Smells yeasty. As soon as you lift the ear flap you smell it. The warm and wet environment of the dog's ears are the perfect "brewing" ground for a yeast infection.

Talk to your vet, maybe they should be cleaned more often. Our middle lab has problem with yeast infections in his ears constantly. We use Oti-Calm - got it from our vet. Ears cleaned thoroughly at least 3 times per week. He gets prescription drops when he has the actual yeast infection in the ear. The color is light to dark brown depending on how bad they are and how long its been since they were cleaned. I can pick his ear up and it hits you.

Best bet if you have any question, take a dry q-tip and swab the ear area. Take it over to the vet and they will look at it under a microscope. My vet can tell by looking at the sample and I have been in with this particular dog so many times with this issue that we now just take a q-tip of crud to be looked at. Sometimes it comes back that the ear is just dirty.

I am not familiar with your breed's inherent issues, but it may be one since they have such long ear flaps - no air gets in???

Those bassets are so cute:)))).

I had a Shepard/Lab female that had this problem constantly. I think it's because the ears are down and don't get enough air. She also developed ear infections.

When I got my puppy, the vet said to use "no scent baby wipes" on her ears because puppies can get ear infections easily. I did this, and have had no problems.

Perhaps the warm cloth you are using is contributing to the problem. Are they getting a bath without cotton being put in their ears? Groomers should not do the area above the neck, but put cotton in ears to prevent water from getting in.

I don't know if the stuff is yeast.

Good luck!

SG

What allows yeast to grow to abnormal amounts on the skin and ears, or other parts of the body is due to an off pH balance. An ear canal that is irritated from food or airborne allergies the dog starts scratching bacteria gets in with ear wax then attracts yeast spores to germinate.
This whole process usually starts with allergies either atopy or food and until you get to the cause it usually becomes a vicious cycle.
First you need to have the ear debris cultured, apply the meds given than try and work on the cause.
From a diet perspective which is also the easiest fix is to try eliminating as may grains from the diet as possible
starting with wheat. In fact finding a grainless diet is the most productive with ruling out food allergies.
Second is atopy reasons which is the hardest to fix. Dogs that have allergies to grasses, pollens, molds etc. need to avoid these things as best possible and need some xtra care in treating the problems as well. Antihistamines, fish oil, desensitizing treatments are all that's available but not all work.When ever I am helping with a yeast problem I always try the diet route first and many times that's all it takes, but there are alot of hard core atopy allergies that require more treatments. Just remember not all ear problems are yeast and not all are bacterial, sometimes they are one or the other many times both and need to be cultured to treat both correctly.

I have cockers and they are prone to yeast problems in their ears. I smell their ears at least every other day to make sure I'm on top of it if a yeast problem starts. I also add at least a tablespoon of yogurt to their food at each feeding. I also add acidophilus pills at the first sign of an odor. This doesn't keep all yeast problems away, but sure helps with them. Any dog with long floppy ears can have yeast problems.

I just had my labradoodle at the vet's for her check up and complained for the second time that as soon as the antibotics were gone, the ears smelled again and again. She is now on dog food only, fish based, no animal based anything. No treats or anything but the food. within three days and drops again, the ears have cleared up once again. The vet believes it is an alergy to something, so after a three month off of everything, we can start introducing things back to here week to week. he said if it was an alergy, the ears would have the yeast infection with three days of eating it. We have to keep the ears washed and pull the hair out as best as we can. They don't seem to hurt her, but she does shake her head alot when they flare up.

I battled food allergies for years with my beloved Tara before I lost her this year.

She was allergic to corn, a common filler in commercial dog foods, because it's a cheap filler. Problem is, dogs are not built to digest corn. After I put her on a hypoallergic food (venison and potato), her situation cleared up some, but not entirely. Battling ear issue was a life long commitment.

I have another dog that is allergic to wheat, now she is on venison/potato.

I have discovered that numerous vets simply don't recognize allergies and skin issues that can be very serious. I have used a veterinary/dermatologist for all skin issues for about 8 years. The key to curing a skin problem when giving medication, is to ask the vet when it should clear. If it doesnÂt clear when it's supposed to, quiz the vet about why things are not right. If vet want's to switch medications, ask how long it should take to fix the problem. After two attempts, if the vet can't fix it, you should consider other options.

Also, when a dog has skin problems around the face, neck and head area, it is very possible that there is a food allergy involved.

Hard lesson learned, but a valuable one.

SG