#2Doods A to Z: EARS

EARS

So you want a Goldendoodle. You love the looks, the face, the personality and more. But are you ready for THE EARS?

"Poodles are among a select group of breeds, which also includes cocker spaniels and golden retrievers, that are especially prone to ear infections." {source}

The long floppy ears and the extra hair inside the ears of doodles make them even more prone than their parents. We know this first hand. Cooper's very first vet visit showed an ear infection. The vet tech plucked the hair in the ears (for better air flow) and they sent us home with Zymox. A couple weeks later he was tilting his head to the right almost all the time and even the folks at his doggy day care mentioned it. This time he came home with antibiotics. It improved but the head tilt stayed, not as severe but apparent. When he went in to get neutered, we asked them to do an internal ear inspection (only done under anesthesia). Turned out he had a hole in his ear drum. More Zymox and antibiotics. All this before he turned six months old!

I now keep the OTC Zymox on hand and anytime he starts to tilt his head more than normal, I use it for a couple of days. Murphy has shorter ears and less hair and so far we've only had to use Zymox twice (when he was scratching them a lot).

If your pup is scratching his ears a lot, take him to a vet. It may not be an ear infection, it could be ear mites or allergies. But an untreated infection can cause permanent deafness!

Here you can see the difference in their ears - Murphy on the left and Cooper on the right.

Doodle on!

           

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