Does this dog have an ear infection?

This dog definitely needs to see a vet. She likely does have an ear infection. At the vet, they will determine what kind of infection she has by swabbing a sample of the debris and looking at it under the microscope. If the debris is a dark brown color, it is likely a yeast infection. If there is pus present, or the debris is a yellow color, then it probably is a bacterial infection, pseudomonas to be specific. This particular bacteria can be very difficult to kill and the dog may be prescribed both a topical and an oral antibiotic if the infection is severe. Sometimes an ear infection can start out as yeast, then if nothing is done for a long time, it can progress to this bacterial infection, so try and convince your friend to bring her to the vet to get it treated. She is obviously very uncomfortable.

Dogs can and do get ear mites but it's more common in cats than it is in dogs. It's more common for dogs to develop yeast or bacterial infections within the ear canal, mainly caused by allergies. It's also common in dogs who love to swim (so their ears stay wet) and in dogs who have heavy ear flaps (cocker spaniels, basset hounds) and/or long hair around the ears.

The dog must be in torment with this so please tell your friend that the dog must see a vet, if there is black gooey stuff inside the ear then its probably ear mites, however you can get ear drops from the pet store that will relieve the itching but you should really get the dog to the vet. Poor thing hope you can convince them to treat the dog. good luck.

She most definitely has something wrong with her ear, my gsd has bad ears and requires steroids frequently get the dog to the vet before it gets worse but it could also just be dirty ears vet please hope this helps xx

I'd say get the dog to the vet, as there is most definitely something wrong. How serious the problem is however, is hard to say.