tear stains

[Rosalyn Ancrum]

Hi everyone and anyone,

Do light colored labradoodles get tear stains in their faces? I had a bichon fries and they are notorious for tear stains just as the maltese breeds are.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Some do, some don't. It seems to happen more with the curlier coated dogs, for some reason. 

[Rosalyn Ancrum]

Ok thanks. Probably the lighter colored dogs. Such as a cream or chalk color.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Well, it just shows up on the light colored dogs, lol. Black, brown and red Poodles and doodles have the same eye discharge, it just doesn't stain because their fur is darker. 

[Nancy, Ned, Clancy, and Charlie]

As Ned has aged and had tear duct problems he has developed an eye group problem and sometimes tear stains.  I have found that the Angel Eyes Powder helps some with this.  It is only anecdotal because mostly I don't think any of these things work. 

[Rosalyn Ancrum]

I agree Nancy, they don't work.  I used Angel Eyes on my bichon and it never worked.  I was just wondering if it's a breed thing.  Now my yorkie gets tear stains but not noticeable  and it's not as bad.

[J and Riley (and Luna)]

My childhood bichon's breeder swore by lecithin to make the tears clump instead of running.  It either worked or she just didn't have whatever gene makes them run and stain :p

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Do you maybe mean lutein instead of lecithin? 

[Rosalyn Ancrum]

Hey guys, I noticed that the pictures of labradoodles I see online don't have tear stains even the light colored ones.  Well it's too early to worry about that anyway.  The pups are born yet.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Here's the 8 pages worth of discussions that came up in a search on this site alone on the subject of tear stains...all doodles, lol:
https://doodlekisses.com/forum/topic/search?q=%22tear+stains%22

Lots of info for you on what others have experienced and done.

I'm guessing that the pictures you're looking at online are on breeder sites or similar locations where they probably are making sure the dogs' faces are clean before taking featured photos, lol. 

[J and Riley (and Luna)]

Nope soy lecithin.

I have no clue why it would do anything but that's what she recommended.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

I have no idea either. If you're going to give lecithin, you want it from eggs. Soy is not something you want to give dogs, and lecithin, while okay for most, can cause digestive issues including diarrhea, vomiting, and bloating. :(

[J and Riley (and Luna)]

Yoshi was an especially robust Bichon.. pretty much nothing upset her digestion and she lived to 18.5 :p  She once stole half a box of chocolates and was totally fine minus a bit of hyperactivity for a few hours (she was about 13-14 lbs).  She was a fiesty and sturdy little thing... thinking back she reminds me of all those stories of humans who live to 100+ lol.