Maltese ear hairs

Are you supposed to trim or pluck (how painful!) the hairs inside the ears of a maltese?
Connie

• We do recommend that you pluck the hair out of the ears. It helps to prevent accumulations of dirt, oils, etc. that increase the odds for your dog to have some type of infection in their ears. It is not really painful though as the hair is very shallowly rooted and comes out quite easily. If there is already an infection there it will cause the dog some discomfort when you do this initially but the reward is well worth it.

  Particularly if you do pluck this hair out of the ears you must be even more careful when giving your pet a bath NOT to get water in the ears, as the hair growing there before would have helped to prevent water and foreign materials from getting down into the ear canal. Use cotton balls, stuff them into the ears while giving the bath. However, if you do get water in the ears then simply put a drop or two of alcohol or, even better, an Otic cleansing solution into the ears to dry them. We often find a direct connection between "nasty ears" and excessive tear staining on the facial hair.
  Larry Stanberry Divine Maltese