Doodle Ear Cleaning

Doodle Ear Cleaning Technique

When owning a Doodle, regular visits to the Veterinarian are important but one issue that can be fixed at home is cleaning your Doodle’s ears. Doodles need more regular ear care than some other breeds because most Doodles have non-shedding coats with floppy ears and often hair that grows in their ears (from their Poodle ancestor genes).

These attributes keep Doodles’ ear canals from getting regular airflow and can easily cause blockage in their ears. Doodle ear blockage can cause infections which creates pain and odor and is a terrible experience for both you and your Doodle family member.

Keeping your Doodle’s ears clean significantly reduces the risk of ear infections and helps keep your fur baby happy and healthy in between visits to the Vet. The good news is that the ear cleaning process is not that difficult and can easily be done from your home!

How To Effectively Clean Your Doodle’s Ears

In order to clean your Doodle’s ears effectively, your pup will need to be comfortable with you getting up close to their ears. Get them accustomed to you touching that area by rubbing their ears frequently and lifting their ears regularly. Once you are ready to clean and your Doodle is comfortable with you near their ears, the first step is to pluck any hair that is blocking you from being able to see what you are doing.

You can pluck the excess Doodle hair by preparing the area with ear powder and then plucking with your fingers or tweezers. Ear powder makes this step easier because it makes the hair easier to grip and makes this step less painful for your Doodle.

Steps

To clean your Doodle’s ear, you will want to have a cotton ball or cotton pad and an ear cleansing solution. You can purchase a pre-mixed ear cleansing solution from your local pet store or use witch hazel or a 50/50 mix of apple cider vinegar and water. Once you have your cotton ball and cleaning solution on hand, follow the next steps:

1. Tip your Doodle’s head to one side and gently lift his/her ear
2. Pour a small amount of your cleaning solution into your Doodle’s ear
3. Place a large cotton ball or pad into the opening of your Doodle’s ear
4. Massage gently focusing on the base of the ear to work the earwax and dirt loose
5. Let the ear cleaning solution sit for about a minute in your Doodle’s ear
6. Remove the first cotton ball and use a second cotton ball to clean out the loose dirt and ear wax
7. Add a little more ear powder and finish plucking your Doodle’s ears
8. Give your good boy or girl a treat!

It is important to note that you only need to clean as far as you can see, there is no need to dig into your Doodle’s ear.

This simple Doodle ear cleaning process takes almost no time and significantly improves your Doodle’s health!