Stained Beard... Toothpaste??? - 1 more Update

[Debb, Lucy & Oscar]

Lucy is a (nearly 2) cream Labradoodle and she's never had a problem with a stained beard... until now. I've always used Chris Christensen's 'White on White' on her beard while bathing and that's seemed to keep the staining under control. Now it doesn't touch it.

The only thing that has changed with Lucy's diet and grooming in the past several months is I've been brushing her teeth every night with Petrodex Natural Peanut Butter flavor toothpaste, and wiping her mouth and beard with a damp paper towel after meals. Could it be the toothpaste? I may have to switch her to something else, but I'm hesitant to do that since she developed a bad case of drooling after a month of using an enzymatic toothpaste (Tropiclean brand). I just looked into how this toothpaste works and it actually is suppose to be used as an oral gel to be placed on the dog's teeth, without actually needing to brush them. I brushed it on, however. According to the article I read, enzymatic gels cause the dog to salivate, which disperses the gel throughout the mouth and gums. In Lucy's case the salivating got out of control to the point she was salivating non stop. So maybe I should just try a regular enzymatic toothpaste and not a gel. I'd still like to know which ones are free of colorings that can stain the beard. Any suggestions? I'm afraid there isn't anything that will "get the stain out" at this point, but am open to suggestions on that too.

Thanks guys... I look forward to hearing your ideas!

UPDATE:

Interesting, nobody has much to say on this subject. Here's what I decided to do... I switched Lucy to CET's Enzymatic toothpaste (in the Malt flavor). Since it was an enzymatic gel that had caused her drooling, and gels work differently than toothpastes, I thought an enzymatic toothpaste would be safe to try. So far so good. I especially like that the toothpaste itself is whitish and not a dark color, and that Lucy likes the taste even better than Petrodex's Natural Peanut Butter toothpaste. Big pluses. I still don't know for sure it was the toothpaste causing the staining in Lucy's beard, and I have yet to find something that is safe to use to lighten it up, but in the meantime I found a toothpaste that I can feel good about.

 LATEST UPDATE:

I'm rethinking this whole toothpaste staining theory. These past few weeks I've also noticed dark rusty staining around Lucy's genitals (a whole lot more than she ever had before). After doing an extensive google search on the subject it could be either red yeast or the minerals in her drinking water. The solution apparently is to change to distilled water and start adding a very small amount of white vinegar to it, slowly working up to 1 tsp per water bowl (mine takes 2 qts.) Lucy already is getting purified water from the fridge filter and never had a problem with staining before. Still, it won't hurt to switch her to distilled water. It may be her ph levels are off and the vinegar will help.  So, wish me luck Lucy will drink her water! I'll keep you all posted on any progress...

[Helen & Kirby]

Kirby is also a cream labradoodle, and just drinking water stains her beard.  I'm curious to hear what others are doing to wash the stain out!

[Pam & Trixie]

Old thread...but it came up when I was searching for something else.  Trixie was stain free til last fall (3.5 years)

Then all of a sudden she started to have a stained beard & dark stain around her genitals also.

What about other 'late staining' doodles...Did you ever figure out what was causing it & able to fix it?