Doggy ear cleaning - any tips?

[Pool Hall Ace]

My dachshund has an ear infection. I have to clean out his ears and medicate him twice a day. This dog does *not* want to have his ears cleaned.

As soon as I squirt the solution in, he goes nuts. I barely get a chance to massage his ears. I think I will have to practically sit on top of him. He's 24 pounds of muscle, and he's quite a wiggly worm!

Does anyone know how to make this less of a hassle?

[China_cat]

1. Wrap a towel around him.

Or better yet, have a second person to help.

[radfringe]

2. turn it into a "fun" thing

get him to lie down, and do a "whole body" massage to relax him. rubbing his belly, legs and slowly work up to his head and gently massage and manipulate his ears

put the bottle of the medication near his nose so he can smell it - this will linked the smell with something nice happening (i.e. body massage)

when he's relaxed, slowly put in the meds and continue massaging, then gently do the cleaning

works best with two people, one doing the body massage, the other handling the meds

it's probably going to take awhile at first, and you'll probably have the best results if you do the massage with med bottle within in 'smell range' but not apply the meds for the first couple of times

and of course - a cookie treat afterwards

[Pool Hall Ace]

3. My doxie can't resist a belly rub

Thanks, I'll give it a try! :hi:

[CC]

4. Also make sure the ear cleaning

solution isn't too cold. My dog hates it when it is cold so I found a small container to put some in and warm it in my hands for a long while before using. Now he sits really good and loves it when I massage his ears with the solution in them then clean them out.

He has to have his done weekly and is 100 lbs of solid muscle GSD that forgets all about sit-stay when he is avoiding cold stuff in his ears. I can't really blame him.

[Pool Hall Ace]

5. Oh, good point -- thanks!