Important Ideas to Keep in Mind: Assess your pet before beginning. Do you need someone to hold the pet or is the pet secure enough?
Consider what is going on in the area where you will be cleaning the ears. Is there a lot of noise? Are there a lot of other dogs moving around in the area? Are the groomers next to you working with difficult pets? Do you have enough room to safely move around and secure the pet? If this is the case, look around and see if any of the distractions can be reduced or eliminated before trying again.
- Get any supplies that you may need ready and within reach of where your pet will be on the table. This includes Kennelwood ear cleaner, cotton balls, ear powder, and perhaps baby wipes.
- Properly secure your pet and have any needed helper available.
- Lift up one of the ears and look inside it. If the ear looks pink, relatively clean, and mostly hair free in the ear cavity, proceed with cleaning.
- Get a cotton ball wet with Kennelwood ear cleaning solution and use it to wipe out the base of the ear hole. Wipe until any brown ear wax and debris is cleaned out completely. Use as many cotton balls as necessary. Wipe any part of the ear flap that you need to with a baby wipe.
- Get new cotton balls for the other ear. Even if the ear looks healthy, never use the same cotton ball in both ears. It can spread ear infections or ear mites that are present in the ear.
- Lift the other ear and look inside it. Proceed if the other ear looks pink, relatively clean, and mostly hair free in the ear cavity.
- Follow the same procedure in #4 for the other ear.
- Give your pet a pat for being a good dog. If the pet is allowed to have treats, you can use one to reward them. Sometimes using treats helps, but often it makes the procedure more difficult due to the pet squirming to get the treats. If this is the case, but you want to reward the pet, use a treat when you are all done.
Troubleshooting
Hair in the ear cavity
- Pulling the hair in the ears of dogs is controversial. Some vets will say to leave the hair alone. Some will say to leave it alone in young or sensitive pets. Some say pulling the hair has caused the ear to become infected while others say not pulling it has caused too much hair to form in the canal, trap debris, and cause an infection. Pulling ear hair from young pets can cause irritation and infection, so consider the sensitivity of their ears. We want young pets to get used to and trust us. They should enjoy grooming, and they will need to be groomed throughout their whole life. However, choosing not to pull hair from a pet’s ears can also cause issues. If the vet prefers there to be less hair in the ears, they may tell the client an incomplete job was done during the groom of the pet because too much hair was left in the ear. A judgement call must be made on the part of the groomer. A discussion with the owner at drop-off about what their vet recommends and what they want may remedy the situation.
- If the pet is very reactive to having the hair pulled from their ears, the groomer should stop and refer the pet to their veterinarian. There may be an issue with the ears that cannot be seen without specialized equipment.
- Fold the ear in a natural position, so that you can clearly see the inside of the ear. If you pull the ear flap into a tense position, it will make the hair harder to pull.
- Before pulling any hair, place a small amount of ear powder in the ear cavity. Ear powder assists with grip, making it easier to pull the hair.
- Use your fingers to pull hair from the ears in the direction of the hair growth. Some groomers use hemostats to grab, twist, and pull the hair out of the ears. This is not recommended because too much force can be applied and hurt the pet. Stick to using your fingers.
- Pull out hair by placing your fingers as close to the root of the hair as possible. Pull only a few hairs at a time to make this process successful as well as less painful.
- Pull hair until the ear is relatively hair free.
- Don’t use clippers to trim out ear hair. This can be dangerous because it is easy to cut the ear.
- Proceed with cleaning the ear following the previous procedure.
Ear is Infected
- Infected ears appear red and can seem painful. They may also have an odor to them. You can attempt to lightly clean them, but if the pet seems to be in pain, stop.
- Do not use alcohol-based cleaners or baby wipes on ears that may be infected.
- Absolutely do not use the same materials in one ear and then move to the other. You can spread the issue to the other ear.
- Notify the owner that you noticed the ears were red and painful to the pet. Use descriptive words for what you see, but do not try to diagnose what you think the issue is. A vet needs to do this with the right equipment and testing to ensure accuracy.
Ear Might Have Ear Mites
- If a pet’s ears are red, feel hot to the touch, have an odor, have excessive waxy-like substance inside them, have a substance that looks like coffee grounds inside, or seem sensitive for the pet, the pet may have ear mites.
- Don’t clean the ears. The vet may need a sample of the coffee ground looking substance to confirm if the pet has ear mites.
- Absolutely do not use the same materials in one ear and then move to the other. You can spread the issue to the other ear.
- Notify the owner that you noticed the ear was red and painful to the pet. Use descriptive words for what you see, but do not try to diagnose what you think the issue is. A vet needs to do this with the right equipment and testing to ensure accuracy.