Natashja Posted April 11, 2006 Share Posted April 11, 2006 Chomsky, my 11.5 week old mini Poodle is currently being treated for a fungal infection in both ears. We're using Leo Ear Cleaner at the same time to help dry his poor little ears out. I know there are many schools of thought regarding ear plucking. If you are a supporter of it, how old does a Poodle have to be before it can be done? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
poodlefan Posted April 11, 2006 Share Posted April 11, 2006 Chomsky is old enough. Do a little every day and he will soon be accustomed to the process. How much wheat is in his diet. From anecdotal evidence, dogs fed wheat based kibble seem to have more chance of developing yeasty ear infections. Has he seen a vet. There are better ear drops than Leo for ear infections. Leo is really only about cleaning wax out of ears. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Natashja Posted April 11, 2006 Author Share Posted April 11, 2006 Chomsky is old enough. Do a little every day and he will soon be accustomed to the process.How much wheat is in his diet. From anecdotal evidence, dogs fed wheat based kibble seem to have more chance of developing yeasty ear infections. Has he seen a vet. There are better ear drops than Leo for ear infections. Leo is really only about cleaning wax out of ears. Chomsky is on a diet that includes Advantage rehydratable puppy kibble (mixed with canned Tuna and a teaspoon of natural sheep's yoghurt for breakfast), chicken mince patties (that include broccoli, carrot and cauliflower) chicken wings/necks, beef brisket. He saw a vet a week and a half ago and she put him on two-week course of Surolan. He gets drops in each ear twice a day as well as Leo Ear Cleaner once a day. While the treatment appears to be working, I'm just really concerned that he's going to have ear issues long term as he has very hairy ears. His breeder recommended that we pluck his ears; I just wanted to make sure that we didn't start too early. Thanks for the advice Poodlefan. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
poodlefan Posted April 11, 2006 Share Posted April 11, 2006 I'll take advice from the poodle breeders but my very hairy eared boy also has a very lovely thick coat... perhaps they go together. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Natashja Posted April 11, 2006 Author Share Posted April 11, 2006 I'll take advice from the poodle breeders but my very hairy eared boy also has a very lovely thick coat... perhaps they go together. Chomsky's puppy coat is super thick, so I guess we're going to look forward to a thick adult one too! do you pluck your boy's ears with your fingers or do you use tweezers? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
poodlefan Posted April 11, 2006 Share Posted April 11, 2006 I do as much as possible with fingers but do use tweezers to get the stuff that's deeper in the ear. I was using curved haemostats but I grabbed actual ear a couple of times so don't use them anymore. Tweezers seem to be more accurate for grabbing hair. I don't use Leo or anything else unless I can actually see build up. My vet said best to leave the ear as natural as possible unless there's a problem. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Natashja Posted April 11, 2006 Author Share Posted April 11, 2006 Thanks for that. I will start plucking him tonight. The vet and breeder both recommended that we use Leo whenever cleaning the ears in the future. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Poodle wrangler Posted April 11, 2006 Share Posted April 11, 2006 Is that Chomsky in your avatar? Poodles and other breeds with floppy ears are prone to ear infections as it's nice, dark, warm and moist in there. Plucking the hair out helps allow some more airflow. It's just part of routine poodle maintenance. Some like to use an ear powder (not sure what it's called) to make it a little easier to pull out the hairs. Like poodlefan, I use both fingers and tweezers. I also make sure there's not too much hair around the ear canal by clipping close from ear to nose. If you like a furry face look you can still get rid of alot of excess hair in front of the ears without it being too obvious. I find the hair plucking, clipping away from the ears and a weekly clean with ear cleaner and cotton wool keeps Oscar's ears just fine. He's 5 and has only had one mild yeast ear infection. He's got hairy ears a a thick coat, too! I'm babysitting a labradoodle who came to me with ears a litttle mucky and it's amazing what gentle cleaning and clipping extra hair away from the ear opening has achieved! He's got a finer coat (awful) and sparse ear hair. Best wishes for your new boy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Natashja Posted April 12, 2006 Author Share Posted April 12, 2006 Yes, that's Chomsky in my avatar. We love the furry face look so will have to consider how we're going to manage clipping around his ears in future. Last night my partner and I sat down with our boy and plucked his ears. Being a typical 11.5 week-old wriggly little beast he could scarcely keep still for more than 2 minutes at a time, so ear plucking wound up taking an hour to complete (We'd pluck for a few minutes, let him have a quick run around and then come back to us before doing some more)! Let me tell you, we could not believe the volume of hair he had growing in his ear canals - it was nearly a full hand of long hair in each ear!!!!! No wonder the poor little thing got a fungal infection We managed to pull a lot of hair out with our fingers but wound up having to use tweezers to get the stuff growing deep in the canal. He'd had enough by 10pm and we thought rather than risk hurting him, we'd try and get the rest later today. For what it's worth, he certainly seemed happier after it was done. Thanks so much for the benefit of your advice and experience guys. It's really appreciated. By the way, what do you feed your dogs? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zorro_007 Posted April 12, 2006 Share Posted April 12, 2006 (edited) He saw a vet a week and a half ago and she put him on two-week course of Surolan. He gets drops in each ear twice a day as well as Leo Ear Cleaner once a day. While the treatment appears to be working, I'm just really concerned that he's going to have ear issues long term as he has very hairy ears. His breeder recommended that we pluck his ears; I just wanted to make sure that we didn't start too early. I don't think that applying Leo Ear Cleaner once a day is a good idea IMO as that would negate the application of ear drops; you are literally just washing away the benefits that the ear drops are supplying.... with the Leo ear cleaner. The whole idea is to try and get rid of any infection that is present for the time being...shortly before applying the 2nd lot of drops for the day I would just clean the ear canal with some cotton balls and that's it. Leo ear cleaner IMO is only to be used when no infections are present or just before treatment is started to get rid of any excess muck. It's a good idea to start the plucking asap so as to accustom your pup otherwise if you leave it too late you are going to have a good old battle as he will not stay still for a single moment. I am an advocate of the BARF diet, not specifically referring to the ready made patties but a home made prepared diet of raw food. Edited April 12, 2006 by Zorro_007 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
poodlefan Posted April 12, 2006 Share Posted April 12, 2006 I feed a fully home prepared BARF diet (OK I cheat sometimes when we travel and feed a bit of 4 Legs) and basically keep it grain free. I've got three poodles and none of them have ever had a ear infection. I pluck the ears but don't use any cleaners unless an ear is particuarly waxy (and that's rarely). I think my bottle of Leo is about ready for carbon dating. My friend with a poodle that had big ear issues, removed grains from her dog's diet and voila! - no more infections. ;) Natashja: Yes, that's Chomsky in my avatar. We love the furry face look so will have to consider how we're going to manage clipping around his ears in future. You can always compromise and groom with for a "moustache". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Natashja Posted April 12, 2006 Author Share Posted April 12, 2006 Apologies for being ignorant, but where can I get more info/recipes for a home prepared BARF diet? A moustache? Chomsky is a Poodle, not a Schnauzer! I just might have to consider it though *sigh* Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
poodlefan Posted April 12, 2006 Share Posted April 12, 2006 Natashja, do a search in this forum and you'll find plenty of information on BARF including book recommendations. P posted my BARF mix recipie at one stage. Some European pet clips (particulary the Dutch clip) include a moustache - its very traditonal for poodles. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Natashja Posted April 12, 2006 Author Share Posted April 12, 2006 Thanks PF. Will do a search later today. Are there any Poodle specific BARF recommendations or is BARF the same for all breeds? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
poodlefan Posted April 12, 2006 Share Posted April 12, 2006 (edited) Natashja: Are there any Poodle specific BARF recommendations or is BARF the same for all breeds? Nope, same for all breeds. Although Lil my Toy Poodle reckons she should get the same size portions as FHR's Vizslas! ;) If you are interested, I'd strongly recommend you buy a couple of books. The Avonti Standard Poodle people in Adelaide have some good stuff on their website from memory. Grow Your Pups With Bones by Dr Ian Billinghurst is the bible for raising a pup on BARF. One of my guys doesn't tolerate lamb well, the other doesn't do well on beef - so sometimes a bit of tweaking is required. Chicken is the basis of what I feed. Necks are great for pups even with a kibble diet. Edited April 12, 2006 by poodlefan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WreckitWhippet Posted April 12, 2006 Share Posted April 12, 2006 I pluck the baby poodles ears from their first visit to the salon, usually at about your boys age. You can get specific powder for ear plucking ( i don't think it's worth it ), i just use a common old antiseptic power, just a small amount, it just helps absorb the wax and grease and get a good grip. As the others have said, just pluck a small amount at a time, have a gentle but firm hold of his head, by placing the hand that you are not using to pluck over the top of his head with, you thumb down near his jaw. This will give you some stability and as you pluck the hair his head will be pulled slightly towards the hand. It shouldn't hurt him, but there are some that will carry on a treat for you. I only ever use fingers, I know others that use tweezers etc, but when you are first starting out, you can do less damage and feel more confident with just your fingers. ;) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Poodle wrangler Posted April 12, 2006 Share Posted April 12, 2006 (edited) "Some European pet clips (particulary the Dutch clip) include a moustache - its very traditonal for poodles. ;)" Photo below is from the Shirlee Kalstone book, "Poodle clippping and grooming: The International reference". I find the shaved face, paws and base of tail very practical- Oscar spends time at the beach and outdoors, but I like to have him inside alot too- he's currently laying on bed with head on pillow. Typical poodle! Shaved feet mean very little dirt or sand left on paws to bring inside; shaved face means no hair for leftover food to stick to; shaved base of tail- well, no hair for poo to stick to. He's been to beach and park this morning and I've not brushed him, but no problems with sand or dirt inside! Great thing about poodles, though, is that you can clip them any way YOU like and experiment if you wish. A good groomer is a wonderful thing as you start out. Plenty of choices for a boy with a thick coat, too. He's lovely- I really like the brown colour. Edited April 12, 2006 by Poodle wrangler Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Natashja Posted April 12, 2006 Author Share Posted April 12, 2006 I have no issue with shaved feet and around the base of the tail, however, my boy simply HAS to have a full face of hair. I think we may just wind up trimming the hair at the entrance to the ear back a little more. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WreckitWhippet Posted April 12, 2006 Share Posted April 12, 2006 I have no issue with shaved feet and around the base of the tail, however, my boy simply HAS to have a full face of hair. I think we may just wind up trimming the hair at the entrance to the ear back a little more. It's quite interesting the number of people who start out insisting that their poodle must have all of its hair ( and that's your choice ;) as the owner ), I really love the look of any of the poodles with the feet face and tail clipped. I have found that once an owner has it done and sees how ;) the dog looks after the F/F/T being done, they love it. I'm not saying that you will change your mind but it might surprise you ;) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Natashja Posted April 12, 2006 Author Share Posted April 12, 2006 I grew up with neighbours who had the most beautifully natured Poodle. Gentle, intelligent and playful, he was a lot of fun to be around, but looked like a complete idiot with his face shaved, pom-poms and all the rest. Warley, I'm sure you've been right on many an occassion, but I'm never going to change my mind about a shaved face. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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