Poor Linus! I hope he feels better soon! We have been battling an ear infection in one of Samson's ears since 5/12/10. It was his first one. I give Samson a bath about once every 2 weeks and after I clean his ears so his ears never look dirty. I saw one day that one ear was very dirty, looked like some dry blood too, and when I went to wipe some of the gunk away to see what was going on Samson cried. Samson NEVER cries in pain so I knew something was wrong and we were instantly off to the vet. They put him on oral antibiotics and ear drops (otomax) to be used everyday for 10-14 days. Did all that and 6/4/10 (about a week after I was supposed to stop the drops) I noticed it was back. Back to the vet. She said she thought it was a stubborn infection, wanted to treat it more long term. They flushed the ear and prescribed more ear drops (otomax). First week drops everyday, then 2-3 times a week for a month. Did that. Well last week I noticed it was back AGAIN. This time I didn't bother going back to the vet, I still have plenty of drops. I wipe out his ear with a cotton ball (they said only use cotton balls or q-tips gently) and did drops everyday this past week. Already looks alot better so I am going to start transitioning to drops 2-3 times a week. Basically following the schedule prescribed last time. Samson is due for his yearly check up here soon so I'll talk to my vet about it again then. From what the vet says sometimes it just becomes a chronic problem in certain dogs. He is on allergy meds that were prescribed a couple years ago, atarax. Without them his eyes get really watery and licks his paws like crazy. He always licks his paws a bit which we think is kind of an obsessive behavior but without it he will lick those paws RAW! Oh and they said ear infections can be allergy related.