Tear Stains
 

What is the best product for removing the stained color on the hairs around the eyes? Both of my boys hair around the eyes seems to have turned a rust color.

I don't know the best but I can tell you what I have heard.

Parsley flakes in the water helps.
Stay away from food with red dyes in them.
I have read that a lady would brew camomile tea every morning and wipe her pup's eyes every morning with the brewed tea.
I have heard of mixing milk of Magnesia (sp) peroxide and baby powder or cornstarch.
I have heard that giving one 1/2 a tums a day helps
And I have read somewhere too, that you can use contact saline solution to loosen the crusty parts from the hair. Careful not to get any of these in the eyes.

Personally I just use a product from Drs. Fosters and Smith called Clean Eyes. It works quicker and it doesn't hurt them if it does get into the eyes. They have Show Eyes and Clean Eyes products and I think Show Eyes you have to be careful not to get into the eyes but the Clean eyes you can.

I am sure you already know but hair poking the eyes will make them water a lot too. A good healthy diet helps as well.

(Sorry if it seems like I am just rambling and being redundant.)

thanks for all the options. Remmy is on a special diet for Stones and Chance eats flint river ranch. And I keep Remmy's hair clipped and Chances pulled back. I'm not sure I can get them to eat parsley...but I see there are some good options on products to try. I wonder if Flint River puts dye in their food....hmmm. I got rid of the bag so i'll have to check the site.

Thanks

I know what you are going through though. I battle the tear stains too. There are great products out there to remove tear stains but I just can't seem to keep the products on hand all the time. So if you find a better way please let me know. That seems to be the age old question is how to get rid of them and keep them gone. I have heard of people having surgery to stop the dog from tearing at all, but that is just a little to extreme for me. I was hoping some other people with more experience or maybe a groomer would respond to your post to give us some better ideas.

I use diamond eye on Oscar - it works fairly well, you can actually see some of the reddish color come off when you wipe so you FEEL like you're accomplishing something. I don't get around to using it as often as I should to really see results though I feel. It has a pretty strong smell and Oscar hates having his face messed with.

I have heard SO MANY different theories on tearing! There doesn't seem to be any kind of consensus on what causes it and how to get rid of the stains. One theory is that food containing beet pulp (makes sense doesn't it - it's red and we KNOW it stains) will contribute to tear stains. Oscar eats Royal Canin, which does contain beet pulp - I'm going to switch him to Chicken Soup for the Dog Lover's Soul (no beet pulp, and MUCH better ingredients overall). I figure it's worth a try.

Another theory is that the tearing is actually clear, but the excessive wetness results in RED YEAST which is that reddish color... so keeping the hair as clean and dry as much as possible would help in that case I guess?

Some say it is something that they will eventually grow out of - especially if they are in the teething phase which can cause excessive tearing.

I wish I could say the beet pulp theory was why..
 

but I feed Milo Canidae and it has no beet pulp..:( Lucy does get eye irritation but it is not red..it is totally because her hairs keep going into her eyes..but Milo's is redish..?? I am going to try some homeopathic/herbal eye stuff from Whole foods to see if that works. Let me also read what my herbal pet book says..?

I bought the tear stain remover from petsilk too but still haven't tried it. I'll let you guys know when I do! I know someone who uses the one for malteses (from petsilk) and she says it works really well.