal plucking, and one dog that needs major plucking. Three dogs each with different ear care needs.

There is no rule at all.


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## Tiny Poodles (Jun 20, 2013)

Just not sure how OP's dog getting an infection after plucking means as her vet said that he is a dog that must be plucked.
If it were me, I would avoid plucking and see if the infection re-occurs or not. Try the least invasive way first, you know?


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## coffee&curls (Nov 18, 2015)

I'm sorry that your boy isn't feeling well, I hope his ear clears up super quickly!


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

Here is my 2 cents on ear plucking... when I got Carley she was almost 7 years old. She had always had excellent care and her breeder warned me that she was PRONE to ear problems. She gave me the tools I would need to remove the hairs, instructed me on how to do it, made me promise to keep it up, gave me a bottle of cleaner ect. 

After doing my own research, I decided not to do any more than I could easily remove with my fingers. I did my own grooming and she did not have any ear issues. Then I took her to a groomer that plucked her ears. She got an infection that took months to heal. I spent around $300 on meds ect. When I got her better again, I went back to my way of caring for the ears and she has not had any more problems. She is 11 years old now.


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## Dechi (Aug 22, 2015)

Carley's Mom said:


> Here is my 2 cents on ear plucking... when I got Carley she was almost 7 years old. She had always had excellent care and her breeder warned me that she was PRONE to ear problems. She gave me the tools I would need to remove the hairs, instructed me on how to do it, made me promise to keep it up, gave me a bottle of cleaner ect.
> 
> After doing my own research, I decided not to do any more than I could easily remove with my fingers. I did my own grooming and she did not have any ear issues. Then I took her to a groomer that plucked her ears. She got an infection that took months to heal. I spent around $300 on meds ect. When I got her better again, I went back to my way of caring for the ears and she has not had any more problems. She is 11 years old now.


That's what I do, I pluck whatever I can with my fingers every 2-3 weeks. So far so good, it's been 3 1/2 months. He got an infection when I got him, probably from stress and because I let water in his ears during a bath and didn't dry it well.


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## Tiny Poodles (Jun 20, 2013)

I am not sure that everyone realizes - there are poodles that you can easily pull soft cottony hair from their ears with your fingers, and they don't even notice. I have had those poodles.
But then there are poodles like Timi that have hair so thick, and strongly rooted that it would be equivalent to pulling a chunk of the hair from her topknot out by the roots - ouch! And if you do that to such a dog, of course there is going to be skin injury, and in an enclosed dark area that does not get much air, of course such an injury is likely to get infected!
That is why, as Minipoo said, each dog requires a different plan.
Just wanted to make sure that you "finger pluckers" realize that it isn't always like that!


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## N2Mischief (Dec 3, 2012)

Tiny, I agree, some dogs have ear hair that seems to just easily pull out and others seem to have it rooted in cement. Misha seems to have both, and I have the groomer finger pluck the easy stuff only.

I just hated watching the groomers grab that cement rooted hair and pull it all at once. I feel if a dog is one that needs it all plucked, at least do it weekly and just a bit at a time. The groomers argument was it just gets it over with quicker, causing less stress. Watching those dogs I don't see how it could get more stressful. Ouch!

Again, whatever works for each dog is great, but be gentle as possible.


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## Dechi (Aug 22, 2015)

Merlin's hair that needs plucking is very different from his normal hair. It's very thin and soft, so pulling is okay. And I know we're not supposed to pull a lot at once, so I never pull them all out. But now that I've been doing it for a while, there isn't much hair left to pull, that's the nice part. 

Also, the façt that he doesn't even flinch when I do it helps...


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## Lori G (Sep 19, 2014)

As a want-to-be-poodle-owner-newbie (WTBPON? lol) this ear plucking discussion is very interesting! How many breeds of dogs require ear plucking? Are poodles unique? Do puppies need to be plucked? I have so many grooming related questions but ear plucking hadn't occurred to me till this thread! I must admit, the whole grooming thing is the most intimidating part of getting a poodle! ?


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## N2Mischief (Dec 3, 2012)

There are lots of breeds that need plucking. Bichons, ****zus, lhasa apsos, Coton de Tulear, schnauzers, maltese, just to name a few.


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## MiniPoo (Mar 6, 2014)

N2Mischief said:


> There are lots of breeds that need plucking. Bichons, ****zus, lhasa apsos, Coton de Tulear, schnauzers, maltese, just to name a few.


Don't forget Portuguese Water Dogs. Basically any nonshedding dog might need to have his ears plucked. Some people don't know about it because their groomer takes care of it.

A little grooming powder and your fingers and you pull a few hairs. It is really no big deal if you take it slowly in several sessions. No special equipment is required.


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## Tiny Poodles (Jun 20, 2013)

Lori G said:


> As a want-to-be-poodle-owner-newbie (WTBPON? lol) this ear plucking discussion is very interesting! How many breeds of dogs require ear plucking? Are poodles unique? Do puppies need to be plucked? I have so many grooming related questions but ear plucking hadn't occurred to me till this thread! I must admit, the whole grooming thing is the most intimidating part of getting a poodle! ?



Yes, if they need plucking, a puppy needs to be plucked.
Do you plan on doing your own grooming? I did not start doing my own grooming until poodle number 4 - As long as you can keep them brushed out,mane maybe a bath or two between monthly trips to the groomer are all you HAVE to do on your own!


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## Caddy (Nov 23, 2014)

Lori g, it was and still is the most intimidating thing for me too, in fact the whole ear plucking thing was a definite downside to getting a poodle. I suppose that's why I've adopted the "leave it alone" except for cleaning and trimming the hair. If Abbey was to get an ear infection and I had to think about plucking, I'd have the vet or groomer do it but stand over them to prevent excessive plucking. Oh, and I don't worry about getting water in the ears when bathing either, in fact I indirectly flush the ear. It's working for us so far, fingers crossed.


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## Tiny Poodles (Jun 20, 2013)

Caddy said:


> Lori g, it was and still is the most intimidating thing for me too, in fact the whole ear plucking thing was a definite downside to getting a poodle. I suppose that's why I've adopted the "leave it alone" except for cleaning and trimming the hair. If Abbey was to get an ear infection and I had to think about plucking, I'd have the vet or groomer do it but stand over them to prevent excessive plucking. Oh, and I don't worry about getting water in the ears when bathing either, in fact I indirectly flush the ear. It's working for us so far, fingers crossed.



I purposely directly flush the ears with water! It is fine as long as you allow them to shake it out as soon as the bath is done!


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## Dechi (Aug 22, 2015)

You don't even have to use the powder. I don't and it works fine.


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## Tiny Poodles (Jun 20, 2013)

Dechi said:


> You don't even have to use the powder. I don't and it works fine.



My apricot had very cottony, easy to pull hair in her ears, maybe that is what Merlin had?
You'd best not dare try it without powder on any black that I have ever had!


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## Dechi (Aug 22, 2015)

Tiny Poodles said:


> My apricot had very cottony, easy to pull hair in her ears, maybe that is what Merlin had?
> You'd best not dare try it without powder on any black that I have ever had!


My breeder told me it wasn't necessary when she showed me how to do it. From what I understand, this powder allows for better grip, that's all it does. Yes, Merlin's hair is very fine and easy to pull. In fact, all his hair is very soft. He doesn't have the same hair as the poddles I pet at dog shows. It looks like puppy hair more but it doesn't tangle easily.


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## Mvinotime (May 25, 2015)

Thanks for all the input on this subject ...very good food for thought. My boy "had" the very thick, dense deep rooted hair nothing ever came out when I pulled with my fingers (although he quite enjoyed my gentle tugging lol) so I can imagine she probably used hemostats and it was probably very painful  im so mad at myself for forgetting to say something about it. In my boys case although his hair was that way he had never exhibited a single sign of infection....prior to the plucking. NO smell, no head shaking, no tilt etc. So I suppose either there was a yeast infection brewing in there or it was due to the trauma of the removal. She made mention to me that his right ear it was super far down and she couldn't believe how much so to expect him to be irritated a bit and shake his head etc. The left ear is fine and the vet agreed it looked fine. and other than the hair being down further in right ear the plucking would of been the same. As for my vets recommendation, (not my usual vet mind you) it was not due to him getting an infection it is what he advises EVERY poodle owner to do regardless or he says "they will undoubtedly get infections". He is I should mention of advanced age  I think once it clears up I may try not plucking again and see what happens but im so torn cause I will certainly NEVER let them all be plucked at once again. I did want to ask those who have dealt with yeast infections how long does it normally take before they are better? He got a steroid anti inflammatory shot that day and was noticeably better hardly and shaking and no tilt etc by that evening BUT the next day and today the head shaking is back and really bugging him. I have seven days of meds and am only on day two. I am going to try some Benadryl since I was told it can be itchy to give him some relief as well as maybe a Rimadyl for any pain or inflammation, I was not instructed to bring im back for recheck but was thinking if it isnt better by Friday maybe I will go ahead and go back since that is when my regular vet will be in. Just curious what your experiences have been in regards to time frame etc.


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## MiniPoo (Mar 6, 2014)

You want to finish the week of treatment, but your dog should feel better more each day. I used the ear cleanser at least once a day, and gave the medicine in morning and evening. After he gets well, I would use ear cleanser every couple of weeks. That has worked for me along with some plucking, depending on the dog.


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## ColetteDRE (Dec 1, 2015)

*Inner ear trouble*

Something else to consider:
My Annie, std. Poodle, has trouble if the groomer gets any liquid in her ears when bathing her or even if the groomer uses liquid ear cleaner in her ears. I had a toy poodle that reacted the same way until he was 8 or 9 years old.
I ask the groomer to double pack her ears when bathing her and also ask them not to use liquid ear cleaner in her ears ever. Just a predilection of my Annie and my Noah, my other poodles never had this issue.
May be something to watch for.
Glad you took your pup to the vet, ear shaking for that long would get me to the vet also. 
Best to you and your pup!


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## Tiny Poodles (Jun 20, 2013)

I have to tell you that the meds I got from the regular Vet never helped Taylee. But there was a magical formula that the Dermotologist had compounded for her which would relieve the discomfort in hours. By the next day I would almost forget to give it because you wouldn't know that she had a problem.


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## JudyD (Feb 3, 2013)

Neither of my dogs has had an ear infection for some time now, but the last time for each of them, the vet used some kind of waxy medicine that he put into the ear, and that was the end of it. It lasts a week or ten days, just gradually disappears. I'm not sure, but I think the vet said not to clean the ears for the first week, either, so as not to clean the medicine out. It worked well, and the dogs and I were very happy not to have daily med sessions. The only down side is that the medicine got on the long hair on their ears and made quite a mess.


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