Healthy Puppy Ears...

Yesterday was Bauer's 12 week vet appointment, and he weighed in at a healthy 25 pounds. From what the vet says, from seeing his parents, and from the look of him and his Clydesdale feet, he could be a monster! At his 9 week appointment his vet thought that he would grow 10 pounds in three weeks and he was right on. Now he is expecting another 10 pounds by our next appointment in three weeks.

At our last appointment the vet also told me to keep an eye on Bauer's ears. Dogs that do not have erect ears are more prone to ear problems, in particular those that love the water. (Are you seeing where this is going?) He suggested cleaning his ears when needed and looking and smelling them to check for any foul odor or discharge. We have been cleaning them after his bath each week. On Sunday we smelled a slight odor in his ears and saw some dark, blackish waxy residue that looked like more than crazy outdoor puppy dirt. I hadn't noticed any symptoms from him other than this... like scratching at his ears or inflammation or anything. So, I cleaned his ears then, and I have been watching for the last couple of days to see if the discharge reappeared.

During the exam the vet swabbed Bauer's ears to check for any kind of ear mites or infection and looked into the ear canal. He said that there were no mites, but that on the slide he could see a lot of yeast. He was just starting to get a bit of a canine yeast ear infection. He gave us an ear rinse solution that is supposed to help reduce the yeast and clean the ear canal of the discharge. You just squeeze it in and massage the ear canal on the side of his little head. Bauer actually kind of likes it, just like any other time that someone rubs on or around his ears!

So, I wanted to do a little research to learn more about this problem, what causes it, and ways to treat and prevent it from reoccurring, so we don't have ongoing problems. I found a couple of good articles like this one from the Labrador Retriever Guide. I learned there that the unlike our human ears the dog's ear has a much longer ear canal. The long canal makes it hard for the dogs ear to stay dry and dogs with pendulous ears are or predisposed to ear conditions. As the ear folds, it covers the ear canal and prohibits air from entering and drying the canal. The result is a moist, warm ear canal that is a perfect environment for organisms to grow, especially yeast.


Numerous types of bacteria and the yeast cause ear infections. The normal, healthy ear has a good defense against these organisms, but if the ear environment changes due to allergies, hormone abnormalities, or moisture, the bacteria and yeast can greatly multiply and break down these defenses.

Typically you will see your dog shaking its head or scratching at its ears, and smelling the ear usually verifies a problem if the cause is yeast. If the infection persists, the ear canal will become inflamed and often discharge. Often, treatment will include flushing the ear canal with an antimicrobial solution and drying agent. But, there are several different reasons for infection and inflammation, so have your vet examine the dog before choosing a treatment. Sometimes ear problems can be due to an allergy, ear mites, or another health issue.

So, for the little brown dog, I guess we will just flush out those ear canals for a couple of weeks, keep up with regular cleaning, and try to keep his ears dry in the future to hopefully prevent this from happening again.