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How to clean my dog's ears, teeth, trim nails, brush fur, and bathe?

Updated On September 23rd, 2025

Pet's info: Dog | German Shepherd | Male | unneutered | 5 years and 11 months old | 81 lbs

1.How to clean my dog's ears and teeth and trim his nails properly? 2.My dog has quite a lot of fur, which kind of brush should I get? 3.My dog can't sit still on a bathub. Should I bathe him without one?

2 Answers

Most Helpful Answer

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Answered By Jeffrey Milner

Veterinarian

Published on April 27th, 2017

All good questions!. Dog's ears are shaped a little bit differently than people's ears. You don't have to be very scared of damaging the ear drums because the canals are L-shaped. As long and you go straight in and do not try and bend a q-tip in a 90 degree angle, there should be very little chance for damage. A cleansing formulation should be available at most pet stores. Deposit this into the ear first, massage at the base of the ear, and then clean the ear with gauze and/or q-tips. Be sure to get most of the liquid out, as leaving residual moisture in the ears can actually cause an infection. As far as teeth, tooth brushes and doggy toothpaste is readily available at your vet or a pet store. You don't have to brush them every night, but once or twice a week would be great. Depending on the color your dog's nails, you can sometimes see precisely just how far you can clip the nails without causing a problem. If you cut too far, you will sever the small blood vessel at the end of the nail and cause some bleeding. These can bleed quite a bit but are easily stopped with something called "Quick Stop", another product available at most pet stores. For long-haired dogs I would use a brush with plenty of wiry bristle on them to break apart any potential knots and mats in the hair. As long as your brush regularly, you shouldn't have to worry about this much, though. The nails can be trimmed down just before the point where you can actually visualize the blood vessel. Alternatively, you can considering using a grinder / dremel to achieve a smoother surface on the nail. In terms of bathing, this can be done anywhere if Rusty doesn't tolerate a tub well. As long as you can get him wet and lathered up, it doesn't really matter what the location is.

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    Answered By Destini R. Holloway, DVM

    Veterinarian

    Published on January 24th, 2019

    You cannot physically do much harm by cleaning a pets ears unless there are open cuts or wounds inside the ear canal. The ear drum is protected by the design of the ear, which is in the shape of an "L". So feel free to go as deep as you need to to remove any debris. The best thing to do is to fill the ear canal with the cleaner your vet prescribed, then let Shadow shake his head, then clean out with either cotton balls, gauze or a paper towel. If he does not have a current ear infection or previous ear infections, then there is no need to clean his ears, since most healthy ears clean themselves. : ) Best wishes with your pet Shadow and I hope everything works out well for him moving forward. Take care!

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