Why does a dog prick its ears

Jennifer Coates, DVM. This includes Q-tips. The rule of thumb is to only clean as far as you can see. If you think your dog needs a deeper ear cleaning that you can provide, schedule an appointment with your veterinarian. Ear cleaning can sometimes be messy.

Lift one ear flap and squirt in a little ear cleaner, allowing it to drip into the ear canal. Lift the ear flap again and gently wipe inside the ear with your cotton ball or a piece of gauze. Continue wiping until your cotton balls remain clean. Another veterinarian-approved method is to soak a cotton ball with the cleaner and then gently clean around and within the opening to the ear canal.

As you clean, the liquid will tend to squeegee into the ear canal. Healthy dog ears should not have an odor—especially not a foul odor. The following are some of the most common ear issues seen in dogs. Coates says. Deafness: Dogs can be born deaf called congenital deafness , or they can become deaf later, due to a degenerative disease, an injury to the ear, severe or untreated ear infections, drug toxicity, noise trauma, middle ear effusion or build-up of fluid , or simply old age.

If hearing loss is suspected they may use the brainstem auditory evoked response BAER test to diagnose the issue.

Ear infections: Infections in the ears are usually due to an overgrowth of yeast and bacteria present in the ears. Some breeds like Poodles and Bichons Frises have hair growing inside their ear canal. Removing the hair CAN help with treatment as it is easier to remove debris that carries bacteria and yeast, as well as allowing for better penetration of medications.

If you have a puppy, all the better, so you can get used to what their ears should smell like, and notice when any unusual odors pop up. Ear mites: Ear mites are troublesome parasites that live inside the ears.

Dogs with ear mites often scratch at their head and ears, and have abnormal dark-looking ear discharge. Luckily, ear mites are relatively easy to treat—a deep ear cleaning and some medications prescribed by your veterinarian usually clear up infections quickly.

Try to avoid sudden, loud, or high-pitched noises, make sure your dog has a quiet place to go during loud events, avoid subjecting them to two loud noise sources at once a TV blaring in one corner, and music in another —and, of course, stroke them regularly.

All dog breeds that have lop ears will have both ears lowered down. When one ear is flaccid and the other is not, it is likely a sign of a health problem. The pinna is the outer part of the ear. In dogs, they can be standing or flabby.

As we have said before, it is normal for puppies to have lop ears depending on their breed. It is even possible that two pups from the same litter have different degrees of flaccidity in the ears, and this is due to genetic inheritance from their parents.

If you know that your puppy must have raised ears and has already reached the stage of development where it should have happened, it is important to know that there may be a problem. One of the most important is diet. Puppies will need a specific type of nutrition to grow properly. When they are not given enough protein and other vital nutrients, one or more of their ears may remain floppy.

There are also some medical conditions that prevent your ears from standing upright. We will detail them in the following sections. There are different conditions that can cause a dog to have one ear up and the other down. However, they are usually accompanied by other symptoms.

When the dog is not treated in time, as can be the case with abandoned dogs, the ear may never lift. The reasoning behind these ears is a little more complicated than the others, as they were bred into different breeds for distinctly different reasons.

Greyhounds and similar breeds were given these ears because it was felt that the shape helped them run faster by streamlining their heads. Bull Terriers, on the other hand, had these ears bred into them for fighting purposes. It was thought that rose ears would be safer from being bitten during a fight. The prick-eared breeds are the ones closest in relation to their wolf ancestors with, usually, the least amount of crossbreeding in their system.

Huskies, Samoyeds, and Westies all fall into this category.