Gramma Jane
What is the dark brown "gunk" in my dog's ear?

Unless it is black and crumbly, or pussy, or more towards the yellow side, it is ear wax, and the more you try to clean it the more it will produce. Some people become obsessed with dogs haivng clean ears. But the truth is the more you dig around in their the more wax they build up to protect their ears from your irritating them.

I used to preach to clean a dogs ears every week, but thru veterinarian education and experience I have found that they are better off, unless they have an infection, to leave them alone. And dogs without allergies and no skin problem very seldom if ever get infections. most of the really bad infections come from too much digging. You are actually causing the infections. Using swabs and q-tips and lord knows what that is not sanitary, the ear tries to protect itself or you actually put bacteria in the ears by using cleaning supplies that have been laying around.

The most I do is put an ear flush/ear cleaner in the ears, work the base of the ear (from the outside). Let them shake and leave them alone. There are tons of cleaners on the market that keep the dogs ears clean and dry. You don't need to be digging in there.

Another thing I have seen happen is people save ear medications and use them as they see fit. This is another good way to cause problems. What you are doing is making the dogs ears resistant to all the different antibiotics and when you really need something nothing works right. For eye drops or ears drops never use without your veterinarians approval. One bacteria that is next to impossible to get rid of is Pseudomonas, it is a rod type bacteria that gets in every corner of the inside of the ear and clings on for dear life. When you think it is gone it is hiding. This usually happens with too much human interference. sticking things in the ear full of bugs. Pseudomonas is a nasty creature that needs heavy duty drugs and very expensive and in the end sometimes you can never really totally get rid of it.

If your dog has a lot of this Brown "gunk" LET THEM ALONE.... Let the ears go to a normal state. If you have to clean just wipe the outer part that may have some of the brown gunk that has found it's way to the edge. You will find in a few weeks that it will subside. If it doesn't stink if it isn't oozing pussy stuff, if the dog is not crying in pain or shaking his head leave them alone.