How To

How to Pluck a Dog's Ear Hair

By eHow Pets Editor

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In long-haired dog breeds, the hair inside of the ear canal can come become very long. Excess ear canal hair can cause ear infections, leading to terrible discomfort for your dog. Follow these steps if you want to pluck a dog's ear hair.

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

Step 1

Lift up the dog's ear and check to see if he has a lot of hair in it. If you notice any redness or swelling, don't pluck the hair. Redness and swelling could be signs of an infection, and if you pluck the hair and clean his ears, you could remove signs of infection.
Step 2

Sprinkle ear powder in the dog's ear canal. The powder will absorb the moisture in the ears and make the hair easier to remove. Go sparingly with the ear powder, as a small amount on the ear hair is sufficient.
Step 3

Grasp a small amount of ear hair at a time and pull it out. Plucking a few hairs at a time will prevent discomfort and help to keep the ears from getting irritated.
Step 4

Repeat Step 3 until both ears are free of hair. Clean both ears with a dog ear cleaner to remove any waxy buildup.
Step 5

Pluck the dog's ear hair every month. Plucking too often can cause irritation in your dog's ears and lead to an infection.

Tips & Warnings

If you notice any signs of an ear infection, take your dog to his veterinarian. Ear infections can cause terrible pain and eventually lead to deafness.
If your dog is prone to ear infections, it can be helpful to shave the inside of the ear flap to help air circulate in the ear. It will also keep the hair inside of the ears free of drainage.

Comments

aliciabrillante said

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on 6/13/2009 I don't think that it hurts in the same way as it might hurt us. My dog is very vocal about pain and he lets me pluck the hairs. When something hurts him he will start to whimper and jump and then squirm away but like I said, he lets me pluck them. It's really important to keep their ears free of hair in order to maintain cleanliness and decrease their chances of getting an ear infection. (One thing that is standard but that I don't agree with is cutting their nails with clippers. That does hurt so filing is better.) good luck

PuppyDog said

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on 4/30/2008 I know this is the standard method for removing hair but I would bet that any amount of hair you pull from a dog's ears will hurt. Therefore, I don't subscribe to this method and am looking for something better and less stressful to the dog. Before I do anything like this to my dog I ask myself if I would like the same done to me. In this case the answer is a resounding "NO".