Staining on face

Hi Judith, the staining on the face seems to be a common problem with a lot of light coloured dogs that have longer hair.  I know when we got Daisy the breeder told us that she is well known for breeding puppies who don't suffer with stained faces and we haven't really noticed much with Daisy.  I have heard that filtered or bottled water does help and also that their food can cause the staining.  I know you say you give a food with no additives/colourants/preservatives so not really sure why it's as bad as it seems to be.  What food exactly do you give her as it could still be diet related?  A lot of us on here feed our dogs raw food and they do reckon that on raw food their skin and hair improves a lot.

Lyn

Hi Lyn,

Thanks for your message. We have recently been going to puppy socialisation classes where the canine behaviourist/veterinary nurse advised on food. Lucy wasn't eating Royal Canin which she was on when we got her. The only way I could get food down her was to handfeed. 

I have changed her to naturediet and eden holistic. Both are natural foods chicken/vegetables and are complete foods but I found she ate better with a mix of both. She loves it and eats the lot in 5 minutes and cleans the bowl! As they are both complete foods so I work out the exact % of each so she has the correct balance. They both have no additives/colourants/preservatives. Her coat has changed and feels really silky since changing the foods. Also, her chew sticks which I give her for teething (no more than 2 per day at our mealtimes) are 100% chicken. I researched all food on whichdogfood and hope I am giving her the best possible. She is on bottled water and I bath her once every 3/4 weeks.

Do you have any other ideas please as I really am at a loss of what else to do?

Thanks
Judith

Hi Judith,  I used to feed Daisy on Naturediet and although I think for a processed food it's a good one, it's still got rice in it and of course it's cooked.  Also even the Eden food has potato and sweet potato in it and once again they are carbs and they don't need them.

As I said before quite a few of us on here feed raw foods like wolftucker or nutriment and as the food is raw and just like a dog would feed in the wild it's definitely a better food than any of the processed foods on the market.  I'm not saying it would solve the problem with the face staining but I would say if you are willing to give it a try you would be feeding your dog a diet that is the nearest to perfect as you can get.

Lyn

It's defo down to food I think since I have changed from wolftucker ( raw) to daf mince (raw) maggie has had tear stains and maggie never has had that an she is nearly all white :-( 
I do advise getting rid of any dry and goo from the eyes before wetting of wiping the face. U can use a fine face comb for this or I use a flea comb ( careful not to pull whiskers) I find if u don't remove this before washing u r just working it in and spreadin it around.
Also don't over wash and put loads products on the face as it makes it dry and removes all the nice oils from the fur and it will stain easier. 
I just dry brush comb the face everyday and wash as needed u don't want the face to be wet or damp a lot

Hi my Archie had bad tear staining when he was a baby. I researched it, please avoid all of the chemical based products out there! I found a weblink to Lilly's Kitchen food, we put Archie on it and the staining has gone! i have always fed him good quality food with no additives etc, the change to Lilly's kitchen dry kibbles has done the job! the article was right. The only thing I would add it try to avoid changing food too often with a little baby, it can upset their tummy. 

http://www.lilyskitchen.co.uk/dog/happy-customers/wave-goodbye-to-tear-stains

We have been on lilys kitchen for 10 months now. Thanks for sharing the article, it is amazing how food can affect them.  I have rox and pip on venison dry and lamb wet. Roo is on lamb dry and lamb wet.

I still struggle with tear staining with roo and rox but it is not as bad as it was!