If you’re dealing with recurring ear problems in your dog — redness, discharge, bad smells, head shaking that keeps coming back no matter what drops you use — please read this carefully. This may completely change how you see what’s happening.
Most people have been taught that ear symptoms mean infection — something bad that must be killed or suppressed. In conventional medicine, the focus is placed on the ear itself. Antibiotics, antifungals, steroids and medicated drops are prescribed to dry things up and silence the symptoms.
And while this may bring temporary relief, it doesn’t address why the body is producing the symptoms in the first place.
From a holistic perspective, we don’t isolate one body part and treat it in separation. The body doesn’t work in compartments — it works as a whole, interconnected system, with every organ supporting and communicating with the others.
The body is intelligent. It doesn’t randomly malfunction.
What many people don’t realise is that the ears are directly connected to kidney function and hydration.
The kidneys are the body’s main filters
The kidneys’ role is to filter metabolic waste, acids and toxins from the blood and remove them through urine. But for the kidneys to do this effectively, they need one crucial thing:
Water. Real, biological moisture.
When a dog is chronically dehydrated, the kidneys become sluggish and stagnant. Waste doesn’t move efficiently. Filtration slows. The body is left with waste building up internally — with nowhere to go.
This is where the ears come in
When the kidneys can’t keep up, the body does something remarkable. It opens secondary detox routes to protect the vital organs.
The ears are one of those routes.
So when you see dark wax, yeasty smells, discharge or inflammation, it isn’t a random infection or a “bad ear.”
It’s waste being redirected out of the body because the kidneys are overloaded.
This is not failure — it’s the body compensating and protecting itself.
Why dried food is disastrous for kidney health
Here’s the part that shocks many of my clients:
Dry kibble is one of the worst things for the kidneys.
Dry food contains almost no moisture, yet digestion requires large amounts of water. The body has to pull fluid from tissues and organs just to process it. Over time, this creates chronic, systemic dehydration, even if your dog drinks from a bowl.
I see this over and over again in my work:
So many dogs come to me with ongoing ear problems — and almost all of them are eating a low-moisture, processed diet.
What most people don’t realise is that the ears aren’t the problem.
The diet is.
Suppressing symptoms doesn’t restore health
When we repeatedly suppress ear symptoms with medication, we’re not supporting healing — we’re blocking an exit route.
When the body can no longer detox through the ears, it simply redirects the waste elsewhere: paws, skin, gut, anal glands, inflammation, behaviour changes. This is why symptoms often move around the body instead of resolving.
The holistic approach: support the body back to balance
Holistically, we don’t fight the body — we support it.
Healing begins when we:
Rehydrate the body properly
Feed a high-moisture, species-appropriate diet
Remove inflammatory, processed foods
Support kidney filtration so waste can leave through the proper channels
When the kidneys are supported and hydration is restored at a cellular level, the body no longer needs to offload waste through the ears — and the so-called “ear infections” resolve naturally, because the cause has been addressed.
This is the body trying to heal
Your dog’s body is not broken.
It’s not betraying them.
It’s doing the smartest thing it can to protect internal organs and preserve health.
Symptoms are not the enemy — they are messages.
If your dog keeps getting ear problems, stop asking:
“What can I put in the ears?”
And start asking:
Why does the body need to detox through the ears in the first place?
If you’re dealing with recurring ear issues and want help understanding what your dog’s body is really asking for, I can help.
True healing doesn’t come from fighting the body —
It comes from supporting it back to balance.
For further reading about your dog’s detox pathways, you can read how the kidneys and lymphatic system are also connected here: https://canine-wellness-specialist.uk/2025/08/06/the-hidden-detox-systems-behind-your-dogs-itching-inflammation-gunk-lymph-and-kidneys/
Thank you for reading,
Teresa
Canine Wellness Specialist 