Our red girl dog has the same problem. Freaks out when you touch her ears with a swab, but loves the inside of her ears rubbed when petting her. You know the two handed ear & cheek rub.
That gave me an idea!. I found some real soft white - tight gardening gloves (unused), gave her an ear massage and cleaned her ears out. it worked well. I was extra careful not to push the dirt down her ears, but did kind of a wiping motion out and away from her inner ears. She loved it!
