Spaniels are the most popular hunting dog today. This friendly creature is ready to walk many kilometers near the owner through the forests and swamps, help to drive the duck out of the shelter and get the shot prey out of the lake. At the same time, the spaniel has good health, which is very important if you are an avid hunter.
However, spaniel ears need constant care and attention. If you decide to choose this breed, then prepare cotton buds and tune in for a daily inspection. Charming ears is a kind of calling card of this breed, but it creates additional difficulties in care.
Prevention is the best treatment
Spaniel ears are primarily in need of ventilation. Hanging position contributes to the accumulation of sulfur and the development of various infections. An additional factor is the overgrowth of the ear from the inside with hair. Thus, ideal conditions are provided for the development of pathogenic infections.
Therefore, spaniel ears are recommended to be carefully shaved or plucked from the inside. If the pet is not accustomed to such procedures, then in extreme cases it is possible to cut the hair shortly using scissors.
Natural ventilation
There is another preventative measure available. The ears of the spaniel can be raised above the head, fixing with a soft clip or rubber band for hair. This is especially true during meals. If you do not do this, after a meal you will have to wash the outer and inner surfaces of the ear, while it is likely that water will get inside the auricle. Often this leads to inflammatory processes.
On a walk
Representatives of this breed love to walk very much. Active games and exercises in the fresh air strengthen the immune system, normalize the work of all organs and systems. The ears of a spaniel on a walk get very dirty. The dog runs, pressing a curious nose to the ground, and long "canvases" hang on the ground, collecting dust and germs.
Coming home, any owner will try to clean his pet. A moistened, but not completely washed ear becomes an ideal incubator for bacteria. Therefore, before going out, take care to fix your ears high on your head. To do this, you can come up with a bandage made of soft rubber. The easiest option will be a piece of nylon stocking. It’s fast, cheap, and great for keeping your ears clean.
Regular inspection
We have already mentioned that it is necessary to regularly examine the entire ear cavity. Before that, prepare cotton buds and disks, warm water. Lay your pet on its side and caress it to lie down calmly during the procedure. Now completely turn the ear inside out and carefully inspect.
Since it is not difficult to clean the ears of the dog, there is no need to go to the vet every time. We offer you a general scheme, following which you can maintain their perfect condition.
Main actions
If the cavity inside is very overgrown with hair, then take a manicure scissors and cut all the long hairs, opening the ear canal. Now you can assess the presence of sulfur deposits. If there are few of them, the skin is pale pink, then this time you can do without special cleaning.
And how to clean the ears of the dog, if you see that a lot of sulfur has accumulated? In this case, take a cotton pad, slightly moisten it with warm water and squeeze it well. In the depths of the ear, you do not need to climb a wand, remove only what is visible. If you have noticed in recent days that a dog scratches its ears, it makes sense to connect special drops. However, be sure to consult your doctor.
Return from the hunt
If you often spend time outdoors, then the ears of the cocker spaniel need more careful care and care. The most important thing is to prevent moisture from entering the ear canal in order to minimize the likelihood of an inflammatory process. A working dog swims in lakes and rivers to provide game offerings. If while bathing in the bathtub we can plug the ear canal with cotton balls, then when hunting, the dog must maintain perfect hearing.
In order to protect the ears, it is recommended to carefully shave the hair inside and lubricate the whole skin with sunflower oil. This will prevent water from entering, but does not guarantee 100% protection. Therefore, after the end of the hunt, you must immediately perform a number of procedures:
- Carefully inspect the hair and ears for parasites.
- Drain the cavity with cotton balls.
Practical tips
How can the owner determine when to intervene, and when the condition of the auricle is fully normal? A hunting dog with long ears is a very beautiful creature, but the anatomy suggests that the owner must have certain grooming skills and know what to do in a particular case.
- Open the auricle. If the skin inside is pink and slightly warm, then you can finish the preventive examination. Do not forget to praise the pet for endurance.
- The presence of thick brown sulfur is an occasion to immediately arm yourself with special napkins or cotton buds and remove it from the sink.
- If you find blood-sucking insects, it is extremely important to quickly remove them with tweezers. In the summer, especially if you regularly visit the forest, such inspections should be regular.
- If the dog shakes its ears, this is a troubling symptom. For the first time, you can pour a little special lotion into your ear and do a neat ear massage. Then use cotton balls to remove excess fluid. If every time after sleep the dog shakes its ears or scratches them with its paw, then be sure to consult a doctor. Perhaps the cause is an ear tick.
- Much worse if the dog has an ear ache. This is easy to understand, as the pet loses activity, begins to lie more, tilts its head low, groans when trying to scratch its ear or touch it.
- Inflammatory diseases, otitis media - this is very serious, as it can give a complication in the inner ear. As a result, a long and complex treatment may be required. Therefore, if the dog has an ear ache, then do not self-medicate, but go straight to the doctor.
Cleaning technique
Speaking about how to clean the ears of a spaniel, it must be emphasized that it is the anatomical features of the breed that cause some difficulties. For example, the owners of a Rottweiler or a German Shepherd may not know in their entire lives what this procedure means. It is the long ears of short-legged dogs that are the most problematic. However, everything is not so complicated, and with a little practice, you will easily perform all hygiene procedures.
- Caring for your spaniel's ears involves regularity, so first of all you need to teach your pet what is necessary. Do not catch the animal on purpose, it is better to time this procedure to caress minutes. When the dog lies calmly, open the sink and examine.
- During cleaning, you need to talk to your pet and praise it. This is extremely important so that in the future it will be easier for you to start the examination, and for this it is necessary that hygiene be associated with positive emotions.
- First moisten the wet disc and run it several times on the inside. Now you can close your ear and perform a massage. With light movements you will knead your ear, and all the dirt and sulfur will easily dissolve.
- Now you can start cleaning the sink. Sulfur is usually easily removed with a cotton pad. You can restore order inside the bends with a cotton swab. Dogs usually tolerate massage very well; moreover, it brings them a lot of pleasure.
- If the dog is large, then it makes no sense to wield ear sticks. Just wrap your finger in a strip of gauze, moisten in a special lotion and clean the sink. Residual dirt can be removed using a special disc.
Must remember
Each ear uses its own set of cotton pads, sticks and tampons. In addition, it is advisable to change the solution in which you moistened the discs and wash your hands after treating one ear. This will prevent the transfer of infection from one ear to the other, provided that it exists.
After the procedure, be sure to wipe the inner surface of the ear dry and open the shell until it dries completely. For this, it is most convenient to use a mesh elastic. Just put it on the dog’s head and tuck your ears under it.
The ideal option is to use after cleaning a special powder that dries the surface well and removes moisture. Instead, you can use a small amount of starch. But make sure that he does not fall asleep in the ear canal.
Watching the reaction of the dog
If your pet is calm or showing signs of pleasure, then everything is going well. You can massage slightly and rub the sink and let it go for a walk. But if a dog scratches his ears and begins to worry, this may indicate a number of diseases, ranging from a tick to an inflammatory process.
Symptoms are usually activated by external intervention. Therefore, if your pet just shook his ears and lay quietly in place, this is normal, he shook out the rest of the lotion or water. If he begins to scratch his ears with his claws, then contact your veterinarian.
Using special tools
We deliberately do not name special means for caring for the auricle, as well as for the treatment of diseases of the hearing organs. The fact is that if the dog is healthy, its ears are dry and pink, odorless, they do not leak liquid, then the use of any means does not make sense. Wipe from sulfur and dust with a simple cotton pad moistened with water.
Folk remedies (hydrogen peroxide, potassium permanganate and others) can burn the mucous membrane and bring more problems. With a serious illness, they will not help, but are useless for prevention, so their use is a big question.
Special veterinary drugs to combat ear ticks, as well as for the treatment of otitis media and inflammatory processes of the hearing organs should be prescribed by your doctor. Their use at their discretion is permissible only in an emergency situation when the veterinarian is unavailable and the animal suffers from pain. In all other cases, you must first identify the cause of the disease, and then get a doctor’s appointment.
Ear scabies
Ear scabies in dogs, or otodecosis, is a common disease that is caused by extremely unpleasant and harmful parasites. They settle on the inner surface of the auricle and in the ear canal. They feed on blood and particles of the epidermis. A few ticks that hit the dog’s ear cause only mild itching. But the colony grows, the animal begins to shake its head, rub its head against the corners, scratch its ears with its claws, tearing them apart to blood. In the area of the ears, persistent wounds and abscesses gradually form.
The neglected form of this disease leads to damage to the eardrum, meningitis (inflammation of the membranes of the spinal cord and brain) and arachnoiditis (inflammation of the arachnoid and soft membranes of the brain). Before treating your pet, you need to make the correct diagnosis. If the problem is only in the ear tick, then it can be dealt with with the help of special drops “Otibiovin”, “Mastiet Fort”, “Tera-delta”, “Aurikan” or “Otovedin”.
Otitis in dogs
As we already said, an ear mite can lead to the development of inflammatory processes in the ears, that is, to otitis media. However, overgrowth of the ear canal can lead to inflammation of the ear canal. In this case, surgical intervention is required, the drugs in this case will not help.
Allergic otitis media is another common cause. There are breeds that are more prone to allergies, but this can happen with every dog. In this case, the veterinarian relieves inflammation with antibiotics and prescribes antihistamines.
A tumor in the ear canal is another cause of inflammation. But the list does not end there. The cause of otitis media may be a foreign body entering the ear or hormonal imbalance, water entering the ear.