The most common signs of an ear infection in dogs are head shaking, scratching or rubbing at the ear, redness, swelling, a bad smell and discharge. Deeper infections can cause head tilt, loss of balance and even partial hearing loss. Any suspected infection deserves a call to your veterinarian, and a head tilt or stumbling gait means a same-day appointment.
This guide covers what you can see, what you can only notice in your dog’s behavior, what the signs can mean, and what to tell your vet so the visit goes well.
TL;DR
- Head shaking, ear scratching, redness, odor, discharge and swelling are the classic signs of an ear infection.
- Pain can show up as behavior, not just a red ear: rubbing the face on the floor, crying while scratching, flinching when you touch the head.
- Head tilt, a drunken walk or loss of balance can point to deeper disease, so call your vet the same day.
- Do not treat at home just because your dog had an infection before. Ask your vet first.
- Write down when it started, what you saw and how often infections have recurred, then share it at the visit.
Table of Contents
- The classic signs you can see and smell
- Behavior changes that hint at ear pain
- Signs that mean call the vet the same day
- Can an ear infection cause hearing loss?
- What a vet will do, and what to bring to the visit
- Why checking the ear once is not enough
- Our perspective
- Keeping watch with Fudini
- What not to do at home
- Other conditions to keep in mind
- FAQ
- Sources
The classic signs you can see and smell
Most owners first notice an ear problem through a handful of obvious signals. Veterinary sources agree on the core list. The MSD Veterinary Manual names head shaking, ear itching, pain, bad odor, discharge, redness, erosions, ulcerations and swelling as clinical signs of otitis externa, which is the medical term for inflammation of the outer ear canal. PDSA adds face or head rubbing, heat, a swollen ear flap, and scabs or crusting.
Here is what each sign tends to look like at home.
Head shaking and scratching
A dog who shakes their head once after a swim is normal. A dog who keeps doing it, or who paws and digs at one ear, is telling you something is irritating the canal. The American Kennel Club lists scratching or rubbing among the most common signs. Watch for a dog who drags an ear along the carpet or couch, or rubs the side of the face on furniture.
Redness, heat and swelling
Lift the ear flap gently and look inside. A healthy canal is pale pink and mostly clean. Infected ears often look red or inflamed, and the ear may feel warm. The flap itself can swell or droop. PetMD’s veterinary guide also notes that a small amount of wax is normal, so a bit of tan wax alone is not a reason to panic.
Odor
Smell is often the first clue. A yeasty, musty or foul odor coming from an ear is one of the signs vet sources list again and again, including the AKC and PDSA. If your dog’s ears never smelled like anything and now they do, that change matters even if the skin looks fine.
Discharge, crusts and scabs
The AKC lists dark discharge and crusting or scabs as common signs. Discharge can be brown, yellow or bloody, and in some dogs it looks like coffee grounds or pus. Scabs just inside the ear, or scratch marks on the face and ear flap, show that your dog has been itching for a while. According to Cornell’s Riney Canine Health Center, scratching enough to leave facial marks or open sores can signal a worsening problem.
Behavior changes that hint at ear pain
Physical signs are only half the picture. Dogs do not tell us when something hurts, and many hide discomfort. Often the first clue is a shift in how your dog acts, before the ear looks dramatically abnormal.
What to watch for:
- Pain when touched. Flinching, pulling away, or snapping when you reach for the head or ears. Merck Animal Health Canada lists pain or sensitivity when the head or ears are touched as a sign of otitis externa.
- Crying while scratching. Cornell lists this alongside frequent scratching as a sign of an ear problem.
- Holding the head tilted. A mild, persistent tilt toward the sore side is common, and Cornell includes it in its list of signs.
- Vocalizing. Whining when lying down on the sore ear, or yelping when the head is moved.
- Pawing at the ear or face. Especially repeated, focused pawing at the same spot.
- Withdrawal or irritability. A dog who is in pain may seem quieter, grumpier, less interested in play, or less eager to eat. These changes are not specific to ears, so they are a reason to look closer, not a diagnosis.
The pattern is what counts. One head shake means little. A week of extra scratching, a dog who has stopped enjoying ear rubs, and a slightly off appetite together tell a story. If you want a broader framework for deciding whether a change is worth a call, our guide to dog behavior changes walks through what is normal and what is not, and our article on a dog eating less covers one of the most common companion signs.
Signs that mean call the vet the same day
Every suspected ear infection deserves a veterinary visit. The AKC advises consulting a veterinarian as soon as the common signs appear, and says not to start home treatment merely because your dog has had an infection before. The cause can differ each time, and the wrong product can make things worse.
Some signs raise the urgency. PDSA says to seek a same-day appointment for head tilt or loss of balance. Its guidance on ear problems adds flickering eye movements as a sign of deeper ear disease. Cornell lists a drunken gait among behaviors that can signal a worsening infection.
Call the same day if you see:
- A head tilt that is new or getting worse.
- Stumbling, circling, or a wobbly, drunken walk.
- Eyes flicking rapidly from side to side.
- Vomiting along with ear signs.
- Severe pain, a very swollen ear, or blood or pus coming from the canal.
- Apparent hearing loss, such as not reacting to sounds they used to hear.
The reason is that infections can move deeper. The AKC’s veterinary source stresses that prompt diagnosis matters because spread to the middle or inner ear can affect balance, hearing and facial-nerve function.
Can an ear infection cause hearing loss?
Yes. PDSA says infections of the middle and inner ear can cause partial deafness. The AKC says infections that extend into the middle or inner ear can affect balance and coordination and, in severe cases, lead to hearing loss or facial-nerve abnormalities. The takeaway is practical: an ear that looks only mildly red today can become a bigger problem if it is left alone, so earlier is easier.
What a vet will do, and what to bring to the visit
Diagnosis is not a guess. The MSD Veterinary Manual says it rests on history, an otoscopic examination and cytological evaluation, with treatment aimed at the specific diagnosis and the underlying cause. The AKC describes the same sequence: your vet takes a history, examines both ears with an otoscope, and may use ear cytology, which means looking at a sample under a microscope to see which organisms are present.
The AKC says to tell your veterinarian about:
- How long the symptoms have lasted
- Your dog’s allergy and medical history
- Current medications
- Diet
- Your ear-cleaning routine
- Recent activities such as swimming
- Any past ear infections and how they were treated
PDSA adds one more point: tell your vet if infections keep coming back, or if your dog has had more than two or three in their lifetime. The MSD Veterinary Manual explains that identifying and treating the inciting cause is necessary to prevent recurrence. Recurring infections often have an underlying driver, and your vet can only look for it if they know the pattern.
A simple note to keep on your phone
Before the appointment, jot down:
| What to record | Example |
|---|---|
| First day you noticed a sign | Started scratching the left ear on a Monday |
| Which ear | Left only, or both |
| What you see | Brown discharge, odor, redness |
| Behavior shifts | Less interested in fetch, flinches when touched |
| Appetite and energy | Eating normally, or leaving some food |
| Recent triggers | Bath, swim, new food |
| Past ear problems | Two infections last year |
Photos of the ear and a short video of the head shaking help a lot, since dogs often behave differently in the exam room.
Why checking the ear once is not enough
Owners tend to look at the ears when something seems wrong. That works for obvious cases. It misses the quiet ones: a dog whose ears are mildly irritated for days, who scratches more at night, who sleeps a little differently, and who has slowed down on walks. Each change is small enough to explain away.
The habit that helps is knowing your dog’s normal. How often does your dog usually scratch? How much do they sleep? How eager are they for meals and walks? When you know the baseline, a drift stands out sooner. That is the reasoning behind how we build Fudini, and it is what the next section is about.
Our perspective
We built Fudini around one idea: a dog’s routine is a health signal. Ear infections are a good example. They hurt, and a dog in pain rarely announces it. More often the first sign is a shift in how they eat, sleep, walk or play.
Our collar and iOS app learn each dog’s personal baseline over several weeks, then flag meaningful drift in four behaviors: eating, sleeping, walking and playing. We designed it to alert you only when something truly departs from your dog’s normal, rather than flooding you with raw numbers. A neural network does the pattern work so you get a clear signal, not a spreadsheet.
To be clear, no collar diagnoses an ear infection, and ours does not claim to. What we aim to give you is an earlier reason to look: a quieter dog, a restless night, a change in appetite that points you to check the ears and call your vet. You then arrive with a record of how your dog’s routine has shifted, which makes the conversation more useful.
We also keep our guides fact-checked and free of sponsored product pushes, and we document our engineering openly, including how we taught a neural net what a dog eating looks like.
Denys
Keeping watch with Fudini
If you want to notice changes in your dog’s routine sooner, the Fudini App is where our wellness tracking, weight tracking and fact-checked care guides live, and it pairs with our sensor collar that learns your dog’s normal.
We do not publish a price for the app at this time. You can see what is available on the Fudini home page.
What not to do at home
The urge to fix an itchy ear quickly is understandable. A few cautions keep it safe:
- Do not reuse old medication. The AKC specifically says not to treat at home just because your dog has had an infection before.
- Do not poke into the canal. If the ear is painful or the eardrum may be damaged, cleaning at home can do harm. Your vet will say which cleaner is suitable and how to use it.
- Do not wait for it to clear on its own. Cornell notes that a red, moist, inflamed ear or pus-like discharge may need veterinary examination and cleaning under anesthesia.
After diagnosis, follow your vet’s schedule for medication and recheck visits, even if the ear looks better sooner. Stopping early is a common reason infections return.
Other conditions to keep in mind
Scratching and head shaking can have causes besides infection, and an ear can be infected without any single dramatic sign. That is why a vet exam matters more than guessing from symptoms. If your dog also shows signs outside the ears, such as changes in thirst, appetite, energy or walking, see our guides on dog drinking more water and dog refuses to walk, or browse all Fudini articles on dog health.
FAQ
How do dogs act if they have an ear infection?
Most dogs shake their heads, scratch or paw at the ear, and rub the side of the face on floors or furniture. Some cry while scratching, hold the head tilted, or flinch when the head is touched. A few simply seem quieter or less interested in food or play, so a change in routine can be an early hint.
Can an ear infection go away on its own?
Do not count on it. Veterinary sources advise contacting your vet for any suspected infection, because the right treatment depends on what is causing it and the underlying cause has to be addressed to prevent recurrence. Waiting also gives the infection time to spread deeper.
What does a dog ear infection smell like?
Owners usually describe a musty, yeasty or foul odor, often with brown, yellow or dark discharge. Bad odor is one of the signs listed by the AKC, PDSA and the MSD Veterinary Manual. A small amount of normal wax is not the same thing, so any new strong smell is worth a closer look.
When is a dog ear infection an emergency?
Treat it as a same-day problem if your dog has a head tilt, loses balance, stumbles, shows flickering eye movements, or seems to be in severe pain. These can point to a deeper infection. Call your vet or an emergency clinic right away rather than waiting for the next routine slot.
Can an ear infection cause deafness in dogs?
It can. Infections that reach the middle or inner ear can cause partial deafness, according to PDSA, and the AKC says severe cases can lead to hearing loss. Prompt veterinary care lowers that risk.
Sources
- Ear infections in dogs, PDSA
- Ear problems in dogs, PDSA
- Otitis Externa in Animals, MSD Veterinary Manual
- Dog Ear Infections: Symptoms, Causes, Treatment, American Kennel Club
- 8 Signs of Ear Infections in Dogs, PetMD
- Itchy ear problems, Cornell University College of Veterinary Medicine
- Pet ear infections, Merck Animal Health Canada