Help! My Dog’s Ear Tips Are Bleeding

Updated March 28, 2022

The picture above shows an ear problem in Adelaide that’s also found around the world. It only affects the margins and tips of the ears. The most common cause will surprise you.

Causes Of Ear Tip Scabs & Crusts

There are at least four reasons why a dog can have sores on the ear margin:

  • Damage caused by scratching or shaking due to an ear infection
  • Infestation with sarcoptic mange mites (‘fox mange’)
  • Other skin problems such as allergy
  • Attack by blood-sucking insects

Any ear tip injury that keeps being damaged by head shaking will heal slowly or not at all.

Ear Infections commonly lead to damage to the ear. However, it’s unusual that only the ear tip will be involved. Therefore, turn over the ear and inspect the ear canal. It may look red, swollen or dirty looking with a musty odour. Don’t forget to check the other ear as many problems are bilateral.

Sarcoptic Mange is quite hard to diagnose, but dogs are extremely itchy when you touch the ear edge. They are also itchy elsewhere, especially the elbows and the belly. If you’re using one of the products that treat and prevent Sarcoptes mites it’s very unlikely.

Other Skin Problems are extremely common, but once again there should be other areas affected like the belly, feet and under the tail. Click here for pictures of other specific head lesions.

Fly Bite Dermatitis is the most common cause of ear margin problems in dogs.

What Is Fly Bite Dermatitis?

ear bleeding sore

Blood-sucking flies prefer to target the edges of the ears of dogs. When dogs live in areas with these insects, repeated irritation causes crusts and scabs to form at the site of the bites.

Dogs then scratch or shake their heads and damage the area further, until it starts bleeding. Then it gets infected, making matters even worse. Eventually, you end up with a raw ear tip wound like in the picture.

This causes the dog to shake their head, propelling the ear tips at high speed against the side of the head. It’s not unusual to have sprays of blood right up your walls.

But I Don’t See Any Flies!

Flies come biting mostly after dusk so this problem mainly affects dogs that sleep outside. Owners rarely see the flies, which are often parasites of other animals such as horses.  If your dog sleeps inside, you should reconsider the other possible causes above.

Treatment of Fly Bite Dermatitis

You have two choices:

  1. Let your dog stay inside
  2. Use an insect repellent on the ears each afternoon (I find Muscaban® works best)

If you don’t act, the wounds tend to get bigger and even can cause permanent defects in the ear margin. Head shaking also often leads to the development of aural haematomas.

Treatment of Bleeding Ear Tips

Infected, painful ear tip wounds often cause more head shaking and damage in a vicious circle. Here are my recommendations to tackle this frustrating situation:

  • Treat the underlying condition
  • Use antibiotics to reduce secondary infection
  • Use anti-inflammatories to reduce pain and swelling
  • Use light dressings (heavy ones only make dogs shake more)

I have learnt over the years to use a very lightweight plastic adhesive strip (Band-Aid®) to cover the wounds. This prevents further trauma from head shaking, is very easy to apply, and is usually tolerated by dogs. These need to be changed twice daily and are only for temporary use after advice from your vet.

That, of course, is the final and most important point. Don’t go it alone; your vet will have much better advice based on your particular dog and their environment. Without proper attention to an underlying problem, you’ll just be in a vicious circle.

Have something to add? Comments (if open) will appear within 24 hours.
By Andrew Spanner BVSc(Hons) MVetStud, a vet in Adelaide, Australia. Meet his team here. The information provided here is not intended to be used as a substitute for going to the vet. If your pet is unwell, please seek veterinary attention.

47 Replies to “Help! My Dog’s Ear Tips Are Bleeding”

  1. Hi! My chihuahua had this, and it ended up being that she was allergic to her rabies vaccine! I’m not sure if all allergies or just vaccination allergies can cause this, but I would look into allergies if nothing else is working. My dog’s ears got so bad, we had to have the ends removed, so sad! I took her to numerous vets, including a top vet at Virginia Tech, and no one could figure it out. Then I took her to a dog skin expert — yes that actually exists!!! — in NYC, and they were finally able to diagnose her.

  2. This is by far the best article I’ve read regarding this topic.
    Have a hound mix (Am Staff, dalmatian etc). Problem started about five or years ago while living in Central WI. Was described as a type of mange. Oily ointments made it worse. Since moving to Northwoods of WI, this vet suggested giving flea and tick oral meds twice a month. Not a fan, but seems to work. If it comes back sooner, I dose sooner. Has been good, but recently the temps have dipped well below zero and single digits. I had wondered if that was the cause of it acting up again, and found your article!
    We do have the nasty little biting flies in spring that leave welts on their tummies and I see on her ears from time to time. I may try the aquaphor that was mentioned in a previous comment.
    Great article though, I plan to share with our vet.

  3. Sharing my dog Newton’s experience before I remove this page from the bookmark, hoping this would help someone. We saw at least 3 different vets and it took months to understand the cause (it left many blood marks on our wall…)
    In Newton’s case, it was caused by dryness on the skin in general. Eventually solved by adding omega 3 supplement to his food and applying Aquaphor ointment to the ear tip. These are things with the lowest risk and cost, so I would recommend them to any family who is suffering from bleeding ear tip.

    1. Fish oil was also recommended…it does help, but have issues still. Will try the aquaphor. Thanks!

    2. We are having the same issue! Blood drops on walls and floor! I feel like I’m constantly cleaning up after her! Thank you! I’m going to try this!

  4. We live in Adelaide too. I have a Dalmatian with this problem. He is also an inside dog, apart from exercise & dog sports, so hardly exposed to fly bites. Is there any cream that can help heal these scabs. I have tried Manuka Honey, & Paw Paw Cream, but these don’t seem to have any effect. I was thinking of trying skinoren cream. Would there be any reason not to try that.

    1. Hi Jill. In a breed so prone to atopic dermatitis, this has to be the most likely explanation rather than fly bite. I wonder if your vets have already given any therapies in this regard.

  5. Hi. My 10 month old English Staffy’s ear was hard and bumpy on the tip. I wiped it with coconut oil and his hair started to fall off. Now the tip is hairless and he is sensitive to touch. He won’t let me go near it. It seems the hard bits were mashed up hair but there doesn’t seem to be any blood. What could this be?

  6. My dog had the tips of his ears bleed all winter long. The vet said sometimes it vascular. He has no skin issues or parasites. All summer his ears were find it is now getting cold & the tops are starting to bleed again.
    It’s very frustrating, there isn’t much the vet gave for advice just wrap the ears which lasts about a minute before he shakes his head.
    I have no idea what to do.

    1. Hi Virginia. It’s strange that it occurs over winter, but I am unfamiliar with your local environment. I would seek the opinion of a board certified veterinary dermatologist. If you get the answer, I’d also appreciate knowing more. Good luck.

    2. Hi ! My dog has started this last week too. The tip of the ear bleed, as well as the “junction” between the head and the ears, on both sides. Inside, it’s fine, but as soon as he gets outside, it starts like right away, it’s really weird (and annoying). Poor thing.

  7. Hello there. I looked my Chihuahua over one day as I normally do to check for lumps, bumps etc. I noticed he was raw on the upper inside part of his ear flaps. In the same exact location on each ear. I’m a “run to the vet” kind of mommy so I took him to his Dr & she said it was due to rug burn. He rubs his face and slides along the carpet & has been for years so why the burns now? She prescribed Animex which I used for 3 weeks without results. What seems to be working is leaving it alone & cleaning the area. It has scabbed up however he still has redness around both scabs & both scabs are thick. Is this normal? Why has his healing taken so long? She mentioned he had allergies years ago but he doesn’t itch much at all & no skin problems. As I said it looks to be healing. My concern is the raised scabs

    1. Hi Jacqueline. It sounds unusual and probably there’s nothing in this article similar. These rarer sorts of cases often benefit from systemic antibiotic therapy to reduce secondary infection followed by a surgical biopsy to get a diagnosis. I did a similar one this week that came back as erythema multiforme for example.

  8. My dog had a very similar looking hard black scab on her groin area, I thought she chewed the area or got bitten by something causing the skin to bleed, thus forming the scab (because she’s had the exact looking and feeling scabs elsewhere on her body after small bleeding). The area around the scab was a little inflamed when I first noticed it, I cleaned with colloidal silver. Now 4 days later, I checked again and noticed the “scab” was longer, it grew longer like a skin tag. My only thought was maybe there was more bleeding thus more scab formed below the existing scab? Does such scab works like this? It feels above the skin, and I can pinch the skin and feel nothing is attached underneath the skin, and it’s very crusty and hard like a scab feels like, but I don’t think any of her previous scabs on her body ever grew “longer”.

    1. Hi Kerry. Although it’s not really the subject of this page, you’d better get that one checked out as a scab in the groin that grows in my experience is mostly squamous cell carcinoma.

  9. My boxer’s ear tips were scabbing and would bleed. I took her to multiple vets until I found out that it was due to poor blood circulation as she’s gotten older. She’s been on a blood thinner (I actually pick up from a CVS because humans can take it too) for about 2 years now. Her ears aren’t back to normal but they are sooo much better. They don’t bleed just a little crusty there is build up from having the issue for weeks when we tried to figure out what it was. But she isn’t fazed

  10. Hello from California, Our large American Bully has has a tip of the ear wound for about 4 weeks, and it was due to our Australian Shepherd thinking he is a cow, and biting the ear. The wound is about 8 mm and it has been breaking open and bleeding every few days. So the underlying cause is his little friend, so now I am trying to figure out the best way to stop the bleeding. He is a big gentle giant and when we go out to the farmers market, he shakes his head and then looks like an extra large fighting beast (he is 170lbs).. I have heard also that one option is to use liquid band-aid (superglue) as long as infection is not present. Thoughts?

    1. Hi James. Some of these do seem to happen just from an injury that won’t heal due to repeated flapping. What I say in the article is still true, and I can’t stress enough the importance of antibiotics for these cases to reduce the irritation. As for the use of cyanoacrylate, I can’t comment but I would be sceptical.

  11. WE have a great dane mix that had flies open up the top of his ear and we have tried everything to do the bleeding with no luck. We tried a white powder the vet gave us, and it did not work, we try various bandages and he shakes them off with in a few minutes. We are almost through winter now and it seems like once a week he opens it back up. It walls look like a bad murder scene happened. I am ready to have the vet coterize it or anything else. We are coming into spring and the flies are going to elaborate everything. Please any help would be appreciated.

    1. Hi Larry. I certainly commiserate – it’s a frustrating problem. Have you tried some of the suggestions in the article? Particularly the use of stronger insect repellents or lightweight plasters. I’ve never tried cautery but I would be very cautious about using it.

    2. Same here! Exactly! Let me know if you find a cure! I can’t Imagine it be my Merlin tolerating a plaster on his war! It would last two seconds!!

  12. I have a pitbull she is a inside dog, rarely outside but one day she was scratching i look in her ears they looked clean. Next morning same thing scratching, I put coconut oil on it. Few days later her ear tip was hard, I left it alone thinking she just scratch it. It will be fine then a few days pass she shakes and blood just everywhere like a spray gun. I did actually take her immediately to a vca here in Santa monica, was told in almost exact words when they looked at her said I’m I think we’re under staffed we will take her check if she is stable and let you know, they came back with her said she is stable but the emergency vca can see her I said ok where is that literally she point and said that way, while my dog is dropping blood everywhere I said ok. I put her in the car we go to another, same thing understaffed. Couldn’t tell me anything , they literally tell me to make an appointment. .. ok. So I’m home I’m Google everything found olive oil to stop the bleeding, but her vet can’t see her in Malibu for a week.
    Her ear tip stops bleeding when I put olive oil on, but her ear is red inside but nothing black in there help

    1. Hi Carmel. It’s very likely that your dog has an underlying skin problem (there are many causes for this) with secondary ear inflammation and then scratching and headshaking causes the bleeding. Therefore, to address these you need to both stop the ear from being repeatedly damaged by flapping and scratching, and fix the underlying problem. Until you can get to a vet, cover the damaged ear tip with a small sticking plaster that you change twice a day, give her a bath and put on some good flea control but you’ll no doubt need to do more.

      1. Hi Andrew thank you for replying, I wish I could show pictures, her carnal is clear, I have tried warm olive oil. I have iodine, peroxide, and antibiotics, I put on the tip and the iodine did close and stop the ear tip bleeding but its still a bit red in both ears and has a little bumps.

  13. Hi there. My dogs ears look exactly like the picture at the top of the page. A small scab and lots of white “dandruff”looking stuff around it. Your article states that this is a common problem in your area. What is the diagnosis for the dogs ears in the first picture?
    Thank you!

      1. Thank you for your fast reply! So what is that white stuff then? I pulled some off my dog and it looked like it was dandruff. She had a bite on one ear but the white stuff on both ears. Thank you

  14. thanks. My daschound has fly bites on tips of ears, one worse than the other. im going to try the paper bandaids to cover. Ive got them to heal before buts its back. He also is aninside dog so imagine this occurs when dozing outside during the day.

  15. Side note..whoever took this photo, should be check for melanoma with the nail marking, it’s quite common in melanoma. . Unless this is a known bruising.

    1. Hi Cole. Thanks for the concern. It was actually an old dog bite which bled under the nail and has now grown out. Occupational hazard!

    1. Hi Carl. If the hardening is being caused by dried blood or scabs, you can gently soak it off with diluted chlorhexidine or betadine scrub, but to prevent it happening you’ll need your vet’s help.

  16. Don’t know how I didn’t realize this was probably from fly bite. My dog is inside dog but spends hours outside on weekend right before I got to work at night (to get all her pottying) out of her system before being left indoors alone for the night. Haven’t considered flies might attack her ears!!! I could KICK myself! Her wound looks almost exactly like that picture and I thought it was an HPV wound but the vet didn’t seem concerned about it.She got a bath after the vet visit and it looks better already. I’ve had dogs with fly bites before, that were full-time outside in the summer, but thi dog is an inside dog so I didn’t know what that was on her ear. Well now that I know, I know what to do

  17. You can try Vicks or similar ointment, my dog ears it heals the wound and keep stay away the from flies.

    1. Just a warning – Vicks in Australia includes a menthol which is likely to sting on the raw wound

    1. Hi Howard. The trick is that they should be lightweight but still stick to the ears (the adhesive needs to be nowhere near the area needing protection – they’re only to stop small things getting big)

  18. Hi! My dogs ear flaps are bleeding with open wounds. Possibly flies are stinging them. Very hot and humid conditions. How can I treat them. It’s also cracking open. His in pain when he shakes his head. How can I treat them at home. What may be the possible reason? Should I use the regal brand for skin infections drops?

  19. Hi on the tips of my dogs ears are crusty blood scabs or something . It doesn’t look like bugs but he is always shaking

    1. Insect bite is the most likely cause, but you almost never see the insects. Of course there can be other options too so a vet visit is recommended.

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