Labrador Retriever Dogs Blog

Dog Ear infections are quite common as this condition affects about 20% of our dogs either regularly or sporadically, and these infections can affect the outer part of the ear, known as the canal, the middle of the ear, or the inner most part of the ear.

The term most used to describe the inflammation of the outer ear is otitis externa.

These infections can be chronic conditions that linger on, especially external ear infections, or the can happen very suddenly.
 
Both of these conditions can cause damage to ear canal lining, which will than produce excessive amounts of ear wax in your dog ears, which in turn will then cause thickening of the lining, and finally results in the ear canal becoming scarred.
 
In the worst of scenarios of these ear infections, once calcification of the ear canal happens, the only resolution will be to have it corrected by ear surgery.
 
These infections can make your pet fell down right miserable.
 
It hurts.
 
Some of the signs of infections that your dog show is they will start to shake their head a lot as they are actually trying to get the debris and fluid out. They will constantly scratch their ears, and the ears will become inflamed and start to produce an offensive odor from the bacteria build up.
 
These infections also will cause a discharge in the ear of fluid and even a puss like discharge, and because of the constant pain your pet is in, their behavior will change and they may start to whine, become irritable, and  may actually become depressed as well.
 
So what actually causes these infections and what is the biggest cause?
 
Although parasites can sometimes be the cause of these infections such as ear mites, ear mites are very rare in dogs but are the number one cause of cat’s ear infections. Bacteria and yeast cells, as well as foreign organisms that get into your dogs ears are the top causes of these infections.
 
Yeast infection will be caused by a build of ear wax in your dog, while foreign substances can enter into your dogs ears by swimming, rolling on the grass that may be infected with a bacteria (or parasite), and finally too much ear cleaning of your dogs ears can actually put the ears at risk for infection.
 
Humid climates also make a fertile breeding ground for these infections.

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It was a mild Saturday in January and my dog Cooper and I were off to our weekly outdoor training course. The training took place on a high school football field which was located near a river that flows through the middle of our city. Of course, as any of you know keeping a Labrador retriever dog out of the water even in January is a hard thing to do.  As with every Saturday over an eight week period I fished Cooper out and dried him off.

A week or so after the last training course was finished I noticed that Cooper was scratching his left ear constantly. It looked like he was very uncomfortable. When examining his ear we noticed that there was allot of "brown gunk" inside it and the smell coming from it was terrible. We took Cooper to the Vet for a check up and she confirmed that he had an ear infection. It was obvious that the infection had come from the water that he was swimming in every Saturday. We purchased a bottle of a commercial brand solution which was to clear his ear infection up.

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Don't compromise the health of your dog's ear. Take the time to maintain a regular hygiene for your canine's auditory facility, much like the way you keep your ears free from moisture and emptied from the buildup of earwax. It's something you and your pet should go through regularly; otherwise, you both will have to endure an unlikely romance with dog ear infection, which involves a regular stink coming out of your pet's ear that would leave the canine scratching or shaking its head. When complications strike, you might just find your pet losing its sense of balance while sporting an unusual tilt to its head or maneuvering odd eye movements. While your dog is still on the healthy side, you may just want to make an ear cleaning regimen part of its regular grooming habit. Read the rest of this entry »

It was a mild Saturday in January and my dog Cooper and I were off to our weekly outdoor training course. The training took place on a high school football field which was located near a river that flows through the middle of our city. Of course, as any of you know keeping a Labrador retriever dog out of the water even in January is a hard thing to do.  As with every Saturday over an eight week period I fished Cooper out and dried him off. A week or so after the last training course was finished I noticed that Cooper was scratching his left ear constantly. It looked like he was very uncomfortable. When examining his ear we noticed that there was allot of "brown gunk" inside it and the smell coming from it was terrible. We took Cooper to the Vet for a check up and she confirmed that he had an ear infection. It was obvious that the infection had come from the water that he was swimming in every Saturday. We purchased a bottle of a commercial brand solution which was to clear his ear infection up. Cooper's ear infection never got better though. We continued to use the solution and even bought a second bottle in our fight against it. Read the rest of this entry »