ears

Discussion dedicated to promoting the well-being of your dog through diet, exercise and general health tips.

Moderators: emmabeth, BoardHost

Post Reply
susiesnoopy
Posts: 2
Joined: Sat May 22, 2010 7:30 pm

ears

Post by susiesnoopy »

I have a shar pei who tries to bite me evertime i try to put ear drops in, i have tried a muzzle and everything else i can think of to stop her biting me, she is so aggresive, she eventually ends up at the vet having to have them syringed, but it took 2 vets and a nurse to hold her down as she wont let anyone near he ears, can anyone help me pleae
Fundog
Posts: 3874
Joined: Wed Dec 03, 2008 8:31 am
Location: A little gambling town in the high desert

Re: ears

Post by Fundog »

You may have to fore go the actual cleaning/administering of the drops for a couple of weeks, while you desensitize and make putting drops in an at-least-bearable procedure, since I seriously doubt if she will ever learn to "love" having drops in.

Step 1: You say she will not let anyone near her ears at all-- does that include merely stroking/petting/massaging her ears? Most dogs love that. So this is a good place to start, since massaging the ears frequently is a vital method of working the debris out of the ears and preventing infections, even more than flushing with drops. You will need to have a cup full of highly delectable, tasty, delicious, absolutely will do backflips for this kind of treat. When you are just sitting together, comfortably relaxing, try gently caressing and stroking her ears while feeding her yummy things to eat. Do this every day for a week before even thinking about starting the next step.

Step 2: Make sure you have the extremely tasty, delectable, absolutely favoritest treat in your hand. Show doggy the bottle of drops, put the drops back on the shelf, give treat. Do this several times a day. Continue with the caressing ears while sitting together routine. When she starts to anticipate and expect to get a treat when you merely show her the bottle of drops, she is ready for the next step.

Step 3: Make sure you have treats again-- you may need more than one this time. Without her knowing, set the bottle within reach of the place where you sit together caressing her ears and feeding treats. At some point during this caressing session, pick up the bottle of drops and only show it to her, then give a treat and set it down (or set it down and give a treat, whichever is easiest to coordinate, since I realize you are not an octopus, lol)

Step 4: Do not progress to this step until she is comfortable with step 3. This is the step when you put the drops in. Do not be sneaky about it. Just like always, while you are massaging her ears, pick up the bottle of drops and show it to her. Give her a treat. Gently move the ear flap back and put the drops in. Massage the ear, and give a treat. You may not be able to get the second ear done this time, or even the next. That's okay. Take it slowly, one day at a time.

Just so you know, I have a floppy eared dog, who needs to have drops put in periodically. She absolutely HATES it. But.... when it is time to "do her ears," I can take the bottle off the shelf, show it to her, and say, "Come on, we need to do your ears." She will go lay down on her side and just let me do what I need to do. She will often get up after the first ear is done, but when I call her back, she will return and lay down on her other side so I can do the second ear. When we are done, she gets a cookie for being so good. So it CAN be done-- she will never "love" having her ears treated, but she can learn to tolerate it good naturedly. :)
If an opportunity comes to you in life, say yes first, even if you don't know how to do it.
susiesnoopy
Posts: 2
Joined: Sat May 22, 2010 7:30 pm

Re: ears

Post by susiesnoopy »

thank you, I will try that. She does let me massage under them but once i touch the top she is gone lol.
Ushi
Posts: 17
Joined: Mon Jul 05, 2010 1:42 am

Re: ears

Post by Ushi »

I also have Shar peis... Arnt there ears Fun !!!(altho very very cute)

I would avoid actually putting anything in the ears... if she has had chronic ear infections it is likely that her ear canal is now very narrow from scarring - and once the fluid goes into the canal- it has no way of coming back out again... which really explains why dogs hate the drops... could you imagine walking around with water in your ears all the time !!

Once you have treated and gotten rid of the bacterial infection (which unfortunately you do need to use drops from the vet) I have found that simply wiping the ears every few days (depends on the dog, I have one that I do every couple of days, the other only once a week) with a good cleansing solution on a make up pad is usually all that is needed to keep ear infections at bay. (i quite like epi-optic, but this does sting if they have any sores so they may also dislike thi. You can also use a mixture of organic apple cider viniger infused with garlic as a natural alternative)

To prevent future infections AVOID WATER IN THE EARS AT ALL COSTS !!- as its the moisture that breeds the yeast/ bacterial infections - (hence why as long as you keep squeezing stuff into the ears on a regular basis, they will never get any better!)

I know its hard to beleive, (it took a year of lots of different vets and alternating treatments to give up on the medicating ) but once I stopped "treating" the ears by sticking stuff in them, I found my dogs got better. I have not had an ear infection for over 6 months, where as previoulsy, when I was reating using drops fromt he vet- we were back to the vet every 4 to 6 weeks- it was getting silly, they started suggesting major painful operations ! Of course diet can also be a factor- particularly with the Shar pei , ear infections can also be a result of an allergy to a food or enviromental factor. (if mine get fed any beef, you can be sure an ear infection will return!)

Great training tips.. to add to that ... I always go and get my dog to do the "nasty" things... (like ear cleaning and baths) I never call them to me when doing anything they find unpleasant. I also give lots of treats, which generally is all they need to "put up" with the ear wiping routine !
emmabeth
Posts: 8894
Joined: Tue Oct 17, 2006 9:24 pm
Location: West Midlands
Contact:

Re: ears

Post by emmabeth »

Did you ever have an ear infection? The pain is unbelieveable (and im comparing it to things like broken limbs, dental pain etc... its worse than those!).

This pain is the root cause of the problem - follow what Fundog suggests and you can turn things around, but if you carry on using force she is only going to get worse.

Once she no longer has an infection, make ear checks a fun and rewarding part of her daily routine.
West Midlands based 1-2-1 Training & Behaviour Canine Consultant
josie1918
Posts: 435
Joined: Tue Aug 18, 2009 10:57 am
Location: nebraska, United States
Contact:

Re: ears

Post by josie1918 »

Just curious susiesnoppy, has your vet ever recommended or done an ear flush on your dog?
Duffy Jones
Posts: 61
Joined: Mon Feb 01, 2010 5:39 pm

Re: ears

Post by Duffy Jones »

Most of the dogs have painful infections that cause them to start guarding their ears. Instead of using otomax or momentamax we use a product that we put in ear that contains an antibiotic, steroid, and antifungal. It is a paste/wax that becomes more fluid as their body warms it. It absorbs through the ear canal and then time releases over two weeks. So basically you are getting constant treatment for two week at a time and you do not have to touch the ears. I love this product and we have taken some ears that were on their way to surgery because chronic infections and been able to get them under control. We found over time many of the dog became less aggressive when touching their ears. I like the product because is really work and our clients love it because they no longer have to clean ears.

It is a compounded product that we order from California. If you are in Atlanta we can help you out, but besides us, I do not know many others who are using it.

Yes, dog can actually be allergic to some of the cleaners. I have a few dogs ears who we do not touch with any products because it makes them worse.

duf
Duffy Jones, DVM
Peachtree Hills Animal Hospital
[email protected]
www.peachtreehillsvet.com
Post Reply