OK, my dog lives outside and is a collie mix! he has lots of black brown and yellow ear wax in them! we take him to the vet and get medicen! they get better aftor about a week then they get infected again! does this breed have this problem!
2006-12-16 15:30:43 · 11 answers · asked by Anonymous in Pets ➔ Dogs
you have to cut the hairs around the ears, and clean the ears often w/ dog ear cleaners. in the past my dog's ear was red and he was shaking his head.....i then started using petgold ear cleaner and ear mite remedy....since then he's never had ear problems.
2006-12-16 18:15:48 · answer #1 · answered by dmfvr102 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Change his food.
Bad nutrition causes the immune system to stop working effectively allowing infection to grow. Look into Innova, California Natural, Wellness, Canidae, and Artemis. All are good, all have websites.
The ear hairs trap water making a perfect environment for infection. Next time you're at the vet, have them pull the hair and clean the ears. There is a deep cleaning they can do with the dog under anesthesia, it might be worth trying.
You have to give all the medicine using the instructions on the bottle. If you stop before the vet said to, you are letting the most resistant germs breed stronger infection, which is harder and harder to kill. Meaning it will keep coming back until you kill all of it.
Outside dogs are exposed to the weather and more likely to be sickly. The best dog houses don't keep off all the weather.
Outside dogs are seperated from the family life they need to be happy. They are pack animals, like people. They need to be part of the family, or they don't do as well. Consider letting him in the house, just in the evenings. He can sleep in a bathroom or the garage.
Good luck to you
2006-12-16 23:48:54 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
Ya know something, my own dog had an ear infection for a couple of months. No med worked for any length of time. My dog works with me so I needed to get this cleared up. So I had to do my own research.
Found out it was a yeast infection caused by him being allergic to the kibble dog food he was on. Not the brand, but some ingredients in the mix were causing his infection.
I switched brands of dog food and the ear infection went away. Coincedence? I don't know? You you might want to approach your dog's problem at that angle.
This will get you started:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dog_food
spazrats
Dog Obedience Instructor 30+ years
http://spazrats.tripod.com
2006-12-16 23:44:19 · answer #3 · answered by spazrats 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Yeah, that's pretty typical. I would say just keep cleaning the dog's ears. You can go to pet stores and ear cleaner and I use make-up remover squares. I clean my dogs' ears approximately once a week. Also, depending on the breed,(mostly breeds with excess hair like Shih-Tzus) the dog may have hair in it's ears. If you take your dog to the groomers ask them to clean out the ears better and you should be set.
2006-12-16 23:46:39 · answer #4 · answered by beagles_rock101 2 · 1⤊ 0⤋
The other answers are correct (excessive hair and some breeds are more prone) also there could be drainage problem with your dog's ear (the shape of the inner ear). I had that in 2 of my Standard Poodles. The vet had to surgery to make the canal lower so it could drain better. Hope this helps.
2006-12-16 23:48:17 · answer #5 · answered by gotmyhorsegotmydog 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
My basset mix has the same problem. Some dogs are just more prone to it. I recommend cleaning the dog's ears with a baby wipe at least once a week. They get used to it, and it really does help.
2006-12-16 23:34:02 · answer #6 · answered by Emmy 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Dogs with longer ears are more prone to ear infections. Try trimming the hair around the ears and trimming the hair more often.
2006-12-16 23:35:21 · answer #7 · answered by Sam-I-Am 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
My dog had the same problem. I took her to many vets with the same ideas. They said to clean her ears. I finally ran into a vet that gave Leann some Antibiotics for humans. After one course of the antibiotics I/she never had another problem.
2006-12-17 00:08:01 · answer #8 · answered by nanasflower 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Diet my dogs used to get them all the time now they a have a natural diet no more ear infections! if you aren't going to change diet you will be cleaning your dogs ears the rest of it's life. a natural ear wash is a 50:50 mixture of Apple cide vinegar to water. It does work but you have to clean them regularly . the Apple cider is a natural antiseptic the water is to water it down as the apple cider vinegar is a strong.
2006-12-16 23:58:20 · answer #9 · answered by Tara 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Living outside he is more prone to getting them due to the elements, as water/moisture in the ears can lead to infection.
Also, it could be a reaction to the food he is on. Try switching him to one of the ones at http://www.frrco.com/121668 because it does not contain ingredients like fillers, preservatives, by products, etc that can be a cause of food allergies and ear infections.
Good luck! Make sure to keep his ears clean and dry!
http://www.libertydogtraining.com
2006-12-17 00:22:10 · answer #10 · answered by libertydogtraining 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋