Certainly need plucking every month, as previously said if they're sore better when he's under, the hair pulls out quite easily but can be a little hard to grip (covered in wax), so get som ear powder, thornit or similar from your pet shop, this is talc like and helps gripping the hair, when the ears are clear of soreness you can clean them with ear cleaner, just put a couple of drops in and massage the ear canal, remember this is quite long in dogs but you can feel it under the ear, then using cotton wool wipe them out, don't use small cotton wool or push it into the ear, really bad thing to do, just wipe them out, then pluck them once a month.
If you don't want to do this your local groomer should do this as a matter of course.
I love grooming poodles, lion cut anyone?, only £40