inner ear hair

Alright, don't yell at me.

I have a 9 month old pomeranian. I say "he won't let me" loosely with some humor assumed. I've never tried to pluck ear hair. I'm assuming it wouldn't be fun. I've been taking him to a groomer once a month since he was 4 months old. Every time I take him I ask for a bath, brush and blow dry, nail trim, and ear cleaning. At home, he is brushed every other day, and I trim his nails as needed. He's been to puppy classes, and is on NILF with much success, imo.

This is my first dog, so if you've got suggestions, let me know.

He's hyper, but not unmanageable. I'm sorry if I saddened you with my comment.

 
Sorry if it seemed I was "yelling" at you. That was not my intention, just the phrase "my dog won't let me...." strikes a nerve with me.
Many people bring their dogs into the grooming salon in terrible shape with the excuse "my dog won't let me ____________ " (fill in the blank). Then they proceed to tell us how they want them clipped. Hellooooooo, the dog hasn't been to the groomer in 6 MONTHS! It's terribly matted (no way to demat or brush it out) and now your telling me, "don't clip Scruffy to short"! During the grooming, "Scruffy" is biting, jumping, growling, panting, jerking, etc. because he's not been accustomed to being groomed on a regular basis. This is VERY stressful on the animal, not to mention dangerous for the people handling him.
Plucking ear hair, as Jeannie said, is a neccessary evil in certain breeds. Schnauzers and Poodles are very prone to have the fine hair growing deep in the ear canal and if it's not removed regularly, it can cause all kinds of problems. I don't think it really a case of taking it to the vet to get it done, as most groomers are quite competent at cleaning the ears. If done prior to bath time (as it should be) the ears will be cleaned during the bath which should take care of any minute bacteria that may be living there. Of course a vet is going to tell you that it should be done there (they want the office visit and service fee).
If your dog shook his head after a grooming, it could have been caused by water in the ear and NOT hair falling in there. Make sure your groomer is careful to not get water in the ears next time. That can cause a MAJOR ear infection! Also, shaving the hair around the ears very short, can cause some "tickling" as it grows out in some cases.
 
 

well, we have done some serious ear time lately. We are proud to say he willknow let me mes with his ears, including clean them out with no problem. He mightnot exatly "enjoy" it, but he doesn't pitch a fit. We have been sticking our fingers in (not far, just sort of rubbing) and around those canals 3x/day. What else do I have to do right now? Next we will try to grab a few hairs with the hemostats I am going to pick up this weekend.
Small steps, but big strides! Yeah! We are even learning to tolerate the whole nail clip thing pretty well - just a bunch of licking and a look that says "Mom, really, you don't have to do this for me, I don't mind long nails" ha ha

ORIGINAL: mydogsmylife

In the breeds that require ear hair plucking, the hair is not deeply rooted and pulls out quite easily. The dogs don't even seem to notice.

However, I do not pluck ear hair as part of my grooming package. Other groomers told me they had many complaints about ear infections after grooming appointments. I followed up with my vet who explained to me that when the ear hair is pulled it leaves small openings in the skin where bacteria gathers and leads to ear infections. She advised only plucking ear hair for clients who had antibiotic ear ointment on hand and would agree to follow up with it for a couple days after the plucking to prevent the ear infections from occurring.

Sounds logical to me, therefore, I do not offer ear hair plucking and recommend that my clients have it done by their vet.

I pluck my dog's ear hair with no problem at all. I do all her grooming myself. At least for my breed, it needs to be done on a regular basis and my vet showed me how to do it myself. It isn't cruel or very painful, if done correctly. Ever pluck your eyebrows? I would think it's about the same.

I had the same thoughts as kennel keeper about "my dog would never let me do that." Well, who is in charge? If your dog won't allow you to do something, then your dog is. Especially a puppy...it needs to be trained to allow you to handle it in whatever way you want, whenever you want. You are supposed to be the boss. If you want an adult dog who complies to your wishes with no fuss, then time to start now. Good luck.