The prevention of dog ear infections isn’t as bad as one might think. Most of the time, a well-kept dog hardly has any kind of infections. Keeping your dog groomed and bathed properly will keep any instance of infection from ever occurring. You should also make sure that your dog stays active and is fed the best possible diet you can give them. Keeping your dog fit and healthy is the key to keeping their ears from becoming infected. You should also keep the hair trimmed if you have a breed that has long floppy ears.
With dogs that have long ears, prevention of dog ear infections may seem to be a bit more than with dogs that have small, upright ears. The fact that their ears hang down, and thus get a lack of air flow, may make you think you have to regularly clean their ears. This is not really the case. For the most part, dogs with long ears that hang down don’t usually get too much ear wax build up. When they do, however, you should take them into a groomer or vet to have the buildup removed.
Other ways of prevention of dog ear infections is to make sure their ears are completely dry after you bathe them. If there is still water sitting in the interior of your dog’s ears, it can cause bacteria to thrive and create an infection. Although this isn’t the only way an ear infection can happen in dogs, it is by far easier to prevent this kind than some of the more rare versions. Making sure your dog stays mite and flea free is another great way of keeping the risk of ear infections to a minimum, and it doesn’t take much time to do that.
You can buy mite and flea powders, sprays, and drops from your vet and apply them as directed after you have given your dog a bath. Make sure that your dog is completely dry before using any of these products so that you can get the full benefit from them. By keeping mites and fleas out of your dog’s ears, you are reducing the risk of ear infections drastically. This will not only have you feeling better about your dog, but your dog will love you even more as it’s not getting eaten alive by those pesky little bugs.
You should also keep foreign objects from getting lodged into your dog’s ears. If you have small children that love to play with your dog’s ears, you should be aware that they can inadvertently stick small objects in them and cause them to get an infection. Let your children know that this will hurt their dog and that it shouldn’t be done. This will help keep your dog from getting an ear infection and causing it unneeded pain and suffering.