plucking hair from ear

Question
Hi Keisha. I've recently brought home a 9 week old toy poodle pup. I'm wondering if I should start plucking hair from my puppy's ear. Does all toy poodle get ear infection easily? Do I have to clean out his ears every now and then? And how often? Or can I leave it if he's not having problems with his ears? Thank you!

Answer
Yes he needs the hair plucked from his ears.  Trueth be told he should have had it done several times already by his breeder.  And cleaned also.  Yes all poodles are prone to ear infections.  I recomend giving a teaspoon of plain yogurt with live cultures every day.  THis will help to keep the yeast down in the ears and help to get less ear infections.  This however, do not mean that you do not have to still pluck the ears and keep them clean.  Every time you give him a bath you need to put cotton balls in his ears.  Yes clean the ears.  I will give you a formula to make up and it will really help keep any infections away.  It really is the bomb!  No you can not leave it or you will begin to have problems again.  If you are taking your puppies to a groomer every 4-6 weeks they should be doing the plucking.  I usually clean and pluck my dogs ears every couple of weeks.
Here is the formula


INGREDIENTS:

16 Oz. Isopropyl Alcohol

4 Tablespoons Boric Acid Powder - this powder is a little hard to find.  You can find it a some health food stores or at some small mom & pop pharmacies.

16 Drops Gentian Violet Solution 1% - now this stuff took me a long time to locate.  You can find it on line and order it or you may be able to find it at some mom & pop pharmacies or your local walmart may also carry it.  If walmart doesn't have it ask them to order it for you.  If you happen to find the 2% gentian violet instead just use 8 drops.

Mix together in a large bottle and shake well.  We have found that if you go to your local beauty supply and find a bottle with the long pointed tips like the kind they use for hair dies, it works great for getting into the ear canal.  (Do not worry you can not touch the dogs ear drum)

Please shake this solution every time you use it to mix the Boric Acid Powder. Either a baby ear syringe or a plastic squirt bottle work well for putting the solution in the ear.



DIRECTIONS FOR USE:

Check the ears before treating. If they are inflamed and sore do not attempt to pluck the hair or clean out ear. Flush the ear with the solution and wait for the inflammation to go away.  Usually takes 2-4 days of this.


On first treatment, if the ear is NOT inflamed, flood the ear twice, wipe with a cotton ball, and leave alone without massage.

The dog will shake out the excess, which can be wiped with a tissue. (This stuff will tint lighter dogs fur but this will go away and will not cause harm to the dogs hair.  This stuff does stain fabrics though.

Treat 2 times per day for the first week - two weeks, depending upon severity of ears.

After the 2nd or 3rd day you can clean out the ear with a Q- tip.

Treat one time per day for the next 1-2 weeks.
Treat one time per month (depending on the dog and the severity of the ears).