Ears smell?!

[abitwhiffy]

Does anyone know why my cocker spaniel's ears always smell like sweaty socks that have been left in the bottom of the washing basket for too long? He is regularly groomed / bathed and according to the groomer she doesn't think there is any ear problem / infection. She just said to keep the ear hair shorter. Is there anything we can do? I can't believe that ears can cause so much of a smell. We get a waft every time he walks past and it's horrible! Makes the room smell too.

A groomer would struggle to tell there was an infection unless it had migrated up to the outer ear. Get the dog to vet for a proper look inside the ear (and maybe a swab) to be sure...

If there is no infection as confirmed by a vet, then thornit is brilliant for keeping spaniel ears smelling fresh.

Does it smell different to his front paws?

I get a kind of not unpleasant 'hoover smell' from my dog, near his ears and front legs and back paws.

When any/all of him smells strong, he gets a coat clipping from me and a bath with a brief blow-dry after.

TBH I would take the dog to the vets to check rather than rely on a groomer to decide whether there is a problem.

Spaniels are notorious for getting things in their ears like grass seeds etc.

Thanks for your replies. Yes we will take him to the vet but just wanted to see if anyone else had this problem.

@ClapHandsAndSaveTheFairies that's the smell, like a hoover bag! We keep him pretty clean it's just the ears.

Try Thornit powder from Amazon. Works a treat in our cockapoos ears - a pinch of the powder on the inside of the ears and then rubbed in

Brilliant thanks @FlipperyGibbet will have a look.

My dogs ears smell from the oils and wax he produces.

No ear infection. Vet checked multiple times a year because of his scent and I was convinced there's an ear infection.

Another vote for Thornit. Just the tiniest pinch needed. Once confirmed by vet that there's no infection going on.

We have this ongoing problem with our Basset hound and i guess the same problem would occur with a spaniel. Because their ears droop low they don't get any air to them. Whenever my dog starts smelling it is always because of her ears - she goes all houndy smelling/just general whiffiness. We have to clean her ears out with solutions from the vets regularly. You squirt it down, massage in and then wipe clean with a cotton wool ball. Sometimes just wipe them out without the cleaning solution. The smell goes away. There is always dark brown gunk in there and we often have to get drops if they get infected. It is a constant problem due to the anatomy of the ears. We have tried a variety of cleansers but the one we are using at the moment is Otoact ear cleanser.

@abitwhiffy We have a cocker too- his ears always smell really nice to me 😂

I would suspect an infection or damp ears maybe if it smells bad?

This thread has made me sniff my cocker's ears. Can't smell anything strong.

His paws though are a mild malty smell which I love.

I love my sprockers very faint honey smelling ears and cheese doritoes paw smell!

My lab's currently got a manky ear, the amount of shite that comes out with each clean is shocking, she shook her head yesterday and a chunk the size of a pea flew out. She's having drops twice a day but it's still manky since weekend and it stinks. Defo get it checked

My vet said a healthy dogs ears should smell like digestive biscuits and I have to admit when they are clean and infection free they do smell like that!

My cocker puppy’s ears smell strong but they don’t seem to hurt him and they aren’t inflamed. It’s kind of like feet too. His paws smell of biscuits. I’ve been wondering if the feet smell is normal!

It isn’t as strong as you describe though.

Thanks all. His ears aren't dirty, not itching, red or sore, no head shaking - they just smell like old socks / hoover bag! Definitely coming from inside his ears and not his body.

yeast possibly? Our labradoodle is prone to excess yeast in her ears which when we don't clean regularly turns into infections