Clyde Posted March 13, 2009 Share Posted March 13, 2009 Following on from this thread http://www.dolforums.com.au/index.php?show...161507&st=0. I used to always be a plucker. However at a grooming workshop I went to last year they advocated no plucking stating recent research by top vets etc. I then relaxed a bit on the plucking front, still did some but not anal about it the way I used to be. Spoke to my vet the other day who recently went to a seminar spoken by some well known Dermatologist whose name escapes me, where she also has recently started advocating no plucking. She says that new research shows that plucking simply aggravates the hair follicles , or something along the lines - I can't remember specifics. Anyway, her research shows that dogs who are plucked are more likely to experience ear problems and/or pain (obviously). I can't make up my mind so I half pluck. If it's a breed where I think the ear would get too dense, then I air it out a little, but if it's a breed where it just gets the whirly strand I leave it. I now tend to clip a bit where I used to pluck too. What do you do? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sheridan Posted March 13, 2009 Share Posted March 13, 2009 My wheaten's ears are plucked regularly. The only ear infection he's had since I've had him the vet put down to a groomer not drying his ears properly after the bath. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest PixieOfWrath Posted March 13, 2009 Share Posted March 13, 2009 I'm not a groomer obviously but I pluck my JRT and Miniature Schnauzer's ears and neither has ever had an ear problem. They also don't appear to really feel it when I do it anymore. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crisovar Posted March 13, 2009 Share Posted March 13, 2009 There are some dogs of the long haired breeds that don't seem to have too much problem with hair in their canals, but I do lots that grow huge clumps that fill the ear canals and usually come in with a disgusting waxy stinky dreadlock in the ear, if you don't remove that how are drops etc expected to get to where they need to go? Some of the DDs have shocking hair in the ears, as do many poodles, schnauzers and bichons that I see. So yep, I do pluck many of the ones I do, including my own dogs and they don't have any issues. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ellz Posted March 13, 2009 Share Posted March 13, 2009 You probably don't want my opinion but anyway.... I judge it on an individual basis. Some dogs (like some people) produce more ear gunk than others. If they are a particularly gunky dog that is likely to get clogged ears with hair and debris, then I clear them out as much as I can. However I don't use powder because I personally can't see that putting more debris in a filthy ear is healthy. If the ear is hairy but essentially clean, then I just clean externally and leave the ear hair where it is. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rappie Posted March 13, 2009 Share Posted March 13, 2009 For maintaining a normal ear - I'm in the no plucking camp. As Clyde mentioned, plucking the hair can aggravate the hair follicles and cause problems of it's own. Occasionally, in a dog with an ear infection I will recommend that we pluck the ears but it really depends on the ears. Sometimes it will be after a few days of treatment if the ears are really inflamed. Off the top of my head, in all of the ear infections I've seen in the last 5 months, I have only needed to pluck ears in two dogs. That said, I think clipping daggy bits of hair covered in ear gunge away from the base of the ear is a good idea. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dogsfevr Posted March 14, 2009 Share Posted March 14, 2009 Plucker here espevially in my breed.We have had many vets tell our puppy owners not to get the ears plucked so we leave them,then they ring complaining about an ear infection so we inform them to phone there vet barring in mind they will knock it out to pluck.Good little deal going there. We have plucked our dogs ears for over 25 years with no issues,done correctly with the right tools it doesnt hurt & is very easy,Ensuring all tools are sterilised correctly as well is a must Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rascalmyshadow Posted March 14, 2009 Share Posted March 14, 2009 After hearing no plucking was supposed to be better I tried a little experiment on my own dogs and stopped plucking them, 3 of the 4 ended up with ear infections something we rarely experienced while keeping them plucked. I also started to pay attention to the dogs that came in for grooming with ear infections, majority had a huge amount of hair in their ears. I now pluck any dogs ears that are really hairy but if it's only a small amount I leave it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lucylotto Posted March 14, 2009 Share Posted March 14, 2009 (edited) How do you pluck without causing pain and discomfort? I sent mine off to a groomer and said to pluck (they were pups) as I had been told it was essential (never had heard of it before) but they cane home looking pretty much the same as before going. My understanding that the hair is protection of the canal from water. Since both my dogs swim regularly I haven't persisted in finding someone to pluck (I'm not game) and so far so good. My past labs have always had ear trouble as they were swimmers too but no hair at all in ears. Edited March 14, 2009 by lucylotto Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vehs Posted March 14, 2009 Share Posted March 14, 2009 I pluck on an individual basis, especially on horrible gunky dogs On my regularly groomed dogs it's really just a matter of pinching the few hairs in the ear and if they come out great, if not I don't tend to worry. If a dog comes in and the owners have said nothing about the ears and they are really horribly inflamed, full of gunk and smelly then I leave them and say to take the dog to the vet so they can see the whole fiasco and recommend the proper treatment... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sheridan Posted March 14, 2009 Share Posted March 14, 2009 I use Thornit ear powder. I don't put the powder in the ear just lightly on my fingers. Thornit's expensive, though, for a wee tiny little bottle. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quirkyhound Posted March 14, 2009 Share Posted March 14, 2009 As a groomer I will clip a lot of hair away from the ear area, sides, below and underneath it so that air can circulate more freely. Experienced groomers will be able to do this for you without spoiling the look of the dog too much, just ask them. I will thin some of the hair out of the ear to let more air in, but I don't pluck 'clean' any longer like I was trained to do a million years ago. I decided that some hair in there has to keep bugs and things out to some degree and it's more natural to have a few hairs present. If I was presented with say an American Cocker or a Poodle who swam every day and had masses of hair in his ear canal, I would pluck some of it out so the ear can dry out more easily. If the dog was prone to fungal infections I would also suggest to the owner that we strip the ear leathers down with a 15 blade at least on the inside if the dog was going to constantly swim, just to facilitate drying. I think we have to keep in mind that these 'hairy eared ' breeds are 'man made' and might need some hair removal to bring the ears to a more 'natural' state. For the life of me I don't understand why groomers are constantly blamed for getting ears wet and 'causing' infections. If 'wet ears' alone was the cause then 'all of my dogs' should have ear infections 'all of the time.' How can 'water alone' be blamed? Sure if a dog had a solid plug of hair in it's ear and it got wet and couldn't' dry out, it would set up ideal conditions for fungal growth. Sure, water 'feeds' an existing fungal growth the moisture it needs to survive so care needs to be taken not to add to that but for people to blame 'water alone' seems bizarre. It's more the 'inability to dry out properly' that should be blamed rather than just the 'getting wet', that's why I am big on doing what ever it takes to make this possible so if that means plucking, I feel I have to do some out of common sense. Let's not mention neglect, the ears that are nearly packed solid with not only hair but crud and mites and bacterial infections as well as fungus. Dogs have the ability to violently shake their heads and the velocity alone usually empties the ear of any water sitting in there provided there isn't a mass of hair blocking the way out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sheridan Posted March 14, 2009 Share Posted March 14, 2009 For the life of me I don't understand why groomers are constantly blamed for getting ears wet and 'causing' infections. If 'wet ears' alone was the cause then 'all of my dogs' should have ear infections 'all of the time.' How can 'water alone' be blamed? Sure if a dog had a solid plug of hair in it's ear and it got wet and couldn't' dry out, it would set up ideal conditions for fungal growth. Sure, water 'feeds' an existing fungal growth the moisture it needs to survive so care needs to be taken not to add to that but for people to blame 'water alone' seems bizarre. It's more the 'inability to dry out properly' that should be blamed rather than just the 'getting wet', that's why I am big on doing what ever it takes to make this possible so if that means plucking, I feel I have to do some out of common sense.Let's not mention neglect, the ears that are nearly packed solid with not only hair but crud and mites and bacterial infections as well as fungus. Dogs have the ability to violently shake their heads and the velocity alone usually empties the ear of any water sitting in there provided there isn't a mass of hair blocking the way out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dogsfevr Posted March 14, 2009 Share Posted March 14, 2009 We had one of our breed in to be groomed whilst boarding.When i proceded to start the ears i was . The dogs ears hadnt been plucked for so long & the infection & crap was so bad we actually thought it had a stick stuck in there.Off to the vet who had to knock the dog out .Object removed & it was approx 4 cms long stick shaped & hard as rock .Had been there for ages & the owners had no clue. Sadly alot of owners have no clue about ear maintance or even check. We find many wash them out with epiotic & we personally find that stuff evil for ears Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jemappelle Posted March 14, 2009 Share Posted March 14, 2009 We find many wash them out with epiotic & we personally find that stuff evil for ears That's interesting as I have a cat with one ear that needs cleaning nearly weekly and I have been using Epi Otic. He was desexed recently and I got the vet to have a really good look in his ear while sedated and he said it was badly ulcerated Do you think that the Epi Otic may have caused that? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dogsfevr Posted March 14, 2009 Share Posted March 14, 2009 We find many wash them out with epiotic & we personally find that stuff evil for ears That's interesting as I have a cat with one ear that needs cleaning nearly weekly and I have been using Epi Otic. He was desexed recently and I got the vet to have a really good look in his ear while sedated and he said it was badly ulcerated Do you think that the Epi Otic may have caused that? We find it leaves it too moist .Ear cleaning products need to be drying ,our belief is epi otic is like putting water down. It is great for wound cleaning but in our belief crap on ears. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crisovar Posted March 14, 2009 Share Posted March 14, 2009 We had one of our breed in to be groomed whilst boarding.When i proceded to start the ears i was ;) .The dogs ears hadnt been plucked for so long & the infection & crap was so bad we actually thought it had a stick stuck in there.Off to the vet who had to knock the dog out .Object removed & it was approx 4 cms long stick shaped & hard as rock .Had been there for ages & the owners had no clue. Sadly alot of owners have no clue about ear maintance or even check. We find many wash them out with epiotic & we personally find that stuff evil for ears I see quite a few dogs with disgusting plugs of crap in the ears, I don't understand how anyone can not notice and act upon ears like that, but it appears they do. Poor bloody dogs. It is like the dogs that come into be groomed and the owners complain that they are limping, well, with toenails so overgrown and into the pads it is no wonder. Seriously if you are going to own a dog you need to learn how to do some simple things yourself. Ears, toenails and dosing with tablets it really isn't rocket science. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cashew Posted March 14, 2009 Share Posted March 14, 2009 I am in the "pluck" camp. A few weeks' worth of non-plucking will cause terrible infections. I don't usually flush the ear as suggested in the ear solution directions. I merely wet cotton balls with those solutions and give the ears a good wipe. I figured any gunk inside will be flicked out naturally and I just think that flushing ears with wet stuff makes it really uncomfortable. My boy has very hairy ear canals so prior to any plucking, I sprinkle on ear powder. I also tried corn starch once when I ran out of ear powder. Works fine...helps me grip the hair well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clyde Posted March 15, 2009 Author Share Posted March 15, 2009 Carol, Epiotic sucks! I have had so many new clients come to me with existing ear infections. I steer them away from Epiotic and the problems go away. It doesn't help that it says to pour it straight in to the dogs ear either ;) Back to the topic though, I've been in the 'semi pluck' camp for hairier breeds and no plucking for lighter breeds for some time now and no dogs have been struck down with infections. Quirkyhound I agree with a lot of your post! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nekhbet Posted March 15, 2009 Share Posted March 15, 2009 Ears, toenails and dosing with tablets it really isn't rocket science. no apparently it is ... some are completely clueless and others 'just cant bare it' and yes, even some people will cry. I've also seen a couple of groomers try and force an entire Drontal Chewable down a swf's throat so it goes both ways Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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