How Do I Clean My Dog’s Ears?

First, it’s important to emphasize that you should only clean your dog’s ears if it’s actually necessary. If your dog has healthy ears without visible dirt or earwax, there’s no need to do anything. Cleaning healthy ears can disrupt the natural balance in the ear canal. In fact, cleaning can damage the natural flora in the ear and potentially trigger an infection.

However, if your dog has visible dirt or earwax buildup, you should clean the ears and check them regularly.

How to Clean Your Dog’s Ears

Use a piece of cotton, preferably a cotton pad like the ones used to remove makeup. These pads are often firmer and less likely to leave cotton residue inside your dog’s ear.

Dampen the cotton with an ear-cleaning solution or a saline solution. Clean only the part of the ear you can easily reach. Never go deep into the ear, and never use cotton swabs—neither regular ones nor baby swabs.

Make Your Own Saline Solution

Saline solution is just as effective as ear-cleaning products from the pharmacy and is easy to make at home. You can also use saline solution to clean your dog’s eyes. In fact, it’s safe for your own ears and eyes too.

How to Make Saline Solution for Ear Cleaning

Here’s how you can easily make a batch of saline solution to clean your dog’s ears:

1. Boil one liter of water.
2. Add one gram of salt and stir until it’s fully dissolved.
3. Let the water cool to room temperature before using it to clean your dog’s ears.

Some Dog Breeds Are More Prone to Earwax in the Outer Ear

Long-haired dogs, such as the Bichon Havanais, tend to have long hair in their ears. For most dogs of this and other long-haired breeds, the hair inside the ears is not a problem. If the ears are otherwise healthy, you should not do anything other than check them from time to time.

However, some dogs with long ear hair may develop ear issues. If so, you can gently pluck some of the inner ear hair. These hairs are not deeply rooted, so it won’t hurt your dog.

If this helps, you don’t need to do anything else. If the issue returns, you’ll need to clean the ears as described above. Check the ears regularly. If the problem resolves, there’s no need to pluck the hairs again. But if it comes back, repeat the same steps.

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