Dogs, in general, love to run around on dusty driveways, wet places, and dirt paths whenever they have the chance. Especially breeds like Vizslas are considered hunting dogs because they are natural-born Pointers and Retrievers. This is where they get most of the dirt that accumulates within their ears.
Is Cleaning Your Vizsla’s Ears Necessary?
It is important to check and clean Vizsla’s ears regularly. Unclean ears may result in an infection on one of their most sensitive body parts – their ears. Excessive wax, trapped moisture, and dirt can cause hearing damage and other infections.
Check Off This Requirement List
For successfully cleaning your Vizsla’s ears, you will need the following:
- Cotton Balls: Instead of using cotton swabs, use cotton balls or swabs. Cotton swabs may irritate and cause damage to your Vizsla’s ear as they may poke onto the inner parts of their ears.
- Ear Cleaner or cleanser (FOR DOGS): Only use an ear cleaner intended for dogs as the sensitivity of Vizsla’s ears is less than that of humans.
- Ask for help: Having someone to aid assistance will be a huge help as it will not be easy to have a dog stay still while cleaning its ears.
- Clean towel: Prepare a clean towel while cleaning to avoid mess BY the dog and TO the dog.
- Dog treats: Show how great of a dog they are after cleaning their ears. Then, maybe the next cleaning session would be less of a hassle knowing you would reward them afterward.
Steps on Cleaning Your Vizsla’s Ears
Cleaning the ears may be very difficult if you already have an adult dog who is not used to being touched in the ear. You may eliminate this by starting to gently touch or stroke the ears of your Vizsla when they are still puppies.
Begin the journey of cleaning your Vizsla’s ears by following these steps:
- Do things that can make your Vizsla calm.
Any individual cannot perform ear cleaning when a dog has a lot of energy to release. Gently stroke their body and ears. When done, try to carefully lift their ears better view of what to clean and where to touch. This will be easier with the help of another. Please do not force your Vizsla or any dog to have its ear cleaned as they might develop stress through it.
- Inspect the ears carefully.
If your Vizsla is an adult and this will be the first time to check its ears, know what you can do by yourself. Check if there is a lot of dirt build-up. If their ears are red, it immerses a foul odor or contains pus. If yes, call for a veterinarian and do not attempt to do it on your own.
- Swipe the dirt off.
Gently hold their ear. Use the cleaning solution recommended by your veterinarian for easier application and massage the flaps. Rub a damp cotton pad to the ear entrance. This will remove the accumulated dirt or earwax from the last time you had it cleaned.
- Do not restrain its movements by too much.
Do not give stress to your Vizsla by putting pressure to refrain from moving too much. Put a towel over his head to eliminate creating a mess from the cleaning solution.
- Let it dry.
The easiest way to do this step is to let your dog shake its head.
- Treat your Vizsla.
Reward your Vizsla for doing an excellent job of letting you clean its ears.
Things to Take Note Of
Before cleaning a dog’s ear, you must remember that you must know what you can clean and what a professional can. The signs of infection may be known through sight if there is redness, smell, or a foul odor. Also, remember that cleaning its ears too much can also cause damage and irritation.
Conclusion
Dogs with drooping ears are prone to bacteria, dirt build-up, and trapped moisture. This makes the chances very high for Vizslas’ ears to be infected and might cause hearing damage. Regularly cleaning your Viszla’s ears not only make your dog comfortable and healthy, but it can also help you detect any problems with their health before it gets worse.
