The advice that you folks gave me on how to handle Fiona's ears was absolutely sound. Thank you guys so much!! I am only cleaning her ears out about once a week now. I have had them cultured at the vet office when she went in for her bordatella shot and the counts are remaining stable. Next I will try wiping them out once a week but not messing with them otherwise unless she gets a bath. I will also get them re-cultured when I next take her in for her rabies shot when she turns one year old--just to make sure that the plan is working. The magic trick? Keeping the inside of the ear flaps shaved pretty cleanly. My sister does it about every two weeks. We also continue to tie up her ears a couple of times a week for an hour or so to make sure the ears get dry out time, just in case. I am fairly paranoid about it. I DO NOT want chronic ear problems if a simple care plan can be developed to avoid it. I have always fed my dogs a pretty grain free diet and when they started making grain free food, I jumped right on board. It seemed to be a natural choice because a dog's digestion is not set up to process grains. So I, too, am a fan of the grain-free diet.