Why Ear Care Matters More Than You Think

When most people think of dog grooming, they picture baths, haircuts, and nails. But one of the most important (and often overlooked) parts of grooming is ear care. Neglected ears can lead to infections, pain, and long-term issues — especially in dogs that swim, get regular baths, or have those cute floppy ears.

Why Cleaning Matters

After swimming or even a routine bath, moisture can get trapped inside the ear canal. For many dogs, especially those with heavy ear flaps, this creates the perfect breeding ground for bacteria and yeast. A quick clean and dry makes all the difference in preventing infections.

For curly-coated breeds like poodles, oodles, and doodles, there’s another challenge: ear hair. The fluffy hair that grows inside the canal can trap dirt and moisture, reducing airflow and making infections more likely. In these cases, gentle ear plucking should be a part of keeping ears healthy and comfortable.

👉 Bottom line: healthy ears = happy dogs. 🐾

If you're dog/s are already on a regular schedule with us, we are already looking after their ear care for you and will have discussed any problems and potential homes steps needed. If your dog is groomed less frequently or is only washed at home, check out the following steps to keeping your dogs ears clean at home.

What We Use in the Salon

When it comes to general ear cleaning for most dogs, we trust and use Virbac Epiotic. 👉 We’re not affiliated with the brand at all — It’s just safe, gentle, and effective.

Here’s how we use it:

1. Instead of pouring directly into the ear, we drench a cotton ball with the solution.

2. We wipe the inside of the ear leather with that cotton ball, while still gently squeezing a little solution into the canal.

3. Your dog will usually give a good head shake (stand back — it can get messy!).

4. Finally, we use dry cotton balls to wipe away any gunk and excess solution.

   
   

This method keeps ears fresh, clean, and free of build-up, without having to completely flush out the ear.

For Dogs Prone to Ear Infections

If you’ve got a poodle, oodle, or a dog who seems to constantly battle ear problems, you know how frustrating it can be. For those dogs, we’ve found a product that’s been a game-changer: Lisa Leady K-9 Miracle Ear Elixir.

👉 Again, we’re not affiliated with the brand at all — we just love it and don't use anything else on our personal dogs.

Since discovering it, we’ve cleared up long-term ear problems in our own poodles and helped many of our clients do the same.

• It can be used as a flush (just follow the directions on the bottle).

• Or, for a surface clean, we soak a cotton ball and use it to wipe wax from the ear just like the method above.

• Heads up: it does stain, so be quick to wipe away any spills.

  
  

A Note of Caution

Ear infections are no joke. If your dog has ongoing or chronic ear issues, always consult your vet. Products like the ones we use can help, but they don’t replace proper veterinary care.

✨ Keep those ears clean, dry, and cared for — your dog will thank you with fewer head shakes, less scratching, and more tail wags.