Cleaning My Poodles Ears

Question
Hello, I have a miniature poodle and she is 3 1/2 months old.  She has ear mites, and I have been treating her for 3 days now.  My question is...Is it okay to pluck the hair out of her ears while she has mites?  Or would it be best to wait until they are gone? I just want her ears to be clean as possible.  Should I use tweezers to pluck the hair out or is it better to use my fingers to pull out the hair?  

Answer
Hello Angela,
It is better to go ahead and clean the ears out now rather than wait.  The mites will do better in the enviroment her ears are now than when you clean them and put the ear cleaner in them, so to help get rid of them, cleaning them now will help.  Here is a website that has information on making your own ear cleaner for your dog from household items.  http://www.zimfamilycockers.com/EarCleaner.html  It is a site for Cocker Spainels but it works great for Poodle ears as well.

You can use your fingers to pluck the hair out if you can reach the hair.  If not, you can use tweezers, but be careful because the inside of the ear is very tender and its easy to scratch them.  They also bleed easy.  To help you grab the hair and pull it out, you can buy Ear Powder from your local Pet Store or Vet Supply Store.  It is a powder that contains a rosin grip that will help you grab the hair and pull it out.  It works best if you grab just a little hair at a time when pulling it out.  Praise your dog when she does good at letting you pull the hair out.  

Give this a try and let me know how everything works out.  If I can help you further, please feel free to ask me.

Thanks for using AllExperts.com,
Kim