Itching Ears

Q: My puppy has flakes on the ends of his ears (inside the outer ear). It is on the hair and on the skin. He is a cava chon, and has the ears of the cavalier king charles spaniel. He scratches them a lot. It looks like scoriasis flakes like on a human, but I do not see an irritation on the skin, just the flakes. I have put coconut oil on them, and that seems to help the itching some. What can I do for this? How can I help him?

A: For a puppy his age there are two likely possibilites. One can be irritation from getting the tips of his ears damp, sometimes even in his food or water. The second is an infection of his hear canal and the flaking is actually secondary to the scratching. Take a look at the Home Deomnstration video " Cleaning Your Puppy's Ears" and follow those steos. Be sure to mention the problem to your vet even iif ti seems better.