Recently I noticed my poor dog scratching like crazy at one of his ears. The vet said he has a yeast infection in both ears. He prescribed ear drops to be put into each ear every 12 hours.

We've been at it a few days and it's a struggle. He trys to bite the bottle and squirms so that we can't give him the drops. A couple of times we've tricked him but I hate doing this because I don't want my dog to not trust me.

How can I condition him to accept and tolerate the drops? Thanks.

You need 2 people. One with drops and the other to restrain. Get him against a wall, headlock, and put the other arm under his abdomen. Pick him up a little if needed to keep him from planting his feet to bolt. Other person does the drops. Give him a treat afterwards, and he will get used to it. Worked for Auster.

I lock my dogs' neck with my legs.

hook one hand around lower jaw to hold head and apply drops with other hand.

Then stand back!

I had a Military Working Dog once that had horrible problems with her ears. When I first started with her she absolutely hated the ear drops. The vet told me to put the drops in and then rub on the dogs head at the base of the ear canal to evenly distribute the drops in the canal. When I started rubbing she loved the feeling and would push into my hand. After awhile she really started to like seeing the ear drop bottle come out.

You need 2 people. One with drops and the other to restrain. Get him against a wall, headlock, and put the other arm under his abdomen. Pick him up a little if needed to keep him from planting his feet to bolt. Other person does the drops. Give him a treat afterwards, and he will get used to it. Worked for Auster This is possibly the worse thing you can do and may instigate a bite - my 2 yr old gs has terrible trouble with his ears and we were given drops and ear wash to apply and he hated it - sure we tried to restrian him then we realised the stress this put on him was to much. And no he didnt get used to it. When we tried to restrain he would struggle so much we were scared that he would injure him - plus he gave us a couple of warning bites. so we decided this wasnt the best approach. Instead we apllied it using our fingers and rubber gloves slowly then massaging his ears.
Saying this though my dog is not a soft dog. The restraining method may well work on weaker spirited dogs with no fight in them. Though i still wouldnt like to put a dog in a 'head lock up against the wall' to much like cruelty.
JMO

Tim, I do not know that restraining has to do with weaker spirited dogs.

A dog with out much confidence is more likely to freak and snap than a solid dog.

From day 1, my dogs learned that I could do what I wanted with their bodies because I established that relationship with them. I used to work for a vet in high school and college and learned that hooking a hand around and under the jaw gives great control of dogs and they seem mor compliant when the person handling them knows they are *in charge*

Thats great if you play with there ears from a pup - I did get mine used to me touching and holding him - but i never got him used to me suirting drops into his ears - this is why he struggles - my dog knows im in charge - doesnt mean he likes it or likes the feeling of drops in his ears - not every dog does - and when a dog doesnt i wouldnt advocate a phisical approach that could put you dog in a defensive position. thats just my opinion. If your methods works then great.
I dont think it has anything to with confidence. What i meant by weaker spirited is a dog with much less drive - a softer dog if you like. I just think there are better approaches than a phisical approach. JMO

I just don't know what hardness and drive have to do with a dog accepting your authority if the relationship is properly established.

If the dog is freaking to the point of snapping then restraint could result in a bite.

Most of what I see with ears is that they just don't like it and your method may be fine for a few drops but if you want to clean out the ear with a good amount of cleaning solution then you would not be able to get enough in that way...plus even with the drops it needs to get down deep into that L shaped canal.

How do you pill a dog if you they don't want to take one and can extract them from hot dogs etc. and spit them out? (I just grab the muzzle again .............. )

Most of what I see with ears is that they just don't like it and your method may be fine for a few drops but if you want to clean out the ear with a good amount of cleaning solution then you would not be able to get enough in that way...plus even with the drops it needs to get down deep into that L shaped cana In this case i would soak some cotton wool with the fluid and gently massage the top of the ear then work your way into the ear gentley - this is where i beleive you gain your dogs trust not by restraining him but by him knowing that you are respectful to him. then once in the ear i would slowly squeeze the fluid into his ear canal and massage it in.

I just don't know what hardness and drive have to do with a dog accepting your authority if the relationship is properly established If you grab a high drive dog - it will squirm and wrestle and sruggle - if you grab a low drive dog it will probably just let you. This has nothing to do with accespting authority this is simply the dog.
If you dog accepts your authority then why do you have to 'I lock my dogs' neck with my legs'. Surely if what you say is true your dog will just sit nicely and let you apply the said drops or ointment - like mine does now that i have approached a less conforntational approach?

Tim, I am sitting here shaking my head. It is no wonder your dog has recurrent problems. You will NEVER be able to reach all the way down into the canal. Pouring it in is the only way. A few drops squeezed out of a cotton ball aren't going to cut it either. You are just killing the yeast at the top, and the yeast at the bottom will just migrate up again, becoming resistant to the medication you are using.

I have restrained hundreds of dogs this way, some of them not much smaller than I am. Definitely some high drive labs. Once the dog figures out that you are in control they relax and take whatever comes. If you have dominance issues then it could turn into war, but that's something you should establish with your dog from day 1 to avoid other more serious problems.

I don't take crap from the cat either. He knows it and I can bathe him without a cage or help. Just drop him in the sink and start bathing. It is about your relationship with the animal, and not tippy toeing around what they don't like (which is your method). Choco knows he will get bathed no matter how he acts (and it is quicker when he doesn't complain) so he sits in the sink and takes it. He will also obey commands (sit, come, walk on leash) and he is better for me than the techs at the vet hospital (most animals know their owners are push overs, so the techs have to restrain). It's all about attitude.