Dog Ear Cleaning

Sadly there is one area of doggie health care that many people overlook until it is too late, and that is cleaning the ears. While you can always wait until you take your dog in to the veterinarians for their annual checkup, why put your pet at risk like that? Simply do a monthly cleaning and you should find that you have very little problems with your pet. Dog ear cleaning is remarkably easy as long as you follow these simple directions.

Materials needed:

• Cotton balls
• Rubber gloves
• Veterinarian approved ear cleaner
• Small enclosed space
• A good strong friend
• Treats

Procedure:

1. Gather your supplies. Before you can begin you need to gather together all your supplies in one location. Frankly dogs really don't like to get their ears cleaned, and will do whatever they can to get away. By having all your items in one location, and doing the work in a small enclosed location (such as a bathroom) you will have a better chance of getting the work completed as you would like. Just make sure that you also talk with your veterinarian to ensure that you use the right kind of cleaner, or you could end up unintentionally hurting your dog.
2. Get help. Dog's really don't like to get their ears cleaned, and I don't think that this can be mentioned enough, or stated more clearly. This means that they will be wriggling, squirming, and otherwise trying to get away as much as possible. Get a friend to help you by holding the dog in place, along with their head, and it should go a lot easier. Be careful that your friend doesn't squeeze to hard on the dog though.
3. Start on from the outside. Put on your rubber gloves (which are really helpful in protecting your dog's ears) and get a cotton ball nice and wet with the cleaner. Unlike what you do when cleaning most things, this time you will begin working from the outside in.
4. Slowly work your way in. As you clean an area of the ear, work your way inside. You will need to use more than one cotton ball to get this done though. Don't hurry to fast on getting the job done, or you may end up missing something, but don't take too long either since the dog will really not like to have the ears cleaned.
5. Be careful. As you do your cleaning be as gentle as possible, It is entirely too easy to hurt your dog if you aren't careful. This means that you don't try to force your way into "tight" places of the ear, and that you don't hold onto the ear too firmly.