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Originally Posted by AlicetheYorkie

Does his ear look dirty inside and smell bad? Did they do an actual culture of the "stuff" inside his ear? They would have used a long cotton swap to take a sample from the inside of the ear and then analyzed it under a microscope. Then they would determin if it was yeast, bacteria, or mites. If you're not sure, ask your vet what their diagnosis was. That determins what particular medication is used, so they may just be using the wrong one.

Some dogs have chronic ear problems, but after a round of proper treatment are usually fine for a while with regular cleaning. Allergies is possible, but since it's just the one ear and he's otherwise fine, I'd get a second opinion on the ear itself first.

What's the name of the medication they gave him? My beagle gets yeast issues once in a while (those floppy ears just invite it) and I use Zymox ear cleaner and ointment drops. I've had her ear cultured a few times though during a flare up and it's always yeast, so I know what I'm dealing with. Ask your vet for specifics and if they can't give you that or don't want to try a different medication, I'd try a different vet for a second opinion before dishing out major bucks for allergy testing. Some ear issues can be tricky to get rid of, but there's a big variety of different medications they can use, so sometimes it takes a little trial and error.

Did they swab the ears to check what kind of organism is growing (if they suspect infection)? Yeast infections require different drugs than a bacterial infection. This should be cheaper than allergy testing.