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My dog's ears are red and losing hair. How to stop it and regrow?

Updated On September 23rd, 2025

Pet's info: Dog | Mixed Breed Medium (23 - 60lb) | Male | neutered | 1 year and 3 months old | 43 lbs

My dog has a little redness behind his ears and also lost most of his hair behind his ears.. is there anything I can use to stop the redness and help his hair grow back behind his ears?

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3 Answers

Most Helpful Answer

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Answered By Linda G, MS, DVM

Veterinarian

Published on January 18th, 2019

Hello. Milo is scratching hard enough to damage the skin. It would be best to have him examined by your vet to see if there is a primary ear problem ( infection or ear mites ) or if he has a mild allergy. Different things require different treatments so I hope you can have him seen soon. Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach.

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    Answered By Rodrigo Roca, DVM

    Veterinarian

    Published on November 30th, 2018

    Hello, thank you for your question about Milo. It is possible that the redness and hair loss is secondary to excessive scratching at his ears. Ear scratching could be a sign of an ear infection. If Milo is excessively itching or shaking his head I would recommend having him evaluated by your veterinarian so that they can perform an ear swab and look for signs of infection. If he is not exhibiting any additional symptoms I would recommend continuing to monitor these areas. Hope this helps, good luck!

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    Answered By Dr. Massimo Orioles, DVM, Cert AVP, MRCVS

    Veterinarian

    Published on December 1st, 2018

    Hi, and thanks for your question. This could be due to an allergy, although it could also be infection or mites. First of all, in order to rule out skin parasites, you will need to ask the vet to perform a ear swab and a skin scrape - this might reveal an infection or a mite infestation. If all of those came back negative, the next step is to treat the allergy symptomatically and try to discover the cause of the allergy. Three main type of allergies are usually affecting pets: food allergies, flea and parasite related ones and environmental type (allergens coming from trees, pollens, dust etc etc). Some medications can be given by the vet in order to repair any possible skin lesions (like steroids and antibiotics). Hope this answer was helpful, but please do not hesitate to contact us again on the forum or by requesting a consultation if you have any more questions or to discuss it any further. Please find the time to give us a feedback about the consultation as that will be used to improve our service.

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