If you notice your dog has been shaking his head a bit too often and scratching its ears with its paws or even trying to rub its ears on the ground, your dog may have some form of ear infections. In some severe cases, they may even not walk properly if the ear infection has gone into its ear canals and affected its sense of balance.

This is likely to happen for dogs with long drooping ears as the inside of the ears is not well ventilated or aired. Another possibility is that water could have gone inside the ears when you were bathing your dog and the dampness provided an ideal environment for ear infection to happen.

Firstly, try to have a look at the ears of the dog and use a cotton bud to clean the ears but do not push the cotton bud too far in the ear. You may see some ear wax and they may be dark brown or black in color. In worse case, this wax may have already appeared on the outside of the ears and you can see it immediately.

However, you should not attempt to use water to clean it unless it is on the exterior or easily accessible part of the ear.  You should also not pour or drip water into the ear as it may make it worse. Just use wet cotton wool to wipe it.

After having confirmed that there is an unusual presence of ear wax or if the dog continues to show irritation by shaking its head or scratching its ears, despite your having done some minimal exterior cleansing of the ear, please take your dog to the vet for consultation.

My beagle has quite a bad ear infection and the ear wax can be easily seen on the exterior of its ear. I suppose it was due to the shaking of its head and flapping of its long and drooping ears. I took it to the vet and he cleaned its ears by using a pair of long forceps wrapped round with cotton wool after applying some ear cleansing solution. The vet also took a sample of the ear wax for analysis and gave my beagle an injection. I was also taught to clean the ears of the beagle daily for a week and subsequently, on a weekly basis.

To prevent future occurrence of the ear infection, I was also advised to be careful not to let any water dripping into the ears when I bathe him. I also took the effort to clean and dry his ears after his bathe since then. Importantly, you must be observant and watch out for any unusual behavior displayed by your dog. Catch the problem as early as possible and get it treated immediately.