Musty ear hair

[tritonx]

Poor Fraser's ears practically never get dry as every time he goes outside, they get soaked in the wet grass. I try to towel them to damp dry, but it doesn't work that well. Now one of his ears smells like musty tent. It's not in the ear, but the hair at the bottom. He needs to have his ears plasticized, I think. Anyway, anyone else having this problem and is there some well known remedy that I haven't heard of yet?

[elaine.e]

Are there any matts in the hair at the bottom of his ears? It's one of the easiest places for matts, food debris and all sorts of rubbish to gather.

I clip the hair off the inside of William's ear flaps to help keep them clean. Doing that also thins the feathering at the bottom of the ear so there's less chance of dirt and matting. I also gently wash the bottoms of the ears with a mild dog shampoo every couple of weeks or so and make sure they're tangle free in between times.

[Joules]

I clip the hair off the inside of William's ear flaps to help keep them clean. Doing that also thins the feathering at the bottom of the ear so there's less chance of dirt and matting. I also gently wash the bottoms of the ears with a mild dog shampoo every couple of weeks or so and make sure they're tangle free in between times.  

Same here - I keep the hair round the bottom of Coco's ears very short and clip under the flaps to limit the amount of gunk she can collect in them    Otherwise, I find they can get a bit crusty  

[Helen]

when they smell I wash with a tea tree shampoo for dogs, dry, and rub thornits powder into the tips 

[tritonx]

He's been surprisingly mat free so far, but then I took him in for his first grooming at 6 months and he was shorn down to the wood and his coat is just getting back to where it was. He's looking very curly sheep right now. I think I'll have to try trimming his ears at the ends. They don't get food in the hair or debris, but they are constantly damp. I've been trying to find a source for Thornit powder. It must be in Canada as it's so often mentioned in the doggie world. I also saw a recipe which the poster said you could get a pharmacist to make up, but I haven't done anything about it as I don't want to apply something I found on the net in case it does him harm. The recipe is

4 oz. zinc oxide powder
4 oz. boric acid powder
1/2 oz. Iodoform powder

Does that sounda about right?

[Joules]

You can buy Thornit on e-bay    I am sure they will be happy to post it to Canada 

http://shop.ebay.co.uk/?_from=R40&_trksid=p3907.m38.l1313&_nkw=thornit&_sacat=See-All-Categories

You only need a small bottle as it will last for ages - my first one lasted about 4 years  

[bracken]

I use Thornits in the ear just a tiny sprinkling about once a month  My 4 cockers have the ends of their ears washed about every 3 weeks depending on how wet its been. I use a jug to dip the ear in, shampoo, then rince and hair dry 

[loppylugs]

I have show cockers and have the same trouble,the hair is so thick at the bottom it never really dries properly so i have to blow dry the ears to get to the roots,as this is very time consuming i put snoods on them now,dont have to worry then,why dont you try a snood.

[tritonx]

I had to google snood and saw many doggies looking winsome in their head gear. This is the land of lumberjacks and seiner men where dogs are tough and women are double breasted. Sorry. Got carried away. I live in a suburb which admittedly is cheek by jowl with the great outdoors where bears, cougars and elk roam. Anyway, can't quite picture Fraser prancing along in a snood. Maybe if they had more...um, macho fabrics...a few skulls and crossbones, monster trucks, flaming wheels. Still, if his ears get any funkier, I'll be slipping a snood over his snout regardless of the strange looks he might get.  Maybe I could clothes pin his ears back over his neck. 

[bluegirl]

You could get a pair of thinning scissors and thin out the fur on the ends of his ears as it sounds like it is so thick atm that it doesn't get chance to dry out. Thinning should help.

[tritonx]

Hair thinning sounds a good idea. I'm looking for a groomer to give him a proper EC groom (the first was a disaster) and will get the ears addressed.