Ear cleaning can prevent ear infections!  Preventative ear care is very important to start within the first week of receiving your puppy.  It begins with body handling of the ears and cradling the muzzle in your hand.  Dogs normally develop small amounts of ear wax and dirt in the ear canal, which needs to be cleaned weekly.  If left unattended, bacteria eventually grow and can cause an infection.  Regular cleaning can prevent ear infections.

Guiding Eyes supplies an ear cleaner in the puppy packet that accompanies your pup and asks all raisers to clean their dogs ears once a week from the time they receive the puppy.

·   Once a week, squirt a small amount of ear cleaning solution into the dog’s ear canal.  You may warm the solution so it is      more comfortable for the dog. Be sure it is lukewarm. ·    Massage base of the ear for 5 seconds so you hear a squishing sound. ·    Allow the dog to shake its head - this allows the debris to shake loose and rise to the outer ear. ·    Use a cotton ball or gauze pad to remove any excess liquid and debris from the outer ear.

Sometimes ear infections develop despite your weekly cleaning. Signs of an ear infection include: ·    Tilting of the head ·    Frequent or prolonged scratching of the ears or back of the head ·    Rubbing the side of the head along the floor, shaking head ·    Brown debris in the ear despite weekly cleaning ·    Odor or redness in the ear

Should you see any of these symptoms  please contact gebvet@guidingeyes.org. You will be provided further advice for treatment.  It is important to continue treatment as directed by the vet. Increased frequency of ear cleaning will be necessary in dogs that have had an ear infection. You will need to continue the more frequent schedule the remainder of the time you have the puppy.  The recommended increased frequency of ear cleaning is: ·    1 ear infection = clean the ears 2x week with ear cleaner ·    2 or more infections = clean the ears 3x week with ear cleaner