Dogs can be sometimes annoyed when people touching or cleaning their ears. If your dog is uncomfortable, rather than forcing the issue, take the time now to address this with care so that you will ultimately save time in the long run. We’ll show you a training plan that you can utilize as a guide in helping your dog feel more comfortable and relaxed while cleaning his ears.

The Training Process

Before beginning, be sure that the dog is in a relaxed state. You’ll need to have cotton balls and some high-value treats available. It is recommended that you work on stationing behavior prior to the ear-cleaning plan.

1. First, touch the dog’s ear gently for one second with just one finger. Click (keep clicker away from ear when clicking to avoid frightening the dog) or mark with your verbal marker and provide a small yummy treat. As a reminder you can always use a verbal marker instead of a clicker; if using a verbal marker, you can replace the “click” with the word “good” or “yes,” but just as with the clicker, you will want to follow the marker with a treat!
2. Then, touch the other ear gently for a second. Click or use your verbal marker “yes.” Again, if using a clicker, keep the clicker away from the dog’s ear.
3. Next, touch the ear gently for two seconds. Mark and treat for calm behavior.
4. Then, touch the ear for four seconds. Click or use your 
verbal marker “yes” and treat, assuming that the dog
 remains relaxed. If the dog is anxious or reactive in any way, back up to Step 1. In order to build the duration of the dog’s allowing you to manipulate his ear, you first have to build a positive reinforcement history of the dog allowing his ear to be touched.
5. Now you will start to bounce back and forth between a shorter and a longer touch. As such, this time touch the ear for only two seconds. Click or use your verbal marker “yes” and treat.
6. Then, touch the dog’s ear for a second. Click or use your verbal marker “yes” and treat.
7. Now touch for five seconds. Click or use your verbal marker “yes,” and treat again for relaxed behavior.
8. Touch for two seconds. Click and treat.
9. Touch for eight seconds. Click and treat.
   Tip: The total amount of time needed for an ear cleaning will be determined by the individual dog—however, a suggestion may be that you ultimately shape the dog to allow thirty seconds for a procedure that requires only holding the ear for ten seconds, so that when you actually do the procedure, it seems “easy”.
10. Once you have a long enough duration of only touching the dog’s ears, its time to add the second component. The next phase will be to hold the dog’s ear with one hand and touch the inside of the ear with a cotton ball or Q-tip. Repeat the steps above while adding in the new element of the behavior – the cotton ball – but reducing the touch time to a much shorter duration at first, as we have now added a new element.
11. Touch and hold the ear for two seconds. At the same time, use the other hand to touch the inside of the ear with a cotton ball for one second. Click and treat if the dog does not try to react, move away, etc.
12. Touch and hold the ear for one second (no cotton ball). Click and treat.
13. Touch and hold the ear for four seconds. During these four seconds, touch the ear with a cotton ball for a second. Click and treat. Little by little, you want to build up a longer and longer duration before adding in the next element—moving the cotton ball around.
14. Next, touch and hold the ear for four seconds while you gently move the cotton ball around inside the ear for a second. Click or use your verbal marker “yes,” and treat for calm behavior.
15. Touch and hold the ear for two seconds while you gently move the cotton ball around the inside of the ear for a brief second or two. If the dog is calm, click and treat; if the dog reacts by showing stress or by trying to move away, back up a few steps and slowly try again. Make it easy for the dog to get it “correct”!
16. Touch and hold the ear for six seconds while gently moving a cotton ball around inside the ear for two to three seconds. Be sure to click (or use your “yes” verbal marker) and treat for the dog remaining calm throughout the process.

You will notice that as the above steps advance, they do not get more difficult, but rather bounce between more challenging versions and easier ones. This prevents the dog from becoming more frustrated and fearful, and deciding that he doesn’t like the “game”.