About Those Dog Tear Stains

We will call them "dog tear stains" so that we are in agreement over what are talking about; to let you in on a secret though, they aren't really tears. Those distressing stains on a dog's light-colored facial fur that you see sometimes, come from the kind of secretion from the dog's eyes, that aren't tears.

These stains are not really a health problem at all for the most part – they are only a cosmetic problem. People who own dogs with snow white fur, will often worry about how those dried-up tear stains don't look good on an impeccable coat of white. It could be argued that those moist patches on a dogs facial fur can foster bacterial growth, but most of the time, that's a secondary consideration.

If your dog has this problem and you want a safe way to clean it off, here's what you do.

Before you actually go and clean those dog tear stains away, wait and watch a few days to see how much moisture there is coming from your dog's eyes. If there seems to be rather too much, it's possible that it's an allergic reaction. There might be something in the environment or something in your dog's food.

With that out of the way, let's get to the cleaning part.

Those tear stains are easy enough to clean, actually. You need to mix just a little lemon juice in some warm water, moisten a clean cloth in it, and dab those stains away. As long as you don't let any of the water get into your dog's eyes, you (and your dog) should be fine.

Sometimes, even after you've removed any actual deposits from your dog's facial fur, the stains still remain. To remove those, consider a solution of milk of magnesia and peroxide. Mix equal amounts in the bowl, and put in some cornstarch in it to use as a thickening agent.

You want something that doesn't seem runny. You need to be particularly careful applying this stuff to the affected area. These are real dangerous chemicals, and you can't get any tears in your dog's eyes at all. All you need to do is to do is to let this stuff dry, and then wash it off with water.

If you wish to go a little higher end, pet stores do sell dog tear stain removal products.

It might also be an idea to put a little cider vinegar into your dog's water everyday. It just might help do away with the bacteria that grow around those stains.