Getting Great Ears
Looking after the ears of your Lagotto is very important. It is even more important to know about the many different ways of keeping them clean as this gives you the ability to better choose what is right for you and your four legged friend.
As the Lagotto is a water dog it is vital that their ears are kept clean and free of excess hair. Build up of dirt and moisture in the ear canal can cause infections and harm to your pet’s ears in the long run, not to mention also costing a lot in vet bills. If you notice your dog shaking its head a lot, or pawing at its ears, it is time to check in the ear canals.
Never put anything down into your dog’s ear canal, you only want to remove the hair blocking the entrance to the ear canal so that air can circulate to prevent moisture and infection developing. Some lagotti have very hairy ears that need a lot of attention while other lagotti have very little hair in their ear canals and only need the occasional check-up. If you look at the pictures below, you can see a range of Lagotto ear types, all in their natural state without trimming or plucking.
So, what can you do to keep your dog’s ears in good shape? The first thing is to remove excess hair from around the ear canal and underside of the ear. This can be achieved by either clipping or scissoring the underside of the ear flap first so that the ear canal can be seen. Then you can either pluck or scissor or clip around the entrance to the ear canal to remove excess hair or any hair plugs, so that air can circulate to prevent moisture and infection developing. There is no need to remove all the hair from the ear canal, some is needed to keep the ear canal healthy and protected from the elements. The pictures below show before and after hair removal.
There are different schools of thought on plucking and it is not for every dog. Some lagotti easily accept plucking but for others it can cause irritation and pain inside the ear canal and make the dog afraid of having their ears touched. Current veterinary advice recommends against routine ear plucking, as it can cause inflammation of the sensitive skin lining the ear canal, which can increase the risk of infection.
Tips and Tricks
-If your Lagotto is head shy or very frightened of plucking, then don’t pluck! But don’t let this be an excuse to neglect your dog’s ears!
-Use a pencil trimmer (such as the Wahl trimmer pictured below) to trim around and towards the opening and inside of ear canal; this removes the excess hair and plugs without plucking or scaring the dog.
-You can also use tiny snub nose scissors (as pictured above) to carefully trim away the excess hair if your dog doesn’t like the noise of a pencil trimmer.
-Try plucking by hand rather than using tweezers and only pluck a very little at a time.
-Ear powders (as pictured below) are great for gripping the hair to lift out of the ear canal to trim or when plucking. These powders also help to soothe the ear and prevent infections.
– If you can’t find ear powder at your local vet or pet shop, try across the ditch. Wampum ear powder is available from Lilcracka: https://www.lilcracka.com.au/wampum-ear-powder-40g
And Oz Grooming World has a selection of ear care products, including Miracle Care ear powder and Bio-Groom ear powder: https://www.ozgroomingworld.com.au/health-care/ear/
-Clean your Lagotto’s ears regularly as this allows you to catch infections early, either by smell or the noticeable build up of dirt and grime.
-If you think your dog has a problem infection then please seek veterinary advice.