Just thought I would ask everyone else what they use as a regular ear wash for their GSP?? Sadie seems to get itchy ears often, had the Vet check them, and they are a little red inside, Vet seems to think she maybe prone to a swimmers ear,  This sounds possible as she swims a lot. I remember in my dog grooming days we use to use a vinegar mixture to combat bacterial infections as a maintenance weekly wash, which was much better as a preventative than waiting for an infection to use a medicinal ointment..

Daniel & Layla both had terrible ear trouble last summer (nasty, gooey, stinky brown stuff everywhere) & the vet thought it might be swimmer's ear, but Layla isn't much of a swimmer. We finally figured out it was the food I was feeding (a very high-quality food that just didn't agree with them). Once I switched to another high-quality food their eaa cleared up in a few weeks.

I still swab their ears from time to time, because they both love to dig & they get dirt in there, but I haven't seen that nasty stuff since then. I keep a small bottle of the Oti... otimax? oticleanse? The ear goo the vet gave me, just in case.

I use MalAcetic Otic by DermaPet.  Started using it back when I had Cocker Spaniels.  Talk about ear problems.  Anyway, I use this when I bathe my crew and it keeps their ears clean and raises the pH level.  The acidic pH helps prevent Yeast infections (brown gunky stinky stuff) which can turn into a bacterial infection.  It also helps keep the moisture down in the ear without drying the ear out.  Also smells pretty decent.

www.amazon.com/DermaPet-Malacetic-Otic-16-oz/dp/B0002YFQXU

We use a little vinegar and warm water, swabbed gently with q-tips.

Once you start cleaning frequently you will find you don't need to clean them very often, an ounce of prevention and all that.

Unless there's a structural problem or allergies the less you mess with the dog's ears the fewer problems you will have.

You can mix 1/2 tap water, 1/4 peroxide, 1/4 rubbing alcohol together. Warm to room temp, then put a couple of cc's in the dogs ear. Just massage it around from the outside, just like you were rubbing the dog's ears petting him. Then turn the head, wet ear side down and massageinside with a soft cloth. Repeat for the other side.

Do this after every swim and you'll have just about all of your problems solved, unles again, there are some structural/allergy problems causing blockage.

The wax that's inside your dogs ears serves a purpose. It is there to prevent bacteria and fungi from getting to the soft skin and causing infection. If you wash away that protection, you have real problems.

No one but a vet should stick anything in the ear canal smaller than your thumb, unless it's at the direction of your vet.  There's way, way too much danger of causing far more of a problem by doing so, than you are likely to be correcting.