The hair inside their ears

[willhegofirst]

Our Spins have quite a lot of hair in their ears, the older dog also gets a lot of ear wax. I have been advised to pluck the hair out to keep the ear canals clear, but I have also read this can irritate and the ear will produce even more wax, what do other people do. I do put drops in on a regular basis.

 

[s4sugar]

This is an article I wrote some time ago for a Glen newsletter. They have similar hair to Spins.

"To pluck or not to pluck?

Recently there have been suggestions from Vets that glens should not have their ears plucked. One reason often cited is that the hair growing in the ear gives protection against dust & dirt.

If you look into the ear of a base model dog -e.g. GSD, you will notice the
hair density diminishing as you look deeper. Hair matching that on the outside of
the ear leather grows near the tip & edges. No hairs grow to actually block
the ear canal.
This pattern of ear growth gives an easy to care for ear. This is the ear
model many vets are trained on & quite correctly the few hairs inside do
give some protection & don't need trimming.

In a breed that has been selected for profuse coat, the undercoat unfortunately can
grow right down into the ear canals. A small amount doesn't usually
give any problem but profuse hair can & does cause blockages.
A clogged ear is a potential breeding ground for fungi, bacteria & yeasts.

I have had dogs for grooming with ears plugged with hair & wax -I have a couple of
times tried a tentative tweak & had a solid plug the size of my thumb come
out in one piece. It is this hair that you do need to remove. It is not
necessary to remove every strand - just enough to give a clear passage & by
far the best way is to pluck out a few hairs at a time - NEVER try to pluck it all
out in one go!

Ear hair is like any other hair - it grows so needs redoing. A weekly tweak will keep ears clear on even the woolliest dogs.
I use artery clamps; lock them on to a few hairs & twirl the hair around
them quickly. This plucks without slipping. Tweezers tend to slip & the dog will soon complain.
Odd hairs come away with finger plucking. Like when plucking eyebrows, speed hurts less.

Your dog will thank you for not using cleaners immediately after plucking when alcohol based treatments will sting. Many problems can be prevented by careful cleaning, using good quality specific ear products or specialist shampoos. Dogs’ ears can get wet without harm if the moisture can get out. A tissue or cotton ball will clean far enough down. Cotton buds can do serious harm.

If you really can't pluck or find a competent groomer, nasal hair trimmers
will remove some hair although I've never had to try this on a glen (Miniature
schnauzers are another matter)

The hair on the external ear flap should be treated as body hair i.e.
stripped or clipped accordingly. There is no need for any of the ear leather to
be bare unless stripping is being done out of it's natural time & then it
will still match the body which has also been "pinked".

SB"

 

[willhegofirst]

Thanks S4sugar, that's very interesting, the older dogs ears do get sore sometimes when she has wax built up I also have Spenser wells forceps I could use to remove hair.
Thanks