How to Get Water Out of a Dog’s Ear?

byMary Odomorogua
August 13, 2024

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Dogs get uncomfortable when they have water in their ears. That is why canine lovers have often wondered how to get water out of a dog’s ear.

However, there are many benefits associated with removing water from your dog’s ears. Some include early prevention of infections and ear odors.

With a few valuable tips on how to get water out of a dog’s ear, you can help keep your dog’s ears dry and clean.

How Can I Detect Water in My Dogs Ear?

It’s really simple to tell someone that you have water in your ears. Simply say, “Hey, I have water in my ears!” But, unfortunately, your furry friend can’t do the same. So you might not understand why, all of a sudden, it starts acting weird.

There are two ways to help your dog tackle this challenge, and they include the following:

Make Cleaning Dog’s Ears a Habit

If your dog loves to splash water around or go swimming, you need to establish a routine of regular ear checks.

Nonetheless, it might be a little challenging to tell when there is water in their ears. As a result, it is preferable to develop the habit of grooming your dog on a regular basis.

Sadly, some dogs don’t like their ears touched and find ear cleaning an unpleasant experience. Such behavior might make it even harder when you want to do a water check. This may be the case for some dogs that have not been adequately socialized.

When socializing with your dog, make them comfortable with you handling their ears and other parts of their body. Even so, it may be difficult to determine whether water is deeply seated in the ear passage.

Understand Their Behavior

If your dog has water in its ears, it’ll try to get it out on its own. They tend to display several behaviors in the process. These behaviors can include a mix of the following:

Head Shaking

Dogs shake their heads to get water out of their ears. When they experience itchiness or irritation, shaking their heads may be helpful. After a while, if the shaking continues, it must be attended to immediately.

If you have tried and seen no improvement after a day or two, it is time to book an appointment with the vet doctor.

Scratching the Ear

Your furry friend may begin to scratch their ears more than usual or rub against the floor. If you don’t want to leave your dog with an ear infection, you should hurriedly attend to it.

Rubbing the Ear

Dogs tend to rub their ears on surfaces to express their discomfort. Water in a dog’s ear irritates them, so the best thing to do is to help them get it out. Want to know how to get water out of a dog’s ear? Continue reading.

Infected Ear

At this point, your pet is in pain from ear infections and will be in so much discomfort and irritation. In various ways, your dog may have communicated its discomfort yet not been understood by its owner.

When you notice the following in your pups, contact your veterinarian. The longer you wait, the more serious it gets.

Redness

Many ear infections cause swelling in or around the ears, which makes the skin look red. If not treated immediately and properly, it can damage the ears. Therefore, it is best to seek immediate treatment when you notice the redness around its ears.

Discharge

When your dog’s ear starts to discharge some yellow, brown, or bloody fluid from its ear, this is a sign of an infection. Owners should tend to it immediately.

Swelling

Swelling in your dog’s ear is a sign of infection. Some of these complications may include ear hematomas. This infection may cause blockage in your canine ears. Before it got this serious, your dog must have given you signs of discomfort, such as scratching, rubbing, and head shaking.

Loss of Balance

Humans understand what it is like to have water in our ears. We would try everything to get it out. And if all our efforts fail, we become unbalanced and restless. Your canine is going through a painful infection in its ear.

Dogs with infected ears get unsteady and grumpy. Moisture in a dog’s ear can even cause other infections, such as:

Bacteria Infection

Even while certain germs are present in the dog’s ears, they naturally activate when moisture has been trapped in the ear for so long. This makes the environment conducive for them to thrive.

Candida Infection

Dogs frequently have yeast infections from trapped wetness in the ear. Yeast infections flourish properly in a wet environment. And a dog’s ears are a perfect place for survival.

Otitis Externa

This disease is mainly found in swimming dogs. However, otitis externa can be brought on by various conditions, such as allergies, fungi, parasites, and even water. With the help of a vet, you’ll be able to help your dog cure this disease.

Treating Canine Ear Infections

Otitis externa is a condition that can affect up to 16.5% of dogs, and it can progress into more severe dog ear infections as a result of complications.

There are, however, simple steps you can take to make these diseases less severe in your dog and to ease any symptoms they may be having.

After the vet has identified the type of infection your dog has come in contact with, they clean it up immediately.

The vet cleans your dog’s ears thoroughly and carefully, removing dirt, discharge, and ear wax. The cleanup is done using medicated ear cleaners.

Even though there are few home remedies for your dog’s ear infection, it’s best to take your veterinarian’s advice and use the prescribed medications. Infections might get worse due to overusing hydrogen peroxide or diluted vinegar.

How to Get Water Out of a Dog’s Ear

One of the best ways to prevent ear infections is to ensure your pup is thoroughly cleaned up after a bath, playing in the water, or swimming.

However, it may be difficult for dogs to get water out of their bodies by just shaking. So leaving them to shake off the wetness is not an option when thinking of getting water out of a dog’s ear.

Your dog’s ears can be cleaned and dried using various methods. A veterinarian’s kit for cleaning and drying ears is one of the most well-liked.

Even though this kit can be costly, it comes with an effective dog-ear cleaner and an ear-drying solution. Additionally, you can buy solutions that are specifically made to help dry out the water inside the ear at pet supply stores.

When creating your drying solution. Some pet owners prefer to make a DIY dog ear cleaner when they consider how to get water out of a dog’s ears.

So how do you go about that? To get the job done, you can use equal parts of hydrogen peroxide or apple cider vinegar with filtered water.

Dry out your dog’s ears first. We suggest using a brand that is very soft and absorbent to help you get the job done quickly. The top of the ear, as well as the inside of the ear, should be carefully dried out.
After that, raise your dog’s ear and insert a few drops of the remedy into the ear canal. The veterinarian’s drying formula and your DIY formula with apple cider vinegar are effective.
Massage the base of your dog’s ear after applying the solution to aid in the solution’s passage through the ear canal.
If necessary, let your dog shake their head.

Afterward, use a cotton ball to carefully wipe away dirt and extra water from the inner ear. Never insert a Q-tip into your dog’s ear since doing so might harm their ear canal and push debris deeper into it.

How to Get Water Out of a Dog’s Ear: Should I Call a Vet?

It is very easy to clean your dog’s ears, whether you are removing water or wax. Still, if your dog keeps showing signs of pain, you should talk to your vet to find out if your dog has an ear infection.

A putrid stench, swelling in or around the ears, an unappealing discharge, or your dog whimpering in pain when you want to touch their ears are a few signs of an ear infection. Contact your veterinarian when you think your dog may have an ear infection.

Final Thoughts on How to Get Water Out of a Dog’s Ear

At this point, you already know the possible answers to how to get water out of a dog’s ear. You should also be extra proactive about taking your pet to the doctor if they have a background of ear infections, skin disorders, or other ear concerns.

Our advice and the safest choice is to find a commercial ear-cleaning item made especially for removing water from dog ears. Ask your vet for a recommendation because there are many different products on the market.

Some pets may respond well to home treatments, but as we’ve already mentioned, you must use extreme caution to avoid doing more harm than good.

Mary Odomorogua

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How to Get Water Out of a Dog’s Ear?

byOluwafemi Michael
August 28, 2021

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Have you ever noticed dirt and water in dog’s ears when bathing them? Do you suppose cleaning your dogs’ ears is essential? Do you think dogs would clean their ears themselves regularly if they could?

You would find it easy to clean dirt and water in a dog’s ears if you are provided with the right equipment. The process is quite simple and wouldn’t cause your dog any stress if done correctly.

Read on to find out how.

Why is it important to clean your dog’s ears?

Dogs possess very long ear canals that are usually 5 to 10 cm long. These ears also often retain foreign material due to the right-angled bend in the ears, making it difficult for these materials to come out on their own.

A simple case of “garbage in, garbage not out.”

When dirt or water gets into dogs ears when you’re bathing them or when they have fun swimming, it may maximize the risk of infections.

This is why it’s essential to have your dog’s ears cleaned and maintained, like you would a child’s, or even your own.

Dogs with skin allergies may also be exposed to frequent ear infections. It would help them if you have their ears cleaned regularly.

Your veterinarian may be able to recommend just how frequently cleaning your dog’s ears is required, but ideally, cleaning weekly or at least once a month is a general rule for cleaning dirt and water in dog’s ears.

Things you need to clean your dog’s ears effectively

Treats, for when they allow you to clean their ears
Ear cleaner
Cotton wool

Types of ear cleaners to use

There are several types of ear cleaners you could use to clean dirt and water in dog’s ears, but it is imperative to make use of quality cleaners that would not pose any health risk to your pet.

Try as much as possible not to poke around the ears with cotton buds, as this may push ear wax further inside and cause potential damage to the eardrums.

Also, it is very important that you DON’T apply vinegar, olive oil, shampoo, or any chemical substances that may irritate your pet’s ears. Doing this may cause a severe ear infection that may put your dog’s health at risk.

Easy steps in cleaning your dog’s ears

You have to consider consulting with your veterinarian if you notice your dog has very red, inflamed and painful ears that your dog won’t stop trying to scratch.

It is possible your dog already has an infection if this is the case. This means, cleaning out dirt and water dog’s ears may even do more harm than good, and may also affect the eardrum if not handled carefully.

Unlike cleaning your ears or a baby’s ears, cleaning dirt and water in a dog’s ears can be really messy and tasking.

So if best to do it where your dog won’t get excited enough to break or damage something.

Perhaps outside the house might be the best option.

You wouldn’t want your dog breaking your plasma TV or that expensive vase just because you are trying to get some wax out do you?

You can offer your pet some treats for staying still while introducing the ear cleaning.
Hold the flap of the dog’s ear upward gently and then fill the inside of the ear with the ear cleaner. Vertically direct the tube downwards.
Don’t forget to remain calm and be careful not to startle your pet.
Maintain your hold on the ear and gently move your hand down the ear where it meets your dog’s head.
Carefully massage the base of the ear so that the cleaner quickly gets around the ear canal. A squelchy sound would be heard, indicating you are doing the right thing.
Let go of the ear after massaging for about 20 to 30 seconds. Your dog may shake its head and even body.
Wipe out the folds of the ears with some cotton wool. Clean until the ear canal looks clean and free of dirt.
A treat should be given to your dog for being a good girl or boy, whichever the case.

The goal with ear cleaning is to make use of plenty of ear cleaners. Since the ear canal runs deep inside, the aim isn’t to get all ear discharge out all at once. Just get enough out and clean around the ear.

When you massage your dog’s ears, you indirectly break up discharge linings formed inside the ear canals.

After you are done massaging, your dog’s shaking should get most of the liquid out of its ears by itself.

Remember, don’t forget to visit a veterinarian if you notice redness in the ears or if you can perceive a foul smell.

It’s almost likely that your dog has an infection, which means cleaning should be the last option.

How do you clean dirt and water in dog’s ears? Do you require any assistance to carry out the exercise?

Do you have to visit a vet before cleaning your pet’s ears? Let us know in the comments.

Oluwafemi Michael

Oluwafemi Michael is a freelance content writer with ample years of experience. He is into several writing niches including iGaming, Health, Pets, Relationships, and more. You can find him near the beach or tending to his plants on days he isn't romancing his keyboard.

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