Serious ear chewing/eating own fur

[alex29sh]

Hi all,

My cocker (1 year old) has been chewing his own ears for quite some time now. He does not do it when he is alone at home, but once someone is around it appears that he does it on purpose. Trying to take his ear out of his mouth makes him quite agressive. He looks like hell now with a lot of fur  on his ears gone, and his ears being always wet etc.

It could be a behaviour problem or he could lack something in his food. He chews his ears and when I trim his fur he also likes eating his own fur. Is he lacking some kind of minerals?

Any suggestions and advice would be appreciated. Thanks.                    

[Silver Surfer (indiesnan)]

Hi  I,m sure someone more experienced  than me will be along
 soon   Have you tried distracting him, sounds like hes attention

seeking to me,especialy if he doesnt do it when your not there  ... Have you tried distracting him when sombody calls.
why not give him a kong or cube with food in, and see if that helps                    

[Shell]

Hi Alex - Bailey is about the same age as your pup and he loves to eat his own fur too (when we trim him or clean his brush) but we have not had a ear chewing episode as yet ... He is also about 1 year old.  

He does love to lick his own chest though for no apparent reason, sometimes for 15 mins non-stop!.

My opinion is that its a behavious thing as there is not real other reason in Bailes's case for him to be lickign his chest.  Maybe you could try to distrack your pup with a game or something to get his mind off it.  Has he/she got lots of toys ?

I hope some of the more experienced ownes can shed some light on this.  

Shell and Bailey                    

[Jane S]

I would think this obsessive ear chewing is almost certainly a behavioural problem & has nothing to do with anything missing in your dog's diet. It's normal for puppies & even adults to pick up bits of hair that's been trimmed off so that is nothing to worry about. Obsessive ear chewing however isn't normal. I would think you need to look at possible reasons why your dog does this - is he getting plenty of playtime & exercise during the day? Confinement to a crate for long hours for example could cause stress which results in coat/ear chewing. Without knowing more about your dog & his daily routine, it's a bit difficult to make suggestions but on a practical level, you could try spraying the hair on his ears with an anti-chew spray such as Bitter Apple. You could also perhaps provide some more mental stimulation for him, like a Buster Cube or stuffed Kong, as Indiesnan suggested & then perhaps consider getting involved in some form of training like agility or obedience, anything which will keep your dog's brain busy for a while                    

[Gilly]

Hi Alex,

I think 1st and foremost a good place to start would be to take your cocker to the vet (if you haven't already done so) to make sure that there are no underlying health issues, ie skin infection. Also i know that around my area (Scotland) Harvest Mite have been out in force this year  :- Buttons got them at 1st in between her toes and then on the ends of her ear lobes   Obviously most cockers do walk with their heads to the ground so it is worth checking that your pup hasn't picked something up.
As the others have said it could be a behavioural problem. Do you work full-time??? the reason I ask is that if he is attention seeking....even if it is negative attention he is receiving to him it is attention good or bad. I'm sure one of the more experienced members may be able to help you.

Gilly                    

[Mike]

I dont suppose when he eats his ears dip into his food? Maybe there's food residue which he is trying to get off - even if thats not the case now, perhaps that's how it might have started?? Difficult to know what the reason is, I'm afraid, so I think I'd try and focus on the prevention in a case like this - in addition to the above suggestion, perhaps you could try to prevent him from chewing his ears by buying something to keep his ears up (only to be worn when you are around) e.g. a snood, or maybe a scrunchy - just to see if this will break the habit?

Otherwise, in general, is he okay about having his ears touched/ stroked?                    

[Karen]

The only experience I have had like this was when I put my 2 in kennels for 2 weeks for the first (and last ) time last year - Blue came home with her leg all chewed up and raw and would not stop licking at it. The vet said it was caused by stress and boredom and there is a name for it but I can't remember it now
Seek professional advice now rather than later because if it is the same condition (may not be!!!) it is psychological and the behavior gets ingrained into the dogs mind, and it can be really hard to stop! It also is a form of getting your attention (in his little muddled mind)  ie you fuss and tell him to stop and that's partly what he's after as well! We had to put a head collar thing on Blue to stop her being able to chew for about a month and retrain her with interesting things to do to keep her mind busy. After about 6 weeks she'd completely stopped and has never done it again. good luck!! The good thing to tell yourself is apparently only very intelligent dogs do this as their minds need to be active all the time (not that I see chewing your own leg as clever but that's what it said when I looked it up on the internet!) If it will help I will look in Blue's records and then I can tell you the name of the condition - there were loads of web bits with advice and tips etc. HTH                      

[alex29sh]

Thank you all. I trimmed hair on his ears, and will do a bit more trimming this weekend after washing him.

It's true that he is very intelligent and very stuborn (he knows who is the boss, and knows when he is wrong). He knows that chewing ears is bad, but he still does it sometimes to see my reaction, and sometimes maybe cause he's bored or he had some stuff in his hair (it was quite long).  

He does have a lot of toys and although I work full time we play every day, go out mornings and evenings, and sometimes at lunch time as well and do all things around the house together. Day time I have my cleaning lady (she's been there from day one) looking after him and taking him out. He receives quite a lot of attention.

I will get a band to keep his ears up while I am at home for a while and will do some other things you all have suggested.

It's good to know that this habit has nothing to do with nutrition/diet. It could be a pain, but it is manageable.