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Why does my dog do this?!

820 views 3 replies 3 participants last post by  Bramble 
#1 ·
So my dog has allergies and im in the painful process of trying to figure it out. BUT he does this one thing that I find to be very strange...

ONLY when he scratches his ears he will then immediately lick his nails on that same foot that scratched the ears almost as to get something off of it...His ears are always clean and his feet are as well.. Can somebody explain this behavior, it seems too intentional to be simply licking his foot.
 
#2 ·
I can't say exactly WHY they do it for sure, but it's to clean the earwax off his nails. Do you ever gently massage the inside of his ears? I do, and I have for every dog I've ever had. If they trust you, they love it (be careful not to touch the sensitive skin inside the ears with your fingernails). Anyway, whenever I finish, they have to lick the earwax off my fingers. The ears look clean to us, but apparently they can smell the earwax, and seem to think it has to be cleaned off whatever it's on, lol.

Susan
 
#4 ·
Be careful not to over clean his ears. A ear working properly is self cleaning. Cleaning the ears too often can actually cause ear problems by disrupting the ear's PH balance and natural environment causing them to over produce wax and irritating the delicate tissue, opening them up for infections. I check my dog's ears weekly, but only clean the outer part if it looks dirty.

Here is an article about naturally treating ear issues. Ear Infections In Dogs - Dogs Naturally Magazine
 
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