# Shadow's ears



## Dilligas (Jun 17, 2005)

For some time now, Shadow's ears have smelled really, really bad. I didn't think much of this, because hey, dogs have an odor to them, right, and this is probably just part of it. Then recently, he's started itching his ears, almost trying to dig inside them, then worrying and licking the paw he used to scratch.

So ... from the first-time dog owner, is this normal? Does this mean he might have something wrong with his ears? It's certainly not bothering him all the time or slowing him down any, that's for sure.

All is appreciated, thanks


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## RickGibbs (Dec 16, 2005)

What do his ears look like inside? I'd start with that.

We haven't had any ear issues yet, so besides that, I wouldn't know what to do. I think if Samson had those issues, I'd just take him into the vet in case he had an ear infection.

Rick


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## Dilligas (Jun 17, 2005)

Yeesh, I dunno...

They look normal to me. They're not red or irritated, and there's not a huge amount of gunk or anything readily visible.

Of course, remember that I don't know what I'm looking for


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## RickGibbs (Dec 16, 2005)

What about water....? Has he been in water lately? I'm sure you'll get more responses in the morning.... I'm just tossing out ideas...

Rick


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## Lexie's Mom (Dec 14, 2005)

Smelly ears are definately a sign of an ear infection. :yuck: You may want to consider a vets visit to check this out and get some medication to be sure. I think infections are common with this breed. Maybe someone else will have an idea but I think it's an infection. Good luck.


Lisa


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## mblondetoo (Jan 9, 2006)

I think taking him to the vet would be the best idea. Then you could indentify exactly what the problem is and treat it properly. Then in the future you will have learned what to look for. Ask questions while at the vets.

Our problems have been ear mites but usually with black crud and no odor.


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## MegB (Jul 19, 2005)

My friend has a black lab whose ears get infected from time to time. She said she can tell because the smell is horrible. I think some dogs are just more prone to it.

The vet gives you some drops for the ears--depending on what sort of infection it is. Also, he can give you some advice for cleaning the ears to lessen the chance of another infection.

Good luck, keep us posted!


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## monomer (Apr 21, 2005)

Get an ear cleaner and squirt some into his ear...

Okay, actually... warm it to at least body temp and instill enough to just over-flowing... make sure Shadow's head is level and stays level thoughout... now massage the ear canal (put your knuckle just below the ear opening and rotate it) until you hear some 'squishing' sounds inside, then continue the massage for at least 30-seconds more... now quick step back while Shadow's shakes his head and everything in his ears go flying out. Finally wipe all the folds in his ears out with a soft cotton cloth before the cleaner has completely dried and look to see what you got... if its a bunch of reddish gunk, it's either an ear infection or soon to be one. 'Normal' ears should not stink! Ears can have mites (looks for specks of black and red) but most often its either yeast, bacteria, or fungus over-growth (these things feed off of excess wax production... and irritated ears respond by over-producing wax). Once established these can be hard to eliminate and if over-the-counter medications don't do the job (there are so many resistant strains anymore) you need to have a vet do up a culture and identify the specific culprit and test for its susceptibility to various medications. But the bottomline here is if Shadow has chronically 'dirty' ears, you need to find the source of the problem. By far most often the source of the irritation is an allergen and often its food related... it was with Sidney, and after an extensive food trial we definitely determined it was fish. So fish is now the only food he canNOT have. His ears have been doing great ever since.

Good Luck with Shadow...

BTW, Zymox is an especially safe and effective ear medication (its purely enzymatic made from just milk-derived proteins and thus they claim bacteria/ yeast/ fungus can never build an immunity to an enzyme) and there is also a Zymox cleaner that they say will not de-activate the enzymes in the medication... I highly recommend it... do a search on it and read why. However don't 'buy' into the 'fix' that says you must clean your dog's ears at least once a week for the rest of his life... that's 'bulloney', find the source of the irritation and eliminate it.


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## LauraEyes2 (Sep 16, 2005)

If they seem extremely bothersome i'd pay a visit to the vet's office. It could be either an ear infection or possibly ear mites. Since you don't see anything, it's probably deep in the ear canal, so while it's not apparent to you, it's probably driving Shadow nuts. Dogs can get infections due to yeast (yes, yeast infections in their ears), as well as bacterial causes. You vet will probably want to swab the ear to determine the cause in order to provide the proper treatment.

As for cleaning, yes that may remedy the problem, however keep in mind that excessive cleaning can make them more prone to future ear infections. Excessive cleaning can alter the ear's natural chemistry and healthy bacteria, which can make it easier for them to be infected as a result. I wouldn't clean my dogs ears more than once every week or 2, as needed. If it seems like there's an recurring odor and/or discharge present, there could very likely be a medical cause (infection, mites, food allergy, etc) that may be playing into role. 


Laura


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## 3 goldens (Sep 30, 2005)

One morning, just about 9 months or so after I lost Hunter, I was fixing breakfast for the Buck, KayCee and Honey. I say fix because in the morning they get dry kibble with the canned food 'meatballs' with their sups in them. I put Buck's pan outside (h is a rel slob--oikes to take mouths of food, spit them out on floor and eat from floor), then put KayCee's in her spot and Honey's her spot. KayCee went to get up and dumped over forward and to the left. Her head started jerking to the left, almost like a tic. She tried to get up again, and dumped forward and to left again. Need I say I was terrified. I called her and she managed to get up, but when she walked, she kind of staggered to the left. I tore down the hall and she followed, bumping into the wall on the left side, and then deumped forward again at the bedroom door.

I just had on my gown and I threw an old muumuu house dress on over it. I had long hair at the time and pulled it up into a pony tail on top of my head at night. I didn't even bother doing anything with it--hair was coming out and I am sure I looked quite the witch with my wild hair, that big blowing dress over my gown.

I got her and she was walkimg some better and got her to the car and drove the mile to my vet's. I took KayCee in, tears streaming and said 'I think she had a siezure. " I believe they were more worried about me than about KayCee. But all i could think of was that it had been just a few months since I lost Hunter, i couldn't take losing another one.

BUT as i described all her movements to my vet, (he said I did a great job of paying attention to details) he looked less concered and first thing he did was look in her left ear. Her ear was not red, she had not been scratching, etc. BUT she had an inner ear infection and it had caused her to have a "vertigo episode". I had never heard of such a thing. He put stuff in her ear and also gave her a shot and sent drops home with me to put in her ear, and it has never happened again. I can tell you I was so terrified of losing my little girl.


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## Dilligas (Jun 17, 2005)

Interesting. I'll run over to the vet's and see what they say soon, and let you know.

Thanks!


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## monomer (Apr 21, 2005)

3 goldens said:


> ...BUT she had an inner ear infection and it had caused her to have a "vertigo episode". I had never heard of such a thing...


But I'm sure you've heard of the middle ear... its that part of both humans' and dogs' anatomy used to give us balance...

Dilligas, a trip to the vet is a real good idea... just don't let anyone tell you that 'dirty ears' are normal, cause it ain't... there is always an underlying cause and you need to address the cause before the ear infection problem can be solved permanently... and don't resort to corticosteroids unless its absolutely necessary.

Good Luck...


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## shaneamber (Apr 20, 2005)

Hey Dilligas,get ye to the VET. He has an ear infection. Fix it now before it gets real bad.Any smell other than normal dog,is the beginning of a problem.
I've been down this road before.
Shane


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## MegB (Jul 19, 2005)

Dilligas, how are Shadow's ears?


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## jeffreyzone (Feb 8, 2006)

*Regarding inner-ear infections and allergies*

Wow, you've described a situation that my sister-in-law just experienced with her 14-year-old English Setter. She thought the dog was having a stroke, but it turned out to be the inner-ear infection. After a round of antibiotics, the Setter is doing great.

And Laura mentioned the allergies. She is right; my Golden suffers from several food allergies, but the real problem for her is mold from decaying leaves. We are constantly working with her ears due to this. Now, she is wearing boots for every venture outdoors, and I wash her face with a very light antiseptic after we return from a long walk in the woods. She is doing better. For us, it was worth the money to have the allergy testing done; we had no clue about the leaf mold.

Hey, this is my first post, and I love this forum!


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## RickGibbs (Dec 16, 2005)

jeffreyzone said:


> Hey, this is my first post, and I love this forum!


Welcome, Jeffrey...


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## monomer (Apr 21, 2005)

jeffreyzone said:


> ...Hey, this is my first post, and I love this forum!


Yeah Jeffery... Hi there... Your dog sure is colorful! Is it a Rainbow Retriever?


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## jeffreyzone (Feb 8, 2006)

Hi there! Actually, the photo is a heavily modified image of my dog named Barrington. In some circles (our small pack), he is known as a Triple-Coated Arctic Retriever, a breed so extremely rare that they were thought to have never been discovered. In polite society, Barrington is known as an American Eskimo/Labrador Retriever mix. He was rescued from the Gwinnett County, Georgia animal shelter in 2001. 

His packmate is Dottie, a Golden Retriever who was found running loose in Fort Worth, Texas. All attempts to locate the owners failed, so she came to live with us. I need to post a photo of her. I did put one up on the Member Map page. Like a typical Golden, she is a joy.

Thanks for the welcome!


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## Dilligas (Jun 17, 2005)

MegB said:


> Dilligas, how are Shadow's ears?


Arg, I meant to post this last night but fell sleep too soon! Sorry  

We had our vet appointment yesterday and it's definitely a yeast-type thing. I have an ear cleaning liquid that I'm supposed to use every other dya starting tomorrow, and an antifungal gel/cream/liquid that I'm using twice a day for five days, then once a day for five days. 

Hopefully this will kill all that nasty gunk!

Oh, and welcome Jeffrey


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## mojosmum (May 20, 2005)

Dilligas - glad you took Shadow to the vet. He'll feel so much better once the meds start to work and he'll also be SOOOOOOOOOOOO much more pleasant to have around you....no more yucky smell.


Welcome Jeffrey and your dog of many colours. Always nice to have a rainbow dog on the board :lol: Where are you all from? Why don't you pop up to Introductions to give us the "scoop".


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## shaneamber (Apr 20, 2005)

Dilligas,I'm glad that you saw the vet and that everything will be OK.
Shane


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## shaneamber (Apr 20, 2005)

Welcome to the family Jeffrey,Barrington and Dottie. We look forward to getting to know you and your family.
My wife Lee and I,with our 4 "kids" live in Warner Robins.We're about 90 miles south of the Atlanta airport. We have friends that belong to Adopt Atlanta, Golden Retriever Rescue. GReat group there.
We love to look at photos,so post them when you get some.Have you checked out the Photo Gallery yet.Some really GReat photos there.
Again,Welcome home,
Shane & Lee


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## jeffreyzone (Feb 8, 2006)

Will do! I'll run up to Introductions now. Thanks!

-Jeffrey


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