The inside of your dog’s ears is one of the most sensitive parts of their body, but also one that is often overlooked when it comes to care and grooming.
Conditions affecting dog’s ears
Some dogs, especially those with long, floppy ears are particularly prone to nasty bacterial or yeast infections. There are several tell-tale signs that you should keep an eye open for, to help protect your pooch. You might spot that their ears look red and inflamed, or see that your dog is shaking their head more often. This is normally a response to them feeling painful and itchy.
Prevent issues from occurring
To help prevent this from happening, it’s really important to keep your dog’s ears clean and well cared for – checking them regularly for any signs of infection. You can do this whilst you’re bathing them with a relaxing herbal shampoo to help keep them calm – although take care not to get water and shampoo into their delicate ears!
Some dogs will be perfectly happy with this – however, how content your dog is to let you examine and clean their ears will depend a lot on the extent to which they have been handled and acclimatised to the process when they were young. If you’ve got a puppy, it is important that you start this process from a young age, as it will mean that they are likely to be more docile and less restless when you try to do it for them as an adult.
If you have a nervous dog, or one that isn’t used to their ears being touched it may take a while for them to accept you doing this. You might find that our range of dog calmer treatments can help, including our range which helps provide natural treatments for dog anxiety.
What to do if you spot an infection
If you spot an infection, or any sign of ear mites (which might look like little red or brown sores, where your dog has scratched and bled) then you should always seek advice from a vet. If they’ve been on walks through long grass or overgrown areas, it’s also a key spot to check for ticks!
