Firstly if your dog has very red, itchy, inflamed and painful ears, see your Vet before you start cleaning. It is quite likely your dog has an ear infection, so ear cleaning will not do much good at this point. If your dog has an infection severe enough to damage the ear drum, some ear cleaners can damage the ear further.

HOW TO CLEAN YOUR DOGS EARS

1 Give your pet a treat for sitting and show him the ear cleaner.
2 Gently hold the flap of the ear upright and fill the ear canal with ear cleaner. Direct the tube vertically downwards.
3 Keep a hold of the ear and move your hand down to where the ear meets the head.
4 Massage at the base of the ear, aiming to mix the ear cleaner around within the ear canal. You should get a great squelchy noise if you are doing this correctly.
5 After you have massaged the ear for 20 seconds, stand back and let go of the ear.
6 Your dog should now vigorously shake his head.
7 Grab a cotton pad and use it to wipe out the folds at the opening of the ear canal until it looks pretty clean.
8 Give your dog a treat and repeat with the other ear.

Remember if you see lots of redness, the ears are particularly smelly or they are painful, see your Vet. Your pet most likely has an ear infection and ear cleaning may be too painful and damaging to perform.

Ear cleaning is included in every full groom.