Ear problems are far easier to settle early than late, and the earliest evidence is usually behaviour, spotted during ordinary life rather than a formal inspection. Build a gentle weekly habit: lift each ear flap in good light, look at the skin you can see without probing, sniff, and notice how your dog responds to having the ear handled. A dog who has always tolerated ear checks and now pulls away is giving you information before anything hurts badly. Compare the two ears with each other, since trouble often starts on one side only.
The Behaviour Signs Come First
The sign set to learn is consistent: head shaking, scratching at an ear, tilting the head to one side, rubbing the head along furniture or rolling it on the ground, and a new reluctance to have the ears touched. One head shake after a bath means nothing; head shaking repeated through an ordinary evening, or scratching that keeps returning to the same ear, is the early pattern worth acting on. Note which ear, when it started, and whether swimming, bathing or a walk through long grass came just before, since water and grass seeds are frequent starting points, particularly in spaniels and other drop-eared breeds whose flaps trap warmth and moisture.
What You Can See and Smell
Inside a healthy ear flap the skin looks pale pink and fairly clean, with a little light wax and no strong odour. Early trouble changes that picture: redness spreading across the inner flap, dark wax building up, discharge of any colour, a thickened or rough feel to the skin, or a sour, yeasty smell that was not there last week. Hair matted with discharge, scabs at the flap edge from scratching, or one ear clearly worse than the other all belong in the same report to the vet. Warmth in one ear compared with the other, felt gently through the flap, is worth adding to that report as well. Look only at what shows itself; do not push cotton buds or instruments down the canal, which is L-shaped, delicate and easy to damage.
What Not to Do at Home
Resist the cupboard of leftovers. Do not put drops, cleaners or home remedies into an ear that is red, smelly or sore, and do not clean a painful ear repeatedly hoping it settles: anything put into the ear canal can complicate the vet's examination, and some products are unsafe if the eardrum is damaged, which only a scope check can rule out. Keeping the ear dry and booking the appointment is the helpful move. Keeping water out of the ears during baths, and drying the flaps after swimming, belong to prevention for healthy ears, not treatment for sore ones.
When to Book, and What to Tell the Vet
Book promptly when you see the behaviour signs alongside redness, discharge or smell, and the same day if there is a sudden head tilt, loss of balance, a swollen flap, obvious pain, or any chance a grass seed went in during a walk, since those can deteriorate quickly. Tell the vet which ear, when signs began, what the discharge and smell are like, recent swimming or grooming, and whether this has happened before. Early ears usually need a look down the canal, sometimes a sample examined, and a plan; established infections need far more.
Written episode notes, dated as you spot them, stop repeat ear trouble from blurring into one long complaint, and in KinsLe the Pet Passport keeps those dates and findings filed with your dog's wider health record for the practice.