My Maltese has gotten this a couple of times. You see this more in dogs with the droppy, silky ears. The ear stays too moist. I took him to the vet. It was an ear infection. They gave me a liquid medicine to put in his ear. It's a little messy but should do the trick. Just try to keep the dog as clean as possible too.
Ear Mites almost always effect BOTH ears...The discharge is usually a darker black and looks like coffee grounds. Suzi-q is correct. Brown is an abundance of ear wax or probably Yeast. However, the head tilt means that it is now an Inner Ear Infection and harder to treat. ORAL antibiotics are a MUST, now. If left untreated, next will be a loss of equilibrium and he will start spinning in circles. It's like Vertigo in humans; they don't know up or down! He also is at risk of losing his hearing or rupturing the ear drum. All of this is extremely painful. He will need painkillers for a few days...Be sure and ask the Vet for these, too. I'm surprised that he is NOT screaming, yet. Please, get him to your Vet tomorrow. He is suffering....Let us know how it turns out....Good luck! Karla
He needs to go to the vet. He sounds like he has a yeast infection in his ear (very common with poodles)....It has gone on way too long....get him there asap.