Bleeding ears when stressed

[Ari_RR]

Need help on behalf of a friend, with a young male ridgeback.
When he is under stress - BOTH his ears begin to bleed. Not just one - both, simmetrically. At the tips, as in the pictures, and also at the base.
For example - at the vet, or at the groomer, both of whom he finds stressful.

Another example - during the walk.
The friend has another dog. Joint walks together are stressful for the boy with bleeding ears, so when she takes them both out - his ears bleed. When she takes just him out, leaving the other dog at home - no bleeding.

Clearly, first thing is to eliminate the stressors. She will do that. But is there anything else that should be looked into? This seems to be a rather extreme reaction to stress..

Very sorry for the size of the images, on mobile this week and can't resize. Thanks for any comments.

[Lotsaquestions]

Ouch, poor doggy.

I know dogs can have nose bleeds if they are really, really stressed as their blood pressure elevates too high. Never heard of ears. What have the vets said?

[Ari_RR]

Vet said possibly vasculitus, but can stress (perhaps elevated heart rate?) have an impact?

[Perdita]

Wow that looks sore,poor fella, it's my understanding that vasculitis is an auto immune disease, like rheumatoid arthritis or lupus. I also believe that diet can play a part too, the same as in rheumatoid and other inflammatory diseases But, I'm no expert so maybe she could keep a diary of his symptoms and times they occur ?

[Erica]

Is he shaking his head when this happens or does it happen spontaneously?

[Ari_RR]

He shakes his head and the blood splatters everywhere

[ZaraD]

Here's an article https://www.willows.uk.net/specialist-s ... vasculitis explains a bit more, I had a client who's dog at thing but in her nose, they found out she one of her organs weren't working properly once that was treated the bleeding stopped.

[ZaraD]

Hers another article http://dogtime.com/dog-health/56997-cut ... s-symptoms

I can't find anything on stress being a cause.

[Nettle]

Thank you for those links, ZaraD. I had never come across this.

AriRR, I hope your friend finds suitable help.

[ZaraD]

Your welcome Nettle and I hope they come in handy for your friend AriRR the dog who I knew had it was a GSD.

[Ari_RR]

Thanks!

[Erica]

If the head shaking causes the bleeding from the force of the ears being whipped around, a snug snood may help. It will keep the ear tips from having so much force put on them. It may not be forever; giving the ears a chance to heal and scar up could help them be more resilient in the future. But the snood could give them that chance And hey, maybe the owners will find one they like the looks of and just add it to their pup's permanent wardrobe!

[Nettle]

pro tem, a sock with the toe cut off does this job.