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Ear care made simple part 1
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Ear care can be quite daunting to owners, but if you make a plan and stick to it, 
best odds ear care doesn’t have to be time consuming, unpleasant or impossible.
best odds ear care doesn’t have to be time consuming, unpleasant or impossible.What goes wrong with ears?
In a perfect world, the ear flap acts to collect and direct sound into your dogs middle and inner ear, facilitating that remarkable hearing that dogs are known to possess. The inside of your dog’s ear is very vascular which generates heat. Because ears are tube like, warm and moist, they are a really charming place for bacteria and yeast to inhabit. Naturally large, erect and open ears such as those growing on wolves, let in plenty of fresh air and light, which keeps the middle ear dryer, cooler and deters anaerobic bacteria and yeast from multiplying.
Floppy ears, hairy ears and narrow ear canals are a potential breeding ground for infections, and special care must be taken to overcome the ears natural shortcomings and create a clean and healthy ear. Left untreated, ear infections can spread and become systemic, or worsen to the point where the ear canal must be surgically removed, leaving the dog deaf.
Hair growing in the ear canals can be problematic for dogs with permanant coats that do not shed, such as Bichon Frises, Portuguese Water dogs and some doodles and crossbreeds. Not long ago, it was widely accepted that such hair should just be ripped out, leaving the ear canal naked, improving airflow. Recently it has been suggested that this may actually cause problems, instead of solve them. A great debate remains.
The best odds regimen for prevention
If your dog is blessed with wide open, erect ears, a simple ear cleaning every week or two with ear wipes or ear cleaner and a cotton ball is usually enough to keep ears smelling good and free from debris. When bathing these dogs, its important to shelter the ears from water and shampoo though, because those large ears act as a funnel and water that gets trapped inside the ear canal definitely can lead to an infection. A cotton ball in each ear placed before the water is turned on will keep the sensitive areas dry.
If you’re dealing with a breed with semi-erect ears, like a Pit-bull or Greyhound, weekly ear cleaning is important. These ears vary from large and open to very tight so if your dog has less airflow, a veterinary grade ear cleaner is the best product to use. Large and open ears can be cleaned with ear wipes if desired weekly, but at least once a month you really should use a veterinary grade cleaner to do a thorough ear cleaning with cotton balls.
Dropped ears are the hardest ears to care for by far. Dogs with shedding coats that have no ear canal hair such as Basset Hounds and Labs need their ears cleaned weekly no matter what, twice weekly is preferred. Dogs with heavy ear flaps should be examined every few days with a quick sniff to judge the condition of the ears, clean ears don’t smell, infected ears smell sour or yeasty.
Dropped ears growing ear canal hair need special care both at home and your groomer's. Whether you choose to pull your dog’s ear hair is a personal choice that should be talked over with your vet and then your groomer. Ear hair is not much different than body hair in consistency, if you pull it from the follicle, it will regenerate in its original form. If you cut or shave it, eventually the hair will grow back softer. This is important because if your dog has very little ear hair and your groomer cuts the tips off, you could end up with softer ear hair that actually causes more problems. What’s worse is that tiny shards of hair can fall into the canal causing irritation. Pulling it out keeps the hair consistency and eliminates the hair shards, but pulling can bruise the skin on the inside of the ear, and if the ears aren’t cleaned properly and especially if dirty instruments or fingers are used, this can cause an infection instead of preventing one. Leaving hair can result in more media, in which bacteria cling and breed, either way, dropped ears need to be cleaned at least twice a week with a veterinary quality ear cleaner.
next... what to do when good ears go bad
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