Plucking of the ears...

Question
I had never known they "plucked" hair out of my little Teddies ears until I got to the groomers early and could hear my baby yelping.  No, not every time she plucked, but occasionally.  They told me that this was normal to do for poodles, OK, now I know.  But blood had pooled at the tip of my little guys ears and when he shook his ears he bled out; the lead groomer told me he had developed hematomas at the end of the ears.  They told me that his ears were so matted they had to shave the ears down...never in three years has any groomer ever done that...the rest of him was shaved close but they left his bushy tale!  My doctor tells me that Teddy is a poodle-bechon friese mix and so I assumed his hair was just thick, not matted.  I have never had a breed like him, I have always had cockers so I know about ears.   Teddy is so traumatized that he has had bloody diarrhea all night, but he is eating.  I am just in shock with his grooming experience yesterday.  He has never ever had his ears clipped like this or had this bleeding thing going!  I will watch the diarrhea and if he does this today I will take him to the vet, but I feel so guilty about him getting so matted, he has been with me for 3 years and with all his grooming trips have never encountered anything like this.

Answer
Hello Dawn,
I am sorry to hear about what happened to Teddy.  It sounds like it was unnecessary and not right on the groomers part.  

Poodles and like breeds need to have the hair pulled out of their ears so that they don't develop ear problems such as bacterial or viral infections or yeast infections.  Most groomers will start this process when the dog is young and continue through the dogs life.  If the groomers or owners don't do this process until the dog is older, it is usually more trumatic on the dog.  Still, it needs to be done from time to time.  You can do it yourself if you feel comfortable.  You have to get an ear powder from the pet store and can then pull the hair out by yourself.  You will want to pull just a little bit out at a time.  Praise him when he sits still for you.  If he starts to resist, give him a firm but gentle shake and resume pulling the hairs.  

As for regular grooming, you will need to use a slicker brush and get all the way to the skin.  Brush him about twice a week and use a conditioning spray to help condition the hair as you brush.  
After you use the slicker brush, run through him with a comb and give a spritz with Sally's Beauty Supply product called Spray-On Glosser.  It protects the coat and keeps dust off it.  They also have great conditioning products and shampoos (I use their products on my dogs and they work great)

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

Thanks for using AllExperts.com,
Kim