Dog shedding black flakes w/ order and ear itching

~12yr White German Shepard.  Still going strong and playfull .   BMs and appetite good.  Took to Vet in Nov. For L hind swollen strained thigh with edema in ankle & foot off /on.   Had bod  xray, blood work up, biopsy of thigh region all good except   minor arthritis due to age. When goes out  back comes in smelly  after having a bark affair with neighbor dog  or when gets feet wet in pool.Well the last 2 months oder has been a ongoing situation with more frequent grooming / cleaning / new dog bed .  Now appears to have dry itchy ear and i am noticing black flakes everywhere on his bed / floor.  Bedroom carpet has dog odor.  Therefore cleaning  evan more.  He is on med for inflammation and good Supplements daily.  What are the black flakes and oder and swelling from? He acts fine, and i never see a  flea.     He did go to Kennel right before the leg swelling.      

Hello!  - I'm a little confused where the swelling is that you mention in your final question.  Please would you remind me where that is and how long it has been present in all this?

I'm assuming that you know what flea dirt looks like and therefore won't mention fleas any more - but it's worth a look just in case.  However, I am wondering whether the black flakes you mention are connected with yeast infection, or excessive cerumen production (which often leads to yeast infection, because cerumen is full of nice, proteinaceous goodness that surface yeasts etc like to eat).   This would require a special shampoo - and although you can buy 'special shampoos' a-plenty from the pet shop, these are very poorly restricted.  They often don't do what it seems to say on the packet.  You would want one containing an actual medication that works against Malassezia, at the correct concentration to be effective. Furthermore, I can't see the skin and might not be right.  Another concern that when yeast infection takes hold, it is often because the immune system has been run down for some reason - and this could be connected to said lump.   Therefore, I would strongly recommend you showing the skin - and the swelling - to a vet.

Ah!  You've been to the kennels recently.  That moves fleas back up my list.   Often local vets will do a 'free flea check' just in case - and if there are only one or two, it's rare to see the beasties themselves.   That might be a good place to start, but the vets will likely want you to book a full consultation if you're planning to ask about the lump as well, which is what we would recommend.

By the way, a good way to see if tiny black flakes are flea dirt or not, is to put them onto a wet tissue or cotton-wool pad and smudge them about.  Flea dirt leaves a reddy coloured trail behind it.  You can probably also Bing-image for pictures.