Well, we went to see the "top Dr." at the vet today for the check up on the ears. He said it would be premature to do an allergy test on Hercules - to wait 2 to 6 months while with me before doing it. He also seemed to indicate that they weren't always reliable for being the root cause of the problem. He said if Hercules displayed other symptoms of allergies and it had been a while then he would consider it. But since I've only had him 6 months, we might be jumping the gun.
He also said that if we didn't know how long his ears had been bad it may simply be that it may take a while before it goes away. He said the longer he has had the infections in his ears, the longer it will take to get rid of it. I was told that I should be flushing his ears (not just cleaning them) like many of you had mentioned, 3 times a week and to still use the otomax 3 times a week. He said this may need to occur for the next two months!
And that Hercules may simply be a dog that I have to do this with (flush his ears maybe once or twice a week) for the rest of his life :( Can't say I liked that answer........
He also prescribed Ketaconazole (I think its supposed to be spelled Ketoconazole) which is an antifungal, but I really don't want to give it to him because after getting home and looking on the net, there seems to be a lot of potential side affects.
The good news was the doc said his ears didn't look that bad and his ear drums were still intact! :) So no permanent damage (thank god) to worry about.
By chance has anyone used Ketaconzole with their dogs? Thanks for your help and concern with my post prior to this!!!!