It could just be irritation from the initial removal of the 'stuff' and what you see now is a scab from the skin trying to heal itself.

It'll be interesting to see what the vet finds.................

My labs get the same thing. One in particular. The youngest has a habit of licking the middle dog's ears. Makes it wet and sets up the perfect condition for a yeast infection. Going on right now in fact. We are using Oti Calm to clean his ears and then Gentocin Otic with Lotrimin (from the vet). I can remember one time when it was so bad that the poor guy had to take an antibiotic (which I didn't understand because I thought antibiotics cause yeast infections not cure them, but that's what the vet said to do). I always buy the jumbo cotton balls and long q-tips (may have to get from surgical supply as not all drugstores carry the long q-tips). You really have to stay on top of their ears. Clean them a couple times a week and so long as you don't have a groomer like my young one, you should be fine. The Oti-Calm is much more mild (doesn't sting) as much as some of the other ear cleaning products (at least that's what the vet says). Hope this helps. I don't know if it is all breeds but all of my lab friends have this same brownish thing going on at times in the ear.

Also, I feel badly that you have to premise your post with the fact that you have a vet appointment. I probably would post the same way because of how some of the forum replies jump all over someone that asks a questions. Of course you know when your dog needs to go to the vet. I would think someone who didn't care for their pet wouldn't participate on a site like this one.

Sounds like an infection. Most ear infections in dogs end up looking black, either because the exudate is mixed with dried blood or just bacterial/yeast stuff can be dark brown to black anyway. Ear mite poop is also black, but crusty. Yeast/bacteria stuff is usually shiny like you described.
I wouldn't wipe any more, especially with water. The vet is going to need to see some of that to make a diagnosis. Also water in the ears predisposes to infection. Finally, recurrent ear infections- ones that have been properly treated, completely cleared, and keep coming back- are signs of either food allergies or atopic dermatitis (inhaled allergy). Could be just irritation of removing whatever was there before like annz said. But better to have an ear problem diagnosed correctly before they get even more painful, inflammed, and harder to treat.

Thanks for the replies. After I wiped it down the first time and it came back, I just left it alone and called the vet. I didn't want to irritate it further and also wanted the vet to be able to see what the build up is. It's funny that this dog actually is what I call our mother hen :) She is constantly cleaning our other two furbabies ears..especially my other lab. He enjoys this cleaning and will lay there half asleep while she cleans. No one ever licks her ears, and I check six ears a day to make sure no funny stuff is going on. I pretty much give them a nightly going over looking for scrapes, stuff in their pads, etc. since they have free run of our backyard at numerous times throughout the day My mom says it's OCD, but hey, I want to catch something before it gets bad :)

Hopefully we'll have some more answers tonight!
Chelle

Chelle - That's so funny that your dog is an ear cleaner too. Now that I think about it, my youngest guy is a bit of a mother hen....We are constantly scolding him for his incessant cleaning of the middle guy'ss ears. Like yours, my middle guy just lays there and enjoys the licking. Now my old female is so cantankerous that if either of the boys ever tried to lick her ears she would make the ugly face and growl. Aren't they too funny! Good luck at the vet's.

We have the same problem with our lab. We took him to the vet, who gave us ear cleaner and anti-bacterial wipe, and after a few days, the stuff just comes back. I guess we just keep claning.

Well, not too much to report. The vet was baffled. Said she thought it was strange how it is on both ears in the same spot. She checked to see if there was any wax build-up, but there wasn't. She also checked for signs of skin disease, but didn't find anything. There were no cuts or scrapes, she said it looked almost like it was an abrasion..but not exactly (she said this after cleaning the gunk off and seeing what I said looked like raw skin) She ended up giving me Tritop which is a topical ointment. I have to put it on the affected areas twice a day for 10 days. I asked her what should I do if it doesn't go away at that point...she actually told me, I don't know.. :) She said that normally they would do a skin biopsy, but because of the location it would be really difficult to do one. So for now we are applying the ointment and crossing our fingers that it just goes away.
Thanks!
Chelle

Chelle - what color is the stuff that is in the ear - I mean when you put ear cleaner on a cotton ball and pull it out of the ear, what color. When my Lowell has an bad ear, it is usually brown and sometimes has some blood if it is really bad (vet says not to be alarmed). Also, is there a smell to it? Lowell's ear usually has a yeasty smell so it's a dead give away. Did the vet clean the ears and do you have to clean them before you use the medicine? Hope your meds work!

Weird. Well, glad it isn't infected at least. Hope it goes away and everyone is happy and healthy.

Labmomma,

When I wiped it down before I had called the vet, it was a dark orangish brown, that is why I thought it was wax at first. When the vet did the cotton ball she didn't wipe off the gunk, she actually wiped down in her ear (canal??) to see if there was build up, but the cotton ball came out clean. This stuff is on the flaps of her ears (if that makes sense) When I put the medicine on this morning it looked as if the spot on one ear has gotten smaller, but the other ear hasn't changed. 9 more days!! :) Sometimes I swear my labs come up with the weirdest ailments! Thank God none of them have been life threatening. No matter how crazy they make me, I just couldn't imagine my home without my three furbabies..

It would be interesting to see what a second vet said.

vicky

Sounds like ear mites to me. It looks just like dirt. You can pick up a bottle of medicated solution at an pet store, or box store, and use a cotton swab and gently clean her ears. You may have to do it several times, because even though you can't see them deep in the ear canal, they are there. It's really not all that uncommon.
Good luck!
Tina