Why do my dog's ear smell bad?

[OkieChickenGal]

I have an 11 month old chocolate lab and her ears smell really bad like cheese. Even if you wash them the smell remains. She's also always itching them. I don't believe she has mites.. What else could it be?

 

[sourland]

Very likely that she has a yeast infection. Not at all uncommon in 'floppy eared' dogs, and even more common if they are on a grain based diet.

 

[OkieChickenGal]

Very likely that she has a yeast infection. Not at all uncommon in 'floppy eared' dogs, and even more common if they are on a grain based diet.

Is there anything I can do for it?

 

[AlleysChicks]

Yep she’s got yeasty ears. Take her to the vet and they will give you medicated ear drops for her. Trust me when I say you don’t want it to get worse. We had a cocker that had chronic yeasty ears. Poor guy. He was one 3 meds at once for awhile.

 

[sourland]

some folks flush with a weak acidic solution, but if she were mine, I would take her to the vet and have a culture done on the ears.

 

[OkieChickenGal]

Would peroxide work?

 

[Rick M]

We had a lab for years and she always had ear problems if your rub her ears at the base and against her head area you will probable be able to hear them squish sounding. We had to get medicated drops from vet but were never really able to get it to completely clear up or dry put in her ears. Psuedoephederine works in human ears to get rid of fluid not sure if it would work in dogs but might be a question to ask the vet as a better option to dry out the ears.

 

[Kessel23]

It is definitely a yeast infection, I have never had any of my GSDs get a ear yeast infection but I did have one get a yeast infection under her collar, it smelled horrible and was disgusting. We took her to the vet to get medication. You definitely need to bring her to a vet, do not try to pour peroxide in her ears...

 

[christwodog]

Zymox works well, they make a cleanser and drops to put in the ear. Petco has it, Amazon also carries it.

 

[Jessi.Smith]

And, once you get it cleared up, you have to keep an eye out for ear infections in the future.
I could catch them early by scratching my dogs ears at the base (below the ear hole) and listening for a sticky wet sound. Then I used the Zymox mentioned above and have not had a problem since. I have 3 toy poodles the before Zymox probably had an ear infection once every 6 months or so.