Fur on the edge of his ear is coming off (and some dry skin)…

[amongmany]

Our pup Ernest has had some dry skin issues in the past. We've started giving him 1 capsule's worth of fish oil daily which seems to have curbed his "dandruff" issue, but recently I noticed some very dry skin inside his ears. That peeled (like after a sun burn) but now the fur along the edge of his ear is coming out a little bit.

Anyone have ideas for causes and/or remedies?

[eeeefarm]

Is he outside a lot? Flies can cause problems at the tips of the ears. Dry skin could be diet.

[amongmany]

He's not outside a ton as he goes to daycare most days. We're also in NYC where nature isn't terribly invasive.

I posted on two facebook groups I follow as well and the answers have ranged from "winter ear" which seems like no big deal to vasculitis which (if you believe the hype) will soon have his skin falling off, zombie-style.

We'll probably swing by the vet this week to be sure, but I've been rubbing some vitamin E oil on his ears for the last 36 hours and it's already looking better.

[eeeefarm]

Are any other dogs at his daycare showing similar problems? Could he have picked something up from another dog? Also, there are lots of possible allergens that could affect him seasonally. The vet will hopefully have some answers.

[Rocky1]

This is just a case of "winter ear".
Sometimes it's caused by being inside all winter long with low humidity
in other words a too warm house.
A warm bath and some baby oil on the tips usually clears it up.

[DebraDownSouth]

Since the edges of the ears is often the starting place for mange, I would definitely let a vet scrape and make sure.

[Rocky1]

A waste of good money.
I have had 39 years with basenjis,my guess is that in that 39 years I have seen this
MANY times. Never is it mange.

[DebraDownSouth]

Just a thought on assuming your experiences are the only one, I have never had a dog in my 58 years of life with "winter ear", but I am intelligent enough not to assume that means that isn't it. And I also don't consider finding out what is wrong with your pet to be a "waste of money."

Doing rescue, I have seen mange more times than I care to remember. But scraping can reveal other issues also. So if it clears up, fine. If it seems to be taking too long or not totally healing, more than worth the money.

But let's let vets give you the list of causes:
http://www.merckvetmanual.com/pethealth/dog_disorders_and_diseases/ear_disorders_of_dogs/disorders_of_the_outer_ear_in_dogs.html