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How to Remove Dog Tear Stains Naturally

How to Remove Dog Tear Stains Naturally

Owners of dogs that are prone to tear staining almost always reach a point where they have heard it all and nothing works. Removing tear stains is hard and it takes time. More importantly, it takes the correct products to get it right.

Eye Envy’s Natural Dog Tear Stain Remover is one of the most effective all natural stain removers but for it to work, like with all tear stain remedies, there is a process.

Step-by-step how to remove dog tear stains

Dark haired dogs may have just as big of a problem with tear stains as light haired dogs; you just can’t see it as well. Think about how uncomfortable it is when you have tear gunk in your eyes. That gunk turns into stains in certain dogs.

Makeshift solutions like pasting over the stains with eye makeup or applying human creams to bleach those stains can do more harm than good. More to the point, any process that simply covers up the stains is not removing them.

Eye stains are caused by bacteria that can’t simply be washed away with soap and water. Here is a step-by-step guide to help you remove dog tear stains and keep them away.

#1: Deep Cleanse

The first step to removing tear stains from your dog’s eyes is to get them super clean. Before you begin a daily regimen is an excellent time to take your dog to a doggie spa or bathing station for a professional deep cleaning.

Particularly if you have tried to remove your dog’s tear stains before with whiteners, you’re going to have to start from scratch. It’s best to spend the extra money so that your dog’s fur, especially around the trouble spots is as clean as possible before you begin your removal process.

Eye Envy Tear Stain Facial Cleanser is a good option for use at home between salon visits. Lather the foaming tearless shampoo around the entire face, paying attention to those heavily stained areas. Let it sit for 5 minutes and then remove.  

#2: Trim Facial Hair

Toy dogs and other small breeds are prone to tear staining because of the way that they are built. Terriers have long hair around their eyes and mouths as do many other breeds. That hair, if not properly groomed, can irritate the eyes and create excessive tearing which leads to staining.

You should let a professional groomer take care of keeping your dog’s eye fur and beard to a minimum. If you must, use a guard on clippers to groom your pet and never use scissors; too many accidents can happen.

#3: Develop a Daily Maintenance Routine

If you are wiping the gunk from your dog’s eyes every day and bathing them on a healthy schedule, you can definitely remove tear stains for good. Here is an example of a strong daily grooming regimen for dogs that tend to accrue tear stains:

  • Use a pet safe saline flush on mornings where your dog’s eyes look especially wet or dry.
  • Every morning, take a wet cloth or pet safe wipe and clean gunk from the corners of your dog’s eyes, wiping the fur surrounding the eyes, nose, and mouth.
  • Mix a tablespoon of peroxide with an 8 ounce glass of water and dip a cotton ball into the solution for a homemade daily removal concoction, then dab solution on the fur around the eyes before rinsing it off with warm water. Be careful not to get any in your dog’s eyes!

You can use dogs wipes instead of the peroxide mix to be on the safe side. You could even use warm water mixed with a dab of contact solution to gently cleanse the area daily. There are a couple of other home remedies that may work for your dog.

One is a paste similar to mask treatments that humans use on their faces. You mix cornstarch with a tablespoon of peroxide and mix it together until it is pasty. Then dab it under your dog’s eyes. After it dries, wash it out.

This can be hard unless you have a collar cone to keep your pet from scratching the mixture and getting it into their eyes. The peroxide and cornstarch will sting if it gets in their eyes. There are also a lot of stain removers on the market but beware – most contain antibiotics.

Though they can be effective, tear staining is an ongoing problem that has to be treated regularly. If you use antibiotics on your dog every day, they will build up a resistance to it. After that, even good stain removers have to work a lot harder to remove stains, not to mention the other health problems that long term use of antibiotics can create.

#4: Isolate and Eliminate Causes of Stains

Outside of your regular daily maintenance routine, you will need to isolate the things that are causing excessive tearing and eliminate them. While you may not be able to stop the problem from recurring without constant care, you can reduce the effort it takes to keep the stains away.

For instance, what your dog eats and the cleanliness of his or her food and water dishes can affect how badly the staining problem is. If your dog is constantly eating scraps from the table and not a healthy diet appropriate for his breed, they will develop digestive problems.

Those digestive problems manifest through your dog’s tear ducts when waste byproduct starts leaking out through their saliva and tears. If you fill your dog’s water dish with tap water, the lead and iron in the water can cause those rust colored tear stains around the mouth and eyes.

Always use sanitary dishes for your dog’s food and water. A little tip to boost stain prevention; drop a spoonful of apple cider vinegar in the distilled water you give to your dog – it kills bacteria.

#5: If All Else Fails, Go See a Vet

There are underlying medical issues that could be causing tear staining in your dog. Certain birth defects in breeds of dogs can cause excessive tearing which leads to staining. One of the most easily treatable abnormalities is entropion; inverted eyelids that irritate the cornea.

If regular treatment doesn’t work or your dog appears to be in pain or constant irritation, it’s time to take them to the vet. It could be a yeast infection or an eye infection that is causing the problem. Left untreated it can get worse so you may want to start with the vet if the problem seems to point to a deeper medial issue. 

Eye Envy All Natural Dog Tear Stain Remover Products

Even though there are many tear stain removers out there that are effective, some of the chemicals contained in them end up doing more damage over the long run. It’s tempting for dog owners to go for the quick and easy solution if your dog’s eyes look really bad because of tear stains.

The fact of the matter is there is no quick and easy solution for removing dog tear stains. Any solution that works is going to take time and consistent effort over the course of your dog’s life; daily. What you can find however is a good quality stain remover that proves lasting results, even if it takes a couple of months to clear all the way up.

Too many dog owners give up before a solution has a chance to work. The problem is that antibiotic resistance is just one downside to those quick fixes. Other chemicals can dry out your dog’s eyes, create skin reactions, or cause stomach issues after years of use.

Remember, tear stain removal is a step-by-step process, every day at a time. If at any point you quit your daily maintenance routine or you skimp on the quality of your dog’s shampoo, tear stains will come back.

Eye Envy’s natural tear stain removers are designed to be used over the long term. Your dog won’t build up resistance to it and instead of using harsh chemicals or man-made antibiotics, our products use natural antibiotics to combat tear staining.

Our pet care products will not harm the skin or damage your dog’s fur while being one of the most effective commercial treatments for dog tear stain removal available. Instead of covering up the issue, our products get to the root of it.

If your dog has sensitive skin, sensitive eyes, or suffers from allergies, this is the exact product you need. All of Eye Envy’s stain removers are allergy-free. Take a look at our 3-Step Tear Stain Kit for Dogs for an all-in-one solution to your dog’s tear staining. This kit contains the Tear Stain Facial Cleanser to deep clean the area, the Tear Stain Remover Wipes to treat the cause of stains, and the Tear Stain Remover Powder, to keep the area dry and protect the fur. 

Before and After using Eye Envy 3-Step Kit for Dogs