Spaniel Ear Cleaning

How to groom and look after your dogs ears.

Spaniels have big ears - long big ears !

They also have two unpleasant habits -

1 they will dash into any undergrowth in puruit of a smell - any smell !

  when they get back their ears will be full of earth,twigs,thistles,seed and anything else they have brushed against.

2 this is unpleasant - A spaniel has been bred for many generations as a hunting dog.To a spaniel the prime imperative is to catch its prey.

One of the best ways to do this is to disguie your smell.

So .. spaniels LOVE to roll in the smelliest nasties things they can find on the theory that at least they do not smell of spaniels !

These are usually poo based or parts of dead animals - the smeller the better !

They can't help it - its in their genes...

The end result is that we have to shampoo their ears.

You can either choose a shampoo designed for dogs (best) or a very gentle shampoo for babies (human) andwhen wearing gloves you gently massage the shampoo into the fur - try not to get any down the ear itself or you may start up an infection.

With Lukewarm water gently bathe the fur with cotton wool and using a soft towel, rub gently until it is dry.

I do not use a hair dryer (although I have seen many groomers doing this)

It frightens the dog and may be too hot and uncmfortable.

Thanks to eHow for the video