Your quick-start guide

these aren't flat pads. the wipe is a glove — it goes over your fingertip, which is the whole point of the design. you get reach and you can feel what you're doing, which is exactly what you can't do pinching a folded pad.

• Slide the wipe over your index finger. tuck the loose end into your palm so it stays put.
• Lift the ear flap and have a look first. ten seconds. you want to know what normal looks like for your dog so you notice when it changes.
• Wipe the flap and the visible folds. the underside of the ear flap and the ridges at the ear opening — that's where wax and grime collect.
• Go only as far as your finger naturally reaches. no pushing, no digging. if you're forcing it, you're too deep. the ear canal cleans itself outward; your job is to remove what it has already brought up.
• A fresh wipe for the second ear. always. if there's anything going on in one ear you don't want it in the other.
• Then a treat and be done. two minutes, both ears. a dog who gets paid for ear time stops objecting to ear time.

the honest answer is "it depends on the ear", so here's how to work out where your dog sits.

• Upright ears, short coat, no history. a check every couple of weeks is plenty, and a wipe when you see something.
• Floppy or hairy ears. cockers, labs, doodles, spaniels, bassets — once a week. a folded-over ear is a warm, closed, humid space, which is exactly the environment that lets problems build quietly.
• Swimmers and bath days. a wipe after water. moisture sitting in the canal is the single most common way a mild ear becomes a sore one.
• Dogs with itchy skin generally. the ear canal is lined with the same skin as the rest of them, so an itchy dog is often an itchy-eared dog. weekly, and see the last chapter.

• Don't use a cotton swab. ever. it pushes debris further in, and it can do real damage to an eardrum you can't see. this is the one that lands dogs at the vet.
• Don't clean an ear that's clearly painful. a dog who flinches, yelps or pulls away hard from a gentle touch has something going on that needs looking at first. wiping it will hurt and won't help.
• Don't put anything else down there. not water, not vinegar, not hydrogen peroxide, not olive oil, not tea tree. the internet is full of these and they're a good way to inflame a canal that was only mildly irritated.
• Don't pluck the ear hair unless someone has shown you how. it's a debate even among professionals, and done badly it leaves tiny wounds in exactly the wrong place. trimming around the opening is safer than plucking from it.

pH balanced and hypoallergenic, built to clean and soothe in the same pass rather than strip and move on.

• Aloe vera — soothes and calms irritated skin.
• Chamomile — gentle botanical comfort, which matters when you're wiping skin that's already unhappy.
• Licorice root and allantoin — support sensitive, itch-prone skin.
• Glycerin — a humectant, so the ear isn't left dried out afterwards.

55 finger-glove wipes per tub. external use only, avoid the eyes, and don't use on broken or badly irritated skin — see the next chapter.

these wipes are for routine hygiene — removing wax and buildup, soothing everyday irritation, and keeping the ear fresh. they are not a treatment for an ear infection, and we're not going to pretend they are. ear problems get painful quickly and they're one of the more common reasons dogs end up at the vet.

none of those are a cleaning problem. they need diagnosing, because bacterial, yeast and mite problems all look similar from the outside and need different treatment — and the wrong one makes it worse.

• If the ears keep coming back. recurring ear trouble is very often a skin or allergy issue showing up in the easiest place for it to show up. the ear canal is the same skin as the rest of your dog. Skin & Coat works on that barrier from the inside, and it has a full 90-day guide.
• If it comes with gut trouble too. loose stool, gas and recurring ear or skin problems in the same dog is worth looking at as one picture rather than three. Probiotic is where we'd start.