Hmmm maybe it's yeast, I thought it was fungus but I may have misunderstood. It's a wet, black goo that stinks if we don't clean it out regularly. Max is taking ketoconozole orally and that helps when I canget him to swallow it. I am returning the food. I like what I feed them but I might look into s no grain food as Max does tend to be heavier than he needs to be, but Z is the perfect weight. She is a lot more active than he is tho. Someone suggested vagisil but I thought that was weird but might try it if I can't get Max's ears to calm down. Guess the daily monitoring is just another part of being a good pet parent. We've got 4 dogs but Maxie's my boy...fell in love with him at first sight. I just can't understand how people can be cruel to dogs and get rid of them when they just don't fit their ideals anymore. Sorry, my rant of the day. Max was a rescue who'd been neglected & abused before he was saved and I met him.

I have heard of this before. My friend's daughter experienced it and eventually got over it. I remember reading that a radio, kept on low could help him sleep. I know in ideal circumstances you wouldn't want a child to have a radio on all night but if it's a choice between sleeping and not sleeping, it's the lesser of two evils.

I am always amazed by the number of 'experts' on food allergies on the various web sites I peruse (usually in my case limited to plants since that is my primary hobby). And one of the most commonly expressed opinions about dog food and its relationship to allergies in dogs is the often maligned corn ingredient. I have done some research on this topic, but I certainly do not consider myself an expert, despite having practiced as a small animal veterinarian for over 24 years. In fact, of all my veterinary colleagues that I know personally, none consider themselves experts on dog or cat food or the ingredients they consist of. I think we as a group tend to be a bit more informed than the average pet owner, however. Still, there are many veterinary nutrition experts out there we refer to and it still is interesting how much is not known about dog food allergies. Yet there do appear to be no shortage of experts in these discussion groups. I am certainly not going to say that a dog with itchy ears cannot have an allergy to corn. I am sure there are dogs out there with corn allergies and some will have itchy ears. However, I do not understand why corn has been picked out among all the ingredients in dog foods as the bad guy. Research has shown beyond a doubt that beef, chicken, dairy products, soy, wheat and even eggs are more commonly involved in causing allergies and food intolerances in pet dogs. Why are these products not mentioned in these discussions? And how is one able to diagnose a food allergy versus the far more common allergies such as pollens, other plant materials, house dust mites, fleas, and a myriad of other environmental allergens, just on the basis of a symptom such as itchy ears? Food is in fact a relatively rare allergy in the pet dog. According to the experts in the field only 5-10% of all allergies in dogs have even the remotest relationship to what is in a dog's diet. Allergies in dogs are indeed most often displayed as itchiness and skin problems, unlike us humans who tend to be more respiratory in our allergic symptoms. There are many people with food allergies and intolerances as well, and often they exhibit primarily gastrointestinal symptoms. Dogs show their intolerances similarly, but true allergies show up usually as itchiness and/or less commonly as stomach,intestine problems. But true food allergies in dogs are far less common than food intolerances. And food allergies are indeed rather difficult to diagnose and distinguish from the more common causes of allergies. If one has a dog that has allergic symptoms that seem to persist year round unabated, then one's suspicion of food allergy should increase. But most allergies in dogs tend to by cyclic or even seasonal, making food allergy far less likely to be the culprit. Itchy ears is one of the most common symptoms of allergies in dogs, perhaps second only to licking feet, at least in those dogs who do not have a flea allergy. Flea allergies are by far the most common of all allergies in dogs, but those dogs are usually itchy all over or at least around their rump, and rarely is itchy ears the only symptom of a flea allergy. However, itchy ears is very commonly the only symptom of a pollen allergy. And once a dog has allergic itchy ears, secondary yeast and bacterial infections are a common end result. Ear mites, on the other hand, are a far overdiagnosed cause of itchiness in dog ear problems, and though they do occur, they are almost exclusively limited to puppies or to dogs in situations where they are living with many many other dogs. I have diagnosed maybe 10-15 dogs as having ear mites in the last 24 years as a vet... yet have seen maybe 5000 cases of ear infections/itchy ears in dogs. So though your dog may indeed, as the above experts have suggested, be allegic to a food, or even be one of those very rare dogs with a corn allergy, I might research other more likely possibilities before you do something drastic like change your dog's diet (and possibly cause a myriad of other problems, like vomiting or diarrhea). Anyway, I hope you discover the cause and find an appropriate treatment. I understand you may not want to pay for a vet bill right now, but I do have a few suggestions if you want to try some things as home. Cleaning the ears is one that someone did mention, though I would NOT use soap and water. Soap, in particular, is quite irritating to the sensitive tissues of the ear canal, and to the ear drum, and it is not all that easy to get out of the ear once you put it in there. There are many ear cleaners far more suitable for cleaning and rinsing out a dog's ear and you can get most at a pet store. Mineral oil can be a bit soothing, but it too is not easy to get out after it's put in, so do not put in much if that is what you chose to do. It also does very little for the allergy or possible infection that may be going on.. and could conceivably worsen the infection. You can also try putting in an astringent (drying solution). Some ear cleaners are also astringents, but you can mix alcohol (isopropyl) and white vinegar (3 parts to 1 part)- very similar to what's in swimmer's ear- and apply a few drops into each ear. This may sting if the ear is badly infected or sore from being scratched, but it will tend to dry the ear out (which always helps an ear with fluid in it) and that combination has a pretty good antifungal effect as well (yeast is a super common complication of ear allergies and infections). I do not recommend physically cleaning an ear other than swabbing gunk out gently with a cotton swab only as far down as your finger will go, but rinsing the ear with a cleaning product using a bulb or syringe and massaging the ear canal below the opening (side of a dog's face) will help often dislodge stuff.. and the dog shaking his head will do the rest. This is not as good as getting an ear professionally cleaned or using an ear antibiotic solution/ointment, but it will often help. It will nothing for the allergic problem, though... for that you might try some antihistamines, but I am not comfortable giving you doses.. .you will need to consult your local vet for those- someone who knows your dog and what he/she weighs, etc. But before you even do the ear rinse thing, you should know that many dogs with ear infections have ruptured ear drums (this is a very common situation). A rupture in an ear drum will mean that anything you put in your dog's ear will go beyond the ear drum into the middle and possibly the inner ear (close to the brain!).. some ingredients that get in this area can cause serious problems (like permanent deafness). For that reason, I always recommend a flushing out of anything you put in there either a sterile saline solution (not always that easy to find) or at least water. Water is not great to leave in an ear, but at least it is relatively benign compared to most ear cleaning solutions, and certainly to soap, peroxide (don't leave that in there... or even use it!), alcohol etc. This is why I still recommend you see your vet, even if it's just to have him/her look at the ear drum and make sure it's intact. Good luck!!

Rita, it probably does need some organic matter around it. That's the one place I didn't put any mulch last year because it had potted plants on the ground. Still does. I've been tossing some kitchen scraps around it lately. I hope this rain gets things growing!