Floppy Ears

[kbo]

Does anyone know of a headband or tie that can be used to hold floppy poodle ears up?

I pluck them every month but my boy is still prone to ear infections (especially at this time of year). I was thinking if I could find something made to hold his ears up, I could use this occasionally to let the air circulate underneath.

My vet advised tying a hair ribbon on the longer hairs on top of his ears to give them a little lift but I was wondering if there are any custom made bands out there for this purpose.

Have just spent 30 mins googling ear bands / poodle ear ties but I have no idea if they even exist or what they would be called!

[poodlefan]

Why don't you shave them or shorten them? The risk of any kind of long term banding is that the ear will be caught in the band and lose circulation. Do that for long enough and the dog will lose part of its ear.

Poodles still look great with shaved ears. My two boys have them.

If you really want to hold them back, I'd be using a lightweight cotton snood.

Edited January 7, 2009 by poodlefan

[ellz]

Short of using a banana clip or something similar on the top of the head, shaving them closely inside and keeping the hair on the sides of the face as short as possible and using a snood, I can't think of anything that doesn't require surgery.

If you did use a snood, lightweight cotton as suggested, or alternatively, basketball mesh fabric or even a loosely crocheted snood would allow maximum airflow but still wouldn't be ideal.

Long term, I'd be investigating diet. Improper diet can increase the occurrence of ear infections.

You could also try the Blue Power wash for cleaning and maintaining the ear between plucks.

[Dogsfevr]

Floppy ear doesnt equate to ear infections.

I have owned breeds with folded ears for ever & never get ear issues & rarely wash them out.

Agree with Ellz,consider your diet & also make sure you understand the actual infection.

Does your dog swim.when you wash do you get water done there.

Do you disinfect your ear pluckers??

[kbo]

Thank you for your responses.

My boy has been on a raw food diet since 8 weeks old - over the past 18 months I have gradually switched over from Pitcairn's suggested diet (which includes grain) to VAN (some grain) and now a Raw Meaty Bones model (no grain).

His diet now consists of majority RMBs, with a small percentage of offal and other raw meat, no more than 10% raw veges (eg broccoli, cauliflower, buk choy, carrots, zucchini, cucumber, parsley) and 3 raw eggs per week. He has a teaspoon of natural yoghurt in the evenings and tiny amounts of Ziwi Peak 'Good Dog' treats and dried beef liver as snacks.

His ears flare up approx every 4 months and he has required vet treatment 3 times (in 18 months). The vet diagnosed Malassezia (yeast). The other times I have used Malaseb solution diluted as a flush at the first sign of gunk or smell and this has worked well, but I am reluctant to continue with chemicals.

He has only been on the RMB diet for the past month so I am hoping in time the elimination of grains will make a difference.

My groomer clips under his ears and along his cheeks and I also trim the hair on and around his ears. I usually don't wet his head at all when bathing him, but not sure of the groomer.

In the past when plucking his ears I have sterilized the tweezers with tea tree oil.

I'm not sure what else to try! I am reluctant to put anything in his ears when they are clear as I think I should just leave them alone when there is no problem with them, but now I wonder if I should be using some kind of preventative treatment on a regular basis.

[Dogsfevr]

When it flares up are his back feet yeasty??

The reason i ask is often dogs will scratch there ears ,the feet then end up with bugs so whilst treating the ears it is passed back & forth via the feet.