ears

It depends on your basset. Most show bassets (and some others) have such long heavy ears that yes if you do not keep them clean they will have infections. Our bagel and our other basset we had never had problems with their ears. Our show dog needs to have her ears cleaned once a week in the summer (due to a yeasty build up), not much in the winter. There is a fantastic homemade remedy you can mix up and it works wonders.

Purple Ear Cleaner

Ingredients:
16 oz. 70 % Isopropyl Alcohol
4 Tablespoons Boric Acid Powder
16 Drops of Gentian Violet Solution 1%

Mix together in alcohol bottle and shake well. (You will also need to shake the solution every time you use it to disperse the Boric Acid Powder.) Transfer solution to a squirt bottle.

Put a generous amount in ears, rub ears and wipe out excess.
For chronic ears, squirt a couple of drops in ears daily and leave in.

You may have to get the Boric Acid Powder and the Gentian Violet solution from behind the pharmacist’s counter.

This recipe has proven effective in most chronic cases.

Since we started using this we haven’t had any problems with ears since.