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A head tilt, circling, loss of balance, a drooping eyelid or lip on one side, or a dog who cries when the ear is touched means the infection may have passed the eardrum into the middle or inner ear — vet today. So does a suddenly swollen, puffy ear flap (an aural haematoma from head-shaking), a puppy with black crumbly discharge (mites, which spread), or any ear that is bleeding. None of these is a home-care situation, and putting liquid into an ear with a ruptured eardrum can cause permanent deafness.
The short answer: you can clean a dog's ear at home; you cannot cure an ear infection at home, and the two things most pages recommend for it — hydrogen peroxide and vinegar — are the two things veterinary references specifically say not to use. The Merck Veterinary Manual warns that "vinegar dilutions" and other home remedies irritate the canal and promote opportunistic infection; peroxide foams, stings and leaves water behind in an ear that is already too wet. An ear infection is almost always yeast or bacteria growing in a canal made abnormal by something else — and VCA puts allergies behind as many as 43% of cases, with dogs who have food allergies developing ear infections 65 to 80% of the time. The medication has to match the organism (a yeast drop does nothing for Pseudomonas), and a vet needs to look at the eardrum before anything goes in the ear. The good news: the look-and-swab is one of the cheapest things a vet does, and nearly every diagnosed infection is managed successfully. What you can do at home is real but narrower than the internet says: a proper dog ear cleaner for waxy ears, drying after swimming, and treating the allergy that keeps bringing it back.
Written by Marc Brannigan, Co-Founder & CEO of HempMy Pet. Last updated 14 October 2026.
What You Can Do at Home — and What You Can't
The honest split. Most "home remedy" pages blur it, and dogs get deaf ears and chronic infections as a result.
A veterinary ear cleaner (ceruminolytic for waxy ears; Merck: two to three times a week for thick, waxy debris) on a healthy or mildly waxy ear. Drying the canal after swimming or baths. Plucking or trimming hair at the opening in hairy-eared breeds. Treating the allergy that is the real reason it keeps coming back. These keep a normal ear normal.
You cannot see the eardrum, and you cannot tell yeast from cocci from rods by smell. VCA's position is plain: no over-the-counter drops without a diagnosis, because the drug has to match the organism and some medications cause hearing loss through a damaged drum. A "natural" product poured into a ruptured ear is still a liquid in the middle ear.
Hydrogen peroxide foams, irritates and leaves moisture. Vinegar — Merck names it — irritates the canal and encourages opportunistic infection, and stings raw skin badly. Alcohol is painful and drying on inflamed tissue. Cotton buds push debris down and can rupture the drum. Olive oil, coconut oil and essential oils trap debris and feed yeast.
You can clean an ear at home. You cannot cure one. The two remedies the internet loves — peroxide and vinegar — are the two the veterinary manuals tell you to keep out of it.
Why It Keeps Coming Back: The Four Layers
Merck organises ear disease into causes that start it, things that make it likely, infections that move in, and damage that keeps it going. Treating only the infection is why dogs get "another" ear infection every few months.
| Layer | What it is | Examples | What fixes it |
|---|---|---|---|
| Primary cause | The thing that made a normal ear abnormal in the first place | Allergy (environmental or food — VCA: up to 43% of cases; 65–80% of food-allergic dogs get ear infections), ear mites, hypothyroidism, a foreign body (grass seed), a polyp or tumour | Diagnosing and treating this. An ear that keeps reinfecting after clearing is an allergy or thyroid problem until proven otherwise |
| Predisposing factors | Things that made the ear a good place for trouble before it started | Floppy, hairy or narrow ears (Cockers, Poodles, Old English Sheepdogs, Basset Hounds), swimming, humidity, over-cleaning | Drying after water, hair management, a cleaning routine that is regular but not daily |
| Secondary infection | What has actually moved in | Malassezia yeast (brown, waxy, sweet-smelling), Staphylococcus (yellow, pus), Pseudomonas (foul, often painful, forms biofilm and resists drugs) | The matching antifungal or antibiotic drop — chosen from a swab under a microscope, not from a shelf |
| Perpetuating factors | Damage from chronic inflammation that now keeps the ear sick on its own | Narrowed, thickened canal; ruptured eardrum; infection behind the drum (otitis media) | Anti-inflammatories, longer courses, imaging, sometimes surgery. This is where neglected ears end up |
Framework and organisms from the Merck Veterinary Manual; allergy percentages and diagnostic steps from VCA Animal Hospitals. The allergy link is the same one behind itchy paws and seasonal scratching — see home remedies for dog itching.
How to Clean a Dog's Ear Properly
For a healthy ear, a waxy ear, or an ear your vet has already examined and told you to clean. Not for a painful, smelly, discharging ear you have not had looked at.
- Use a veterinary ear cleaner, not a kitchen ingredient. For waxy ears Merck recommends a ceruminolytic (one containing carbamide peroxide or DSS); for a dog with a history of rod bacteria, one containing tris-EDTA. Your vet will tell you which. Never a cleaner with alcohol on an inflamed ear.
- Fill the canal. Lift the flap, squeeze cleaner in until the canal is full — more than feels right. Do not let the bottle tip touch the ear.
- Massage the base of the ear for 20–30 seconds. You will hear it squelch. That is the wax loosening.
- Stand back and let them shake. The shake brings debris up to where you can reach it.
- Wipe only what you can see with cotton wool or gauze around a finger. Never a cotton bud into the canal.
- How often: Merck — two or three times a week for thick, waxy ears; once or twice daily only for heavy discharge under veterinary direction. For a healthy ear, every week or two, and after every swim. Daily cleaning of a healthy ear is itself a cause of otitis — Merck lists over-cleaning as a secondary cause.
- Stop and call the vet if the dog cries, if there is blood, or if the eardrum has not been checked and the ear is painful — Merck is explicit that detergent-type cleaners are contraindicated with a ruptured drum, and only saline or tris-EDTA should be used.
"I Can't Afford the Vet" — What's Actually True
This is a real question people type, and it deserves a real answer rather than a recipe.
An ear exam with a swab under the microscope is among the cheapest diagnostic visits in veterinary medicine — it is an otoscope and a slide, and most practices charge a basic consultation for it. The expensive ear is the one that was treated at home for two months with vinegar and then arrived with a narrowed canal, a ruptured drum and Pseudomonas, which is where culture, imaging and sometimes surgery come in. So the cost-saving move is the early visit, not the late one. If money is tight today: call your vet and say so — many will do a cytology-only visit, dispense a generic drop, and defer the full work-up. Look for a low-cost clinic, a vet-school teaching hospital, or a charity clinic in your area. Ask about a payment plan. Meanwhile, keep the ear dry, do not put anything in it, stop the dog scratching it raw (a soft cone), and photograph the discharge daily so the vet can see the trajectory. What does not help is a week of home remedies that turns a cheap problem into an expensive one.
Where Hemp Fits — and Where It Doesn't
We make hemp products for dogs, so here is the straight answer.
Yeast and bacteria in an ear canal are killed by antifungals and antibiotics chosen from a swab. Hemp does not do that, and nothing goes in a dog's ear that a vet has not approved. Any page suggesting hemp or CBD drops in the ear is suggesting something unsafe.
The reason ears keep reinfecting is usually allergy, and there is no published trial of hemp for allergic disease in dogs. Fish oil has more evidence for allergic skin than we do. We will not claim what the science does not support.
Hemp's trial evidence in dogs is joint comfort — five published osteoarthritis studies, one of them ours — with a secondary place in predictable stress. A senior dog with sore ears and sore hips, or a dog who finds the ear drops a nightly battle, is where it belongs in the picture. See what the studies actually found.
If your dog is on antibiotics, antifungals, steroids or Apoquel for the ears, read hemp and your dog's medications first. Serving by weight is how ours is worked out.
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When to Call the Vet
Go today if:
- Head tilt, circling, stumbling, flicking eyes, or a drooping face on one side — the infection may be past the eardrum
- A suddenly swollen, soft, puffy ear flap — a haematoma
- Bleeding, or a dog who screams when the ear is touched
- A grass seed or foreign body suspected — sudden violent head-shaking after a walk
Book this week if:
- Any smell, discharge, redness, or head-shaking that has lasted more than a day or two
- A second ear infection within a few months — the allergy conversation
- Black, crumbly, coffee-ground discharge in a puppy or a multi-pet household — mites
- An ear you have been cleaning at home that is not improving in a week, or that hurts
- A dog whose ears are infected and whose paws are itchy, or whose coat and energy have changed — allergy or thyroid work-up
Frequently Asked Questions
How do I treat my dog's ear infection at home?
You cannot cure one at home, because the drop has to match the organism — yeast, cocci or rods — and only a swab under a microscope tells you which, and because a vet has to check the eardrum first; some medications cause deafness through a damaged drum. What you can do at home is clean a waxy ear with a veterinary ear cleaner two or three times a week, keep it dry after swimming, stop the dog scratching it raw, and treat the allergy that is usually underneath. Do not use peroxide, vinegar, alcohol or oils, and do not put over-the-counter drops in an undiagnosed ear.
What should I do if my dog has an ear infection but I can't afford a vet?
Call the vet and say exactly that: an ear exam with a swab is one of the cheapest visits there is, and many practices will do a cytology-only consult with a generic drop and defer the full work-up. Try a low-cost clinic, a vet-school hospital or a charity clinic, and ask about a payment plan. In the meantime keep the ear dry, put nothing in it, use a soft cone if the dog is scratching, and photograph the ear daily. The expensive ear infection is the one that was treated at home for two months first and arrived with a ruptured eardrum and a resistant infection.
Can you put hydrogen peroxide in a dog's ear infection?
No. Hydrogen peroxide foams in the canal, irritates inflamed skin, and leaves moisture behind in an ear that is already too wet — moisture is one of Merck's predisposing factors for otitis. If the eardrum is ruptured, which you cannot tell from outside, it goes into the middle ear. The same applies to vinegar, which Merck specifically warns against as a home remedy that irritates the canal and promotes opportunistic infection, and to alcohol. Use a veterinary ear cleaner, and only on an ear a vet has looked at.
Can my dog's ear infection heal on its own?
Rarely, and the attempt costs more than it saves. The organisms — Malassezia yeast, Staphylococcus, Pseudomonas — are living in a canal made abnormal by allergy, mites, moisture or shape, and that underlying cause does not go away by itself. Untreated, VCA lists the consequences: aural haematoma, eardrum damage, infection spreading to the middle and inner ear, and permanent hearing loss. A mild, early infection cleared with the right drop in two to four weeks is a cheap problem; a chronic one is a surgical one.
Why does my dog keep getting ear infections?
Because the infection is the symptom, not the disease. VCA puts allergies behind as many as 43% of ear infections, and 65 to 80% of dogs with food allergies get them; hypothyroidism, ear shape, swimming and over-cleaning are the other repeat causes. If the ear clears on drops and reinfects within weeks or months, the primary cause has not been treated. The fix is an allergy work-up — often a diet trial — or a thyroid test, not another bottle of drops.
What does a yeast ear infection look like versus a bacterial one?
Yeast (Malassezia) typically produces brown, waxy, greasy debris with a sweet or musty smell and a lot of itching. Bacterial infections produce yellow, creamy or pus-like discharge; Pseudomonas in particular is foul-smelling, often painful, and may be greenish. But the overlap is large, mixed infections are common, and the medication has to match — which is why a vet swabs the ear and looks under the microscope rather than guessing from the smell.
How often should I clean my dog's ears?
For a healthy ear, every one to two weeks and after every swim, with a veterinary cleaner. For a waxy ear, Merck recommends a ceruminolytic cleaner two or three times a week. Daily cleaning of a healthy ear is itself a cause of ear disease — Merck lists over-cleaning among the secondary causes — so more is not better. Fill the canal, massage the base, let the dog shake, wipe only what you can see. Never a cotton bud into the canal.
Can hemp or CBD help my dog's ear infection?
Not the infection — yeast and bacteria need the matching antifungal or antibiotic, and nothing goes in a dog's ear without a vet's say-so; any page suggesting hemp drops in the ear is suggesting something unsafe. Nor the allergy underneath, for which there is no canine trial of hemp. Hemp's trial evidence in dogs is joint comfort, with a secondary place in predictable stress, so it fits only if the dog with ear trouble is also stiff or anxious. Tell your vet before combining it with ear medication or Apoquel.
The Short Version
You can clean an ear at home; you cannot cure an infection at home. Peroxide, vinegar, alcohol, oils and cotton buds stay out of it. A vet needs to see the eardrum and swab the canal, because the drop has to match the organism — and that visit is cheap, while the neglected ear is not. Then fix what keeps bringing it back: allergy in up to 43% of cases, thyroid, moisture, ear shape. Clean waxy ears two or three times a week with a proper cleaner; dry after swimming; never daily on a healthy ear.
Hemp has no role in the ear, no trial for the allergy underneath, and belongs only with the dog who is also stiff or stressed — with a vet in the loop.
Hemp for Dogs → Home Remedies for Dog Itching
Dog Itching · Dog Licking Paws · Why Is My Dog Shaking · Hemp Side Effects · Serving by Weight
Marc co-founded HempMy Pet in 2016 with his business partner Natalie Mondine, the company's COO. HempMy Pet breeds its own hemp genetics, grows them on its certified-organic Colorado farm, and formulates every batch in-house under human-grade standards — seed to sale, nothing sourced overseas. Every batch is third-party tested and the certificates of analysis are published. More about us.
HempMy Pet ran its own 90-day study of 37 dogs with chronic joint discomfort. Of the 32 that completed it, 30 (93%) showed a benefit, and 94% of owners reported their dog's quality of life had improved. It was overseen by Dr. Robin Downing, DVM, MS of the Downing Center for Animal Pain Management, with Lori Kogan, Ph.D. and Peter W. Hellyer, DVM of Colorado State University's College of Veterinary Medicine & Biomedical Sciences, and published in the Journal of the American Holistic Veterinary Medical Association. Read the methodology.
Why Dr. Downing: in 2005 she became only the third veterinarian in the world credentialed as a Diplomate of the American Academy of Pain Management. She founded the International Veterinary Academy of Pain Management, is a Diplomate of the ACVSMR, a Certified Veterinary Pain Practitioner and a Certified Canine Rehabilitation Practitioner, and was the AVMA's 2020 Bustad Companion Animal Veterinarian of the Year. Chronic joint pain is her life's work. Read the published paper (PDF).
This article is general information for dog owners, not veterinary advice. It is reviewed and updated as new peer-reviewed evidence is published, and where the evidence is thin or negative we say so.
These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. These products are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease. This article is general information, not veterinary advice. If your dog is unwell, contact your veterinarian.
