My dogs are shaking their heads very often and scratching their ears?!?

It's ear mites or very irritated fleas jumping around the ear. But I would put my bet on ear mites. Mineral oil is good and cheap option. Do it twice a day and clean out good for about two weeks or until all the dogs stop itching. If the ear is inflammed and red I would get some stuff to ease that from the vet. I say that mites is most likely and not food allergies because not all your dogs would have the same food allergy which would be very rare if they did. Food allergies can cause a lot of irritation in the ears.

When cleaning the ear don't use ear picks because it can really jam up the ear canal and cause some serious issues. Start by cleaning with a regular ear cleaner for dogs to loosen any wax and debris then get a good squirt in the ear with mineral oil. This is what my vet uses. Mineral oil can be found probably in the baby isle of a store. Take a cotton swab and clean as best you can. Make sure you clean the ears outside before coming inside. The dogs will shake their heads which is actually a natural way of flinging wet out of there ears. This will help loosen alot of the stuff but might actually fling the oil around and you dont want mite filled oil slapping you in the face. Of course there is also regular ear mite med you can get from the store or vet which is cheap to. Keeping up with your flea meds can help, talk to your vet and see if they have a month to month preventative that also will kill mites. If I remember correctly K9 Advantage Multi kills not just fleas but worms, lice and mites that can cause mange. This will prevent and mites from coming back.

Be sure to thoroughly clean the ear which you dogs stay. Bleach the patio or deck and spray there kennel houses with bleach you can even spray the ground. I use a hoe attachment from walmart and soak there whole area. Wash all blankets and beds. Give all your dog good baths and if they sleep with you make sure u clean your bed to. Vacuum really good int he cracks of baseboards and you should be all set.

good luck

It could be an ear infection.. which the vet will have to look at the cells under the microscope. The other possibility is allergy related. ear mites are another possibility but with there being no residue i doubt that's it. either way, going to a vet and having them look should answer your question. If it's an ear infection it's easy to treat. And I just thought of one more thing. I live in Washington state, and one thing i learned about living here is that grass awns can imbedd themselves in any part of an animal and can be very painful. The Dr. I work for removed one out of a dog's ear, it was partially work in his ear drum. So... just one more thing to add to the list.. hope that helps!

take them to the vet. And you are not responsible for paying for it.

I agree with Jenny. You can't just go to petco or walmart and buy a cheap product if you don't have a clue as to what type of ear infection it is. Our dog did the same then and he ended up needing 2 different meds because he had a bacterial infection in both ears and on top of that a yeast infection in one. Why spend your money on something that may not even work. They need to see a vet in order to decide what kinds of meds they need.

First, you are n't responsible, your parents are.

Second, you can't cure it if you don't know what it is. It could be an ear infection, ticks, or ear mites. Each has a different treatment.

Tell your parents the dogs need to be seen at the vet's.

Probably just ear infections. They have a lot of different drops at pet stores and Walmart and they run rather cheap. Less than like $15.