I plucked my 12 week old Yorkie.You can use Styptic powder and there are other powders. You can get a very good grip on the hairs with the powder. The puppy did NOT cry. At first he freaked out and tried to squirm away but as soon as he realized that I was not cutting him! lol he stood still. I prefer the clean plucked ears because of water getting in there,the ears are way cleaner in my opinion and our vet said she recommends it because even though erect ears don't suffer as much from infections as floppy eared dogs, she has seen erect ears with infections because so much hair in the canal get's clogged etc..
I got my yorkie and his ear smelled like dirty feet? lol I plucked them and must have used like 10 Q-tips getting all the dirt out ! yuck!! lol
His ears are nice and fresh now
The first time I saw the vet pluck Cookie's ear hairs I was suffering and I could not stay in the room. It just looked so painful. Now I do it myself. If you don't want them plucked you could also keep them very trimmed down with tiny scissors. That was not an option for us because Cookie was more afraid of the scissor making a snap sound ! lol
Genie
Cookie
Lola
Angel