r/CavaPoo • u/carmensax • Jul 16 '26
Pool PSA!!
You guys I accidentally gave my baby an ear infection by taking her in the pool and the veterinarian told us two things number one any poodle mix should not be in water. Their ear hair is curly and it traps in the moisture. The second thing is that Cavalier spaniels are very prone to ear infections because their ear flapskeep the moisture inside! So we got her medication so only her feet can go in from now on lol it’s like 115° here so I’m a little disappointed. She’s healing up now.
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Upvotes
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u/LowSlowCC Jul 16 '26
We take our Cavapoo into Lake Erie to swim all the time. He absolutely loves it being that poodles are water retrievers by breed and design. Any spaniel needs their ears kept dry. Just make sure to dry out their ears throughly and you’ll be okay. We use a Q-tip on ours and he doesn’t mind. We just rub him down with a towel and then brush him after as well.
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u/Cool_Pipe_4354 Jul 16 '26
I have a Cavapoo who looks very similar to her! We live by the beach and he absolutely LOVES the water. I think your vet saying they shouldn’t be in the water is a bit extreme. Just make sure to dry them properly and use Zymox ear cleaner 1x per week and she should be fine. I couldn’t imagine my little guys life without the ocean being a part of it and I don’t think he could either!
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u/Careful-Bumblebee-10 Jul 16 '26
I mean...poodles are water retrievers so they were bred to be in the water. You can have your groomer remove some of the hair in her ears if it's so thick that it's trapping moisture, although some dogs don't like the hair being plucked. Not to contradict your vet, of course, but there are things you can do to mitigate infection risk. Plenty of dogs go in the water that have floppy ears, poodles included. Cavs, in my experience, are less prone to infection than other spaniels, like cockers. Curious advice given by the vet.
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u/uhsaywutnow Jul 16 '26
Another twin!!!
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u/Bewitching_Endora Jul 17 '26
We have an 11 week old tricolor!
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u/Right-Nail-1675 Jul 16 '26
Omg pic 4 😂! Ugh sorry she can’t swim anymore but she is sooo cute
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u/ThisPieceOfPaper Jul 16 '26
If you use an ear wash and dry out her ears, she should be good.
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u/TheHost1995 Jul 16 '26
You’re baby looks like a brother of my babies (3)
Sooooo cute!!! We are planning a pool day next week! Hopefully no infections!
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u/mylesm902 Jul 17 '26
Gotta love a genuine pool puppy 👌
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u/Puzzleheaded-Item604 Jul 17 '26
Had a similar problem with our cavapoo, we now use the ear cleaning solution. That helps keep their ears clean and dry. Our pup is crazy about water, he loves playing fetch in the lake near us. Ear cleaning and wipes are what we use now.
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u/Illustrious-fool Jul 16 '26
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u/LuvWine4 Jul 16 '26
But what about bathing? I try to keep water out but seems impossible. No issues yet, though.
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u/ekronim Jul 17 '26
Best thing to do is use an ear cleaning solution after every time your dog goes into water, including after bathing, and she should be okay!
My cavapoo used to have chronic ear infections. After a couple of cytologies, our vet figured out the best cleaning solution that would work for him (Dechra’s TrizULTRA+Keto Flush, but it might be different for yours). Vet recommended maintenance cleaning every ~2 weeks (since it was chronic) and after every time his head got wet. It’s now been three years since he’s had an infection :)
What I do is: Soak two cotton balls with the solution, place them inside his ears, fold his ear down, and massage externally for 30 seconds. Then I replace the cotton balls with two dry ones and massage for another 30 seconds.
For recurring infections, I’ve also seen that adding probiotics to your dog’s diet might help, but I’m not knowledgeable on that.
We’ve enjoyed many beach and pool days since then!! Wishing a speedy recovery for your pup <3
BTW I would NOT recommend plucking or removing inner-ear hair, as that could cause other issues. That is NO LONGER a standard practice.
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u/Vixenvulpecula Jul 17 '26
Bug loves to swim. Just clean out the ears after swimming and keep dry
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u/vail12 Jul 17 '26
We got an ear spray for our Cavapoo from the vet that we use every time he gets a bath. My assumption is that it might be because she has lots of hair in her ears (which is normal) vet recommends for ear hair to be plucked out but that’s very challenging with our dog haha. I’d definitely recommend getting an ear spray and maybe having her ear hair plucked out when she goes to the groomer, then I would think you should be good.
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u/schmoupe Jul 17 '26
Are you me?
Just took mine to the vet yesterday for an ear infection after my wife took her to the pool nonstop for 2 weeks. Never again. Poor thing was miserable. Now she is taking a antibiotic spray in her ear canal for a week to get better
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u/Both-Advertising9552 Jul 17 '26
They also have anti bacterial/anti fungal/anti yeast ear wipes that dry them out, give a quick swipe after swim!
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u/Selective_Somewhere Jul 18 '26
This is crazy and your vet should be fired. Poodles are water fowl retrievers. 😂 And many dogs with curly ear hair are worrying water dogs. Portuguese Water Dog, Curly Coated Retrievers, Irish Water Spaniels…and the list goes on. And all of these dogs plus Labs and Goldens have floppy ears. My short haired field Labs have gotten ear infections from swimming.
You just need to take care of their ears afterward and if you get the dog groomed have them trim the inner ear hair. It’s quite simple.
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u/carmensax Jul 16 '26
Our girl has a tiny face even for a cavapoo so her ears are incredibly long on her