I’m looking for some advice. I have a 4-month-old Border Collie puppy and, since our first visit to the vet, I’ve been making an effort to clean her eyes, ears, and teeth using the proper solutions. Everything was going fine until now (cleaning her about every fortnight), but yesterday when I brought the bottle of ear cleaner near her, she really kicked off. I tried to restrain her by holding her muzzle (which I realise now was a bad idea) to keep her head to the side, but she resisted even more and showed her teeth. Looking back, I also raised my voice because I was getting frustrated, which was also a big mistake.
I’m not sure if her aggression was directed at the bottle because she was frightened or at me, but she ran away afterwards and tried to hide.
I’m hoping you can give me some tips to find a solution that works for her without having to give up on ear care entirely. Can anyone help?
P.S. Just to clarify, to clean the ear canal, the solution has to be poured inside, which is why I have to get the bottle so close to her ear. If I just put the cleaner on a cotton pad to wipe the outer ear, she isn't scared at all.
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Hi, I’ve been doing a bit of digging and speaking to some dog experts. It seems that since my dog is a Border Collie with pricked ears, I should only be cleaning them about once a month if they’re actually dirty. Otherwise, it’s better to leave them alone so she can build up her own natural immunity. I also need to turn it into a bit of a game so she isn’t scared of it anymore.
Maybe the cleaner you’re using is starting to irritate them?
My one’s ears get dirty quite quickly, but the more you clean them, the worse the problem gets — it’s just like it is for us. So, for my little chunky lad, I just give them a wipe every now and then and use the ear cleaner occasionally. But it’s definitely not every fortnight.
To start with, I was having to use a wipe almost every day, but now his ears stay clean much longer.
I reckon if you use those products too much, they mess with the ear’s natural balance (or whatever else), which means the more you use them, the more you find you need to.
For example, my puppy used to have a lovely soft, silky coat. I had to bathe him every other day for three weeks for a treatment. Well, now his coat is greasy and dull even though his last bath was only a fortnight ago... But I’m not washing him; or at least, I’m waiting. Everything needs to get back to normal and another shampoo would just make things worse.
Mind you, if you’re checking regularly, you’ll spot straight away if something’s a bit fishy!
I’m a bit of a paranoid pet parent with my little monster, as he tends to have completely over-the-top reactions to everything. So, to stop any nasties from bothering his ears, we give them a regular clean. Then again, that’s definitely down to my total paranoia whenever it comes to my dog’s health... 😳
You should only clean your dog's ears when there's a buildup of wax! Moumouth gets theirs done every 8 days, just like Jim! Tibidou is 18 months old and has never needed his ears cleaning. Just keep an eye on them; there’s no set routine you have to follow!
Actually, I check my boy's ears regularly, but my vet hasn't recommended cleaning them that often. If they look clean, do you think I still need to clean them every time? We live in the countryside and we're out in the fields for every walk. 🙄
We clean our dog's ears every fortnight in the summer, or even more often when we’ve been out in the countryside a lot.
My mum’s dog needs hers doing every week. She’s outside all the time and has floppy ears, so if we don’t keep on top of it, things go downhill pretty fast...
That routine doesn't seem unreasonable at all to me. It was actually the vet who suggested it.
(Aggie: I’d suggest you hold your horses a bit. There isn’t always someone around to get back to you in under five minutes! ;) )
