The Zim Family Cocker Spaniel Forum

Here's a question for you experienced in giving your puppers baffs....

How do you keep water from getting in their ears? I give Rocky a bath every Sunday because he gets smelly from his daily LONG walks and running around like a crazy dog. I use oatmeal shampoo and conditioner. He loves his baths (he jumps in the tub), but I never wash his face or ears because I am afraid of the dreaded ear infection? I use a wipe when I need to, but how do the pro's do it?

By no means am I a pro but with having a cocker and beagle I know all about those long heavy ears! I put a cotton ball in each ear so in case I do get a little water in there it will catch it. I also will use the ear cleaner after the bath to help dry out also.

believe it or not, when I am washing and rinsing the inside/under part of the ear, I have a finger in the canal and I don't spray water directly. I spray it more downward. Works for me.

That's a good tip and thanks for sharing it, too.

I put the cleaner in first, then the cotton, then wash as normal. Take out the cotton when you're done.

Julie, I tried the cotton ball trick on Abby. They kept falling out . Abby, I do think, has very narrow canals. They certainly do not look like Ava's and they are really hairy too. That's why I decided to block them with my finger

Did you try half a cotton ball? Cockers and big dogs are the only dogs I use a full cotton on. There is the rare cocker with a really small canal that won't take a full cotton ball though. You also really need to stuff it in there so they don't shake it out. Mike has trouble with that at the shop where I don't.

Julie, yep I tried the 1/2 cotton ball. It comes out as well I just block it with my thumb while holding her ear. Her ears really have the narrowest canal. The diff between her and Ava is like night and day. Abby also has had an ear infection before. I have to treat her ears often to avoid it. I think the canal size and all the stupid HAIR is the problem. You once said no cocker has hair in the canal...well Abby truly has hair as far down as you can see. She is ONE very hairy little monkey girl. Again, the diff between her and Ava is incredible on the ear hair. Heck, Abby just plain out has too stinking much hair everywhere!!!!

You can try to put them in your ears, and try to use a similar technique for the doggies. I know they also have smaller ones made just for putting in people's ears, maybe you can find those and it will work. (Maybe you can dip it in alcohol and put it in?) ...I totally have to do the same thing to myself when I shower, or I will get infections and horrible pain too. YanYan and I usually have ear infections together and are all, go away, we have ouchies. :( He always seems to get his from allergies, I'm beginning to think mine are random, or cause by ear gremlins.

Sometimes if I'm out, I just flip the ear on top of his head, cover the canal, and carefully get them wet. He generally tends to shake off the excess that might have gone in. Then I clean his ears afterwards anyway, and he always loves that.

I don't know that I'd dip in alcohol and keep it in through the entire bath since alcohol is so drying and can be irritating. That said, I usually do wet one after the bath and do an alcohol swipe just to get out any excess water. I do use dry cotton before/during the bath too and it seems to work well for Max (though he pretends he's deaf and refuses to get into the tub if it do it too early. ).

Ashley, most of the ear cleaners recommended on this site are alcohol based. Drying the ear out is the point. As far as wiping any excess water out of the ear that's impossible. A dogs ear canal is not like ours. It has a horizontal and vertical canal. You cannot reach into the horizontal canal with a cotton ball.

I lightly pinch the ear together while washing face and ears. Never had an issue with ear infections ever, and never had him get water in his ears during a bath. i will usually clean his ears before bathing and wipe them out agian with a dry cotton ball after rinseing, but never had to put cotton in his ears to keep them from getting wet. I just use my thumb and forefinger to pinch the very top of the ear togeather.

To prevent your dog from getting water in the ears when swimming or bathing, place cotton balls in the pet's ears before the dog gets into the water. When your dog gets out of the water, remove the cotton balls and carefully towel dry his outer ears and the inside of the ears that are easily accessible.







_______________________________
http://www.themodernman.com/how_to_get_ ... riend.html

I'm always nervous of sticking the cotton balls so far into the ear that they won't come out again, so I only use them on dogs where the owner has specifically requested it. They usually fall out halfway through! I just make sure I am very careful not to direct the spray too near the earhole, and cover it with a hand to be sure. Only one owner in 8 years has said they thought I got water in the ear, and considering I told them that the dog was shaking his head BEFORE the bath and I suspected a minor ear infection, I think we can agree to disagree on that!