Toy poodle with potential ear infection

Question
My girlfriend's 4lb toy poodle started scratching hear ears and shaking her
head more than usual after her most recent visit to the groomer.  When we
brought her home we also started her on new wet food (Vital Bison & Beef)
since she's such a picky eater.  She only had two servings (over two days)
before I began to notice redness on her ears.  There was also some very minor
yellow crust (looked like hardened ear wax) and some clear discharge.  She
started to tremble when I touched the areas (she never does this otherwise).

Now my girlfriend has taken her off the food, suspecting an allergy, but she's
reluctant to take the dog to the vet.  She also says the dog now yelps when
you even touch her ears and there is an odor from them.  Any clue if she's got
an ear infection?  If so, what can we do?  I'd love to know of a home remedy,
preferably non-steroidal!  Thanks for any advice!

Answer
Hello Michael,
In my personal opinion, yoru best bet would be to take the dog to the Vet just to rule out anything large that you can't handle yourself, and then to try a home remedy.  The yellow crusty stuff sounds like a yeast infection to me.  You can use products such as a Womans Yeast infection treatment to help clear the ears of the infection, but you need to know that its yeast first.  

If its black debris and the ear just looks dirty, you can use a mixture of Violet solution 1%, Boric Acid, and Alcohol as an ear wash to keep the ear clean.
1/2 cup Alcohol
1/4 cup Violet Solution 1%
1/2 tbs Boric Acid
You can get the Violet Solution and the Boric Acid from a Pharmacy.

You can also give your dog Benedryl tabs (1/2 for a dog your dogs size) for allergy symptoms, but watch to make sure it doesn't make your dog jittery or jumpy before continuing the tablets.

I hope this helps you some.  If you have other questions for me about this, please feel free to ask.

Thanks for using AllExperts.com,
Kim