How to Safely Clean Your Dog's Ears at Home

Is it time to clean your dog's ears? Veterinarian Dr. Gabrielle Fadl explains why regular ear cleaning is important for preventing infections and odors, and walks you through the steps to keep your dog's ears healthy. Disclaimer alert: This information is just for educational purposes! Every pet is different, so always talk with your vet or trainer for specific advice on your pet's situation. We don’t accept any liability for any loss or injury that occurs as a result of watching videos on Kinship's channel. (Fyi: We also don’t accept any liability for extra training treats given…but we doubt your pet will mind.) (C) Kinship Partners, Inc. All rights reserved.

TRANSCRIPT

are you thinking about cleaning your dog's ears at home? let's talk about how to do so safely. I'm Dr. Gabrielle Fadl and this is Rory. so let's get into what you need to get started. I usually recommend a Veterinary recommended ear solution ideally with a drying agent in it some cotton rounds or cotton balls and a towel or blanket I would stay away from products like alcohol peroxide or human formulated products I've also seen a lot of people use vinegar which I would avoid the way I like to clean the ears is getting the solution and soaking your cotton ball or cotton round completely afterwards you'll lift the ear and I like to hold on to prevent them from shaking until you're all done I'll then take the entire cotton ball or tuck cotton round and put it directly into the ear feel free to push it all the way down in there still holding on I will gently massage the ear until you hear a squishing sound which means you're doing it right I will then remove that cotton ball and let go and let them shake and that's it for most dogs you'll want to do this maybe once a week or less frequently if they don't tend to get wax in their ears a lot of dogs might not enjoy getting their ears cleaned and it's best not to force it what you can do is use a lot of positive reinforcement even just touching the ears or massaging the ears you can reward with a treat and slowly make your way up to fully cleaning the ears so let's talk about why it's so important to keep their ears clean mostly it's to prevent infection this is especially important in dogs with floppy ears like Rory which can get quite dirty pretty quickly you also want to do this if your dog likes to swim or they're just prone to developing wax there are certain instances where you don't want to clean their ears at home for example if they're protesting a lot or you feel like you can't do so safely or if there's something stuck in their ear it's best to leave that to the professionals although this probably won't be your dog's favorite activity it'll help keep their ears healthy and infection free good luck thanks for watching and we'll see you next time