Tear Stains

Some toy poodles have worse tear stains than others and in the majority of cases it is a cosmetic issue with no impact on the dog's health.

While our adults here at Abounding Poodles are either dry-eyed or light stainers, factors outside of genetics can affect your puppy such as diet and environment. Because of this, we can not guarantee that any given puppy will be completely free from all tear staining... your local environmental influences are outside of our control. We recommend a diet of "grain-free" dog food for this reason since grain seems to be a major irritant of the digestive tract of a poodle. If you burn candles, use plug-ins, or any other scent diffusing cleaning product, this may be the root cause of the stains.

There are a few things that can be done:

1. Remove all potential irritants from the environment; anything with strong odors or chemicals including cleaning products used to mop the floors, powders, etc.
2. Give the dog a grain-free diet. Some claim great success giving them distilled water to drink also. Please remember to keep your puppy on the same dog food you received from us when you purchased the puppy for 2 weeks before switching to another, then do so very gradually.
3. If the staining continues after trying these first two options, there may be a bacterial infection in the tear ducts. If that's the case, ask your vet for a round of Tylan (antibiotic) to mix in their water for about 10 days. If after that round the staining comes back, a bacterial infection was not the root cause of this.
4. Try Angels Eyes products as I've heard great reviews from friends.
5. I tend to be the "holistic type" and live as chemically-free as possible. Since none of my dogs are heavy stainers, their problem can be easily taken care of with grooming. Two styles that work well for stainers would be the a. Asian Fusion Grooming Style, or b. keep your dog's face closely shaved off.
6. If you want to consult a Canine Ophtalmologist, be prepared to spend a lot of money on a surgery that may or may not work. I would strongly advise you against it unless the doctor can guarantee that it will work. Any surgery can cause the eyes to develop scar tissue or other undesirable results that are irreversible.