Mini Schnauzer itching/scratching around & in his ears.

Barri & I

My old female mini Schnauzer (Gracy) had this problem where the inside of her ears would get irritated & itchy.
I'd see her scratching her ears very hard with her back paw, & she would be really trying to aim for the inside of her ear (hole of the ear canal). (This dog was not a mixed breed, but her ears were different than other Schnauzer type ears, they were not cropped or anything, but they stood up kinda like deer ears & they never flopped down).
I always assumed her scratching was because of inwards hair-growth, or ear wax build up (her ears never did appear to get red or swollen & they never bled). So we tried lightly pulling or stroking her ear hair outwards & cleaning out her ears gently (where we'd remove a fair amount of wax). If we would try scratching her ears, she would bend her head toward the ear we were scratching, to try to get us to scratch deeper into that ear.
Although we tried to deal with this problem throughout her adult life, it never really went away; & before she died at the age of 16 years old, she went completely deaf, sadly.

More than 5 years have passed, & we now have male puppy (almost 3 years old) that's a salt & sepper colored mini Schnauzer (Barri). This dog has large floppy ears. I have started to notice that he sometimes has a tendency to try to scratch his ears, although not as vigorously as my older dog. Everything is similar, except he doesn't really try much to get his nails inside his hear to scratch, & he also scratches himself around & above his ears.

I have been wondering what exactly is making him itchy, & what can I do to prevent these problems that my old dog experienced. I worry that down the road it might become more serious.
Does anyone know if there's anything I can get at the pet store, a special cream, ear-drops, or any tool that might help deal with this problem?
Or even a particular method of dog ear cleaning that might be beneficial?

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Nov 07, 2015
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ITCHY EARS AFTER GROOMING
by: JOEY'S MOMMI

After Joey's grooming yesterday, he keeps scratching and rubbing his ears. He normally wants me to use my pinky finger to rub inside canals but both earstime his canals are very red. One alot more than the other.. Groomer had said he had an abundence of hair in both ears that wa hard to get out. In other words they were a bit rough at pulling the hairs out! Does anyone know of something soothing I can use or do for his ears right after groomimgs??

NOTE FROM LINDA AND MAX:
Max does this, shakes his head, etc, it is not unusual. It is important to keep up with plucking the hairs out of the ears to avoid infections, Schnauzers have very narrow ear canals. I suggest you try and do it between groomings.
There is some type of animal talc which helps with ear plucking.

Dec 11, 2014
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mini schnauzer itching ears
by: ruth

just back from the vets, my mini schnauzer had itchy ears and was not in good form, had to have her ears plucked and flushed and is on medication for an ear infection. please look after their ears. she also got her teeth cleaned when she was there.

Apr 19, 2012
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SCHNAUZER/POODLE OWNER
by: Anonymous

I AM THE MOMMY OF TWO 4 YEAR OLD SCHNOODLES FROM THE SAME LITTLE, MY ONE BABY, MAXX, HAS VERY SENSITIVE SKIN EVERYTHING BOTHERS HIM HE GETS IRRITATED AFTER GROOMING, MAINLY IN HIS EARS I AM NOT SURE WHAT CAUSES THIS, I HAVE BEEN TO NUMEROUS GROOMERS, AND EACH TIME ASKED THAT THEY NOT PLUCK HIS EARS. HE STILL GETS AN INFECTION. JUST THE NATURE OF HIS EARS UNFORTUNATELY IF ANYONE COMES UP WITH AN IDEA I WOULD LOVE TO HEAR IT. THE REAL REASON I AM WRITING IS SCHNAUZERS HAVE SENSITIVE SKIN TO BEGIN WITH, I BATHE MY BOYS WITH AVENO OATMEAL WASH, AND THEIR FOOD CAN NOT CONTAIN BEEF OF ANY KIND THE DIFFERENCE IS UNBELIEVABLE.

Note from Linda and Max: you need to get the infection cleared up by your vet and then make sure that your groomer DOES pluck all of the hairs out of their ears.
Since we did this and the vet gave us an earwash which we squirt into Max's ears once a week, we have had no problems and the infections have not returned.
Some Schnauzers, and obviously some Schnoodles, have sensitive skin and very narrow, furry ear canals. As they do not moult, it becomes a breeding ground for mites and infection. The hairs in the ears must be plucked regularly.
See our page on skin conditions:
http://www.max-the-schnauzer.com/schnauzer-skin.html
Hope this helps

Dec 01, 2011
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Alcohol and QTips
by: Amanda

My puppy is 9 weeks old. When I took her to get her puppy shots I mentioned that her ears had a weird smell, and she scratched them a lot. The vet said that since she has un-cropped ears and they have hair in them, they can get moist and depending on the food I feed her, she can get yeast infections in them. He said that dogs have different ear canals than humans, and although we can't put a QTips very far in ours without touching our ear drums, dogs have kind of an L shaped canal so you can stick a QTip as far down as it will go bc the ear drum is around a different "curve". He also said to pour alcohol in the ears to help clean and dry them out. Since doing this, Remy has stopped scratching her ears. I normally clean them everything she gets a bath. So once or twice a week. if I notice they have a weird smell I'll do it more frequently.

Dec 20, 2010
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Sam's itchy ears
by: Bev

Well, Sam went to the vet last week. His itching got out of control, he was rubbing his head on the walls, you touched his ears and his leg turned into an eggbeater. He had a yeast infection and the others licking them didn't help him. He was given predinsone, hydroxine, and miconozol drops. In two days he was soooo much better. I should have taken him right away, I wil know better next time.

Dec 19, 2010
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itchy ears
by: Kelly

I have a foster 4 yr-old bitch who came to our home 4 days ago. Her ears were very dirty when she arrived so we cleaned them out. Nonetheless she was scratching very hard, like some of you have noticed, looking like she was trying to reach to the end of the ear canal and the inside of the ear flaps became redden after a heavy scratch. I took her to the vet who having inspected both canal, but said the ears are not inflammed. I wonder if there is anything else I can do for this poor creature.

Oct 25, 2010
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your help is needed
by: Anonymous

I too have a mini named Sam. He does the same thing, his ears are clean, but he scratches, and when you scratch for him you are the best thing on earth. It has no smell, is not dirty, but I cannot stop his itching. What did you ever find out?

Bev

Jun 06, 2010
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Parasites
by: Anonymous

Is there a chance he might have parasites in his ears? You might want to have him checked by the vet. My dog was doing the same thing and she had ear mites.

Mar 08, 2010
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EARS!
by: Bella

It may be that the is getting to dry.
This should be checked by a vet to make sure!

http://www.dogster.com/dogs/696924

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