Lab Ear Infection

Question
I have an 11 year old male chocolate lab that has had problems with his ears (especially his right ear) since he was 3 or 4 years old.
He shakes them, they get black goo in them, and over the last year, they get red and swollen.
We have been to a few vets, they've had us try all kinds of ear drops (cleaners, otomax).
We've had his ears flushed, cleaned, etc.
The latest vet has said the infection will never go away, the only way to get rid of it is to remove the ear canal.  We didn't want to do this since the surgery can cause a painful recovery time, and he is 11 years old.  So the vet suggested putting him on oral antibiotics and oral steroids seven days a month to keep the infection at a minimum and use ear cleaner and drops (baytril?) a couple of times a week.  Is all of this OK for a dog?
Can steroids cause behavioral changes in dogs?  It seems that since he started the steroids he will start barking for hours to get attention.  He never did this before.  It's not an aggressive bark, it's just very annoying to anyone that is home.  He doesn't seem to be in pain, but he still shakes his head almost daily.  
Your advice would be greatly appreciated.

Answer
This treatment is acceptable if it helps.  If the ear is beyond help medically, the easiest thing to do is the surgery. If the ear canal is very hard or bony, there is no medicine that will take this down. The dog will be pain free after the surgery heals.  Sometimes when dogs with ear disease bark excessively, it is to hear themselves.