Advice on difficult dog

[cajuntank]

I have a Shih Tzu that will not let me pull the hair out of her ears. She pulls away very forcefully and I can not seem to get it done. The noose doesn't hold her in place enough that she can not jerk away. Has anyone had this problem? If so, what do you do about it?

Thanks!

[rainingcats&dogs]

groomers helper,but if the hair is in there to tight i wont do it,i tell the owner,

[PetsRus]

If they are too bad I leave it go. Sometimes I use the groomers helper rigged up with the cable noose not too tight though but enough for them to hold still.

[pamperedpups]

Edited.

[Helly]

I personally don't think the average Shih Tzu needs to have ear hair pulled at all. There just isn't enough in there to cause a problem. I haven't seen one yet that has a massive amount of ear hair. Not saying it can't happen, just that I've never run into one.

Even on the poodles and schnauzers that seem to be growing a carpet, I only pluck with my fingers, and only the hair that comes out easily. The rest of it isn't ready to come out, so it stays. I do shave as closely as possible. But I don't ever pluck ear canals completely clean on any dog.

[KarlaSnyder]

I have a few like that too. Will she let you shave around the ear opening? That alone can open up her ears for air. Unless she grows a ton of ear hair, why bother plucking at all. If you must pluck, try this. I use an old Rescoe show lead-no grooming loop-that will reach to the floor. I step on the lead, forcing the dog to lay down. With the lead tight, they can't back up or move too much and the pressure is at the back of the head, not the throat. This has worked well for quite a few dogs who eventually give up the fight and let me pluck or shave their ears.

[CountryCanines]

If they are THAT bad I let it go...... I used to do 2 Shih Tzu's that were HORRIBLE for their ears. They were from 2 different litters, but had the same Sire. I used to tease the owner that their daddy passed down his anti-ear hair plucking behaviors LOL. Its just not worth stressing them out that badly. I would try to shave the inside best I could, and thats the best I could do. They never had an ear infection in the years that I groomed them either.

[Arrooh]

Yep groomers helper

would help. But I also quit pulling hair out of ears. Just barely on some, some just shave around. When I thought and thought about it, I thought where in the world did anyone get the idea to pull (ouch) the hair out of a dogs ears was a good idea. Seems absurd to me. Now it can be a moist and tangly area under the front legs, so just pluck the hair out under their legs. Not, but seems not far from the same idea.

[Maggy]

Here's one thing that I've found works for some dogs:

Lets say you are plucking the right ear, have the dog on the table and stand next to him with the dog on your left. Wrap your left arm around him and hold the right elbow with your left hand. Now use your right hand to flip the ear open and pluck the hair. Depending on the dog, I can sometimes get the left ear at the same time, but sometimes I need to switch and just do the reverse of everything.

It works even better if you use the GH at the same time.

[Kim in SD]

I will tell customers with those types of dogs, that they must see a vet to have the hair removed. "Fluffy, really threw a fit when I tried ear plucking, I do not want to stress her out, and they're might be an underlying problem, she needs to see the vet, and I'll be happy to follow up if she permits".