# Filtered Water and Beard Staining



## Jackie from Concrete WA (Mar 23, 2015)

I'm still dealing with beard staining on Willow. I wash her face twice per day with a product that is supposed to help with staining. She eats a quality grain-free kibble. She also takes I-Stain by Thomas Labs. I believe the staining is better but it's still there. I know some of you give only filtered water. I'm wondering if a Brita filter would be sufficient. Are you buying filtered water of do you use the Brita? Or is it purified water rather than filtered water?


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## Pucks104 (Aug 16, 2012)

We have a Le Bleu water cooler at the house and mostly Leo and Rex drink that from s water bottle. I do use Brita filtered tap water in the ceramic fountain for my big dogs and both Leo and Rex will drink from it sometimes. Neither has any beard staining issues at this time.


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## 31818 (Oct 29, 2014)

I drink only Britta filtered water and mi Pop washes mi eyes and beard ebery morning. I dont have a problem wit staining as long as we do this ebery day. If not ebery day, den I have a problem wit staining.

besos, Ricky Ricardo


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## MarinaGirl (Mar 25, 2012)

Emmie drinks distilled water and is fed a raw diet. I also try to wipe her face after meals with a damp washcloth or paper towel. She doesn't have beard stains with this regimen.


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## catalina (Nov 7, 2015)

i feed my dog purina after a vet suggested a hypo allergic food, which did not good. She looks like she has dandruff after grooming and shaving at the vets, i assume dry skin. She is black around the face so no staining, use tap water.


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## Jackie from Concrete WA (Mar 23, 2015)

Thanks everyone. Willow has about the same regime as you, Ricky, except she is currently drinking tap water. I think I'll try the Britta.


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## 31818 (Oct 29, 2014)

Jackie from Concrete said:


> Thanks everyone. Willow has about the same regime as you, Ricky, except she is currently drinking tap water. I think I'll try the Britta.


Oh an I eat Honest Kitchen Preference with home boiled an shredded (Momi is learning good tricks from mi) chicken breas and chicken brof. YUM, YUM, ARF, ARF :hungry:

besos, Ricky Ricardo


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## Jackie from Concrete WA (Mar 23, 2015)

Ricky Ricardo said:


> Oh an I eat Honest Kitchen Preference with home boiled an shredded (Momi is learning good tricks from mi) chicken breas and chicken brof. YUM, YUM, ARF, ARF :hungry:
> 
> besos, Ricky Ricardo


I have never heard of Honest Kitchen so I just looked it up on Amazon. It sounds interest though I don't know what I would add for Willow as her prior owners told me she is allergic to chicken.


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## 31818 (Oct 29, 2014)

Jackie from Concrete said:


> IIt sounds interest though I don't know what I would add for Willow as her prior owners told me she is allergic to chicken.


Turkey, white fish, lean beef, duck, ........I likum all, yu betcha! :hungry:

besos, Ricky Ricardo


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## Pucks104 (Aug 16, 2012)

Leo eats Honest Kitchen Grain Free turkey and fish varieties. They seem to work for him. I tried one of the no meat varieties but my DH has a hard time with the raw meat. I am still working on that. The varieties with meat are so finely minced you can't really tell what the individual ingredients are.


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## 31818 (Oct 29, 2014)

Pucks104 said:


> Leo eats Honest Kitchen Grain Free turkey and fish varieties. They seem to work for him. I tried one of the no meat varieties but my DH has a hard time with the raw meat.


Yes, we have a problem with raw meat too. Too many potential problems for dog (eating) and human (preparation). That's why we boil a chicken breast or white fish before adding to Honest Kitchen Preference.

Ricky's Popi


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## Jackie from Concrete WA (Mar 23, 2015)

Pucks104 said:


> Leo eats Honest Kitchen Grain Free turkey and fish varieties. They seem to work for him. I tried one of the no meat varieties but my DH has a hard time with the raw meat. I am still working on that. The varieties with meat are so finely minced you can't really tell what the individual ingredients are.


I'll take another look at Honest Kitchen. I guess I thought none of the varieties contained meat and you had to add your own.


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## Teddy Bear (Apr 11, 2015)

Do you add fresh meat (and veggies) to kibble?


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## krandall (Jun 11, 2009)

Jackie from Concrete said:


> I have never heard of Honest Kitchen so I just looked it up on Amazon. It sounds interest though I don't know what I would add for Willow as her prior owners told me she is allergic to chicken.


You can add ANY meat. Kodi LOVED HK, and I liked making it for him. I think it's an excellent food. Unfortunately, Kodi developed allergies, and needs tobe on a limited ingredient diet. Because of the diverse array of veggies in HK, It would be hard to pinpoint what was causing problems for him, so I had to change him to another food. But I'd still be using it, otherwise!

I used to make a big batch at a time, and freeze it in single servings in muffin tins. So it was SUPER easy to feed.


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## 31818 (Oct 29, 2014)

krandall said:


> I used to make a big batch at a time, and freeze it in single servings in muffin tins. So it was SUPER easy to feed.


Freezing does work, but we prefer to make about 4 days worth at a time and keep it in a covered container in the fridge. Are you feeding HK to Pixel?

Ricky's Popi


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## Napria (May 17, 2015)

Baci had terrible staining. We switched to giving him Dasani bottled water only using the crate clip on bottled water dispenser, and at the suggestion from our groomers we switched his diet to Canidae Pure. 

The groomers are a wonderful, sweet mother daughter pair who rescue dogs, clean them up and re home them. They swear by Canidae and I saw the results on a standard poodle they had rescued who had awful tear stains, which cleared up after a few weeks. Dogfood Advisor rates Canidae highly and I personally do not believe in feeding raw, so I switched (from Victor, another highly rated food). Baci has no more eye goop, and no more beard or tear staining.

Now if I could only keep him from snacking from the cat's litterbox...


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## Jackie from Concrete WA (Mar 23, 2015)

Napria said:


> Baci had terrible staining. We switched to giving him Dasani bottled water only using the crate clip on bottled water dispenser, and at the suggestion from our groomers we switched his diet to Canidae Pure.
> .


Thank you. I'm familiar with the Canidae line of foods. I know when we first got our corgi about 13 years ago, that was one of the foods that was highly recommended at that time. I will take a look at the Canidae Pure. I guess I better get her on a different water too. I do have some bottled water here but it's not the Dasani brand. I wonder if it would make a difference.

I know it must be something in her system as she has been licking one of her front feet and it is also getting stained.


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## Napria (May 17, 2015)

Our Corgis always ate Science Diet. Back when we got our first corgi almost 30 years ago it was premium. We never had staining or eye **** problems with our corgis.

We give Baci Dasani, but I've been told that the problem is fluoride in tap water, which most filters don't remove. So I'd think most bottled water would be fine.


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## krandall (Jun 11, 2009)

Napria said:


> Our Corgis always ate Science Diet. Back when we got our first corgi almost 30 years ago it was premium. We never had staining or eye **** problems with our corgis.
> 
> We give Baci Dasani, but I've been told that the problem is fluoride in tap water, which most filters don't remove. So I'd think most bottled water would be fine.


Science Diet is really terrible food. It has never been great, vets just got a kick-back for selling it. And they were the first to develop "prescription diets", even though those aren't very good either. Read the ingredients on a bag and you'll be shocked. Corn is one of the top ingredients.


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## Napria (May 17, 2015)

Yeah, I never thought to check since our vet (way back then) recommended it. You live, you learn


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## Jackie from Concrete WA (Mar 23, 2015)

Napria said:


> We give Baci Dasani, but I've been told that the problem is fluoride in tap water, which most filters don't remove. So I'd think most bottled water would be fine.


Thank you. However, we have our own well which has no chemicals in it. Plus we have a filter on our water lines but I don't know how well they actually remove minerals. I now if water is left in a bowl, the bowl will eventually turn kind of pinky/orange.


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## krandall (Jun 11, 2009)

Jackie from Concrete said:


> Thank you. However, we have our own well which has no chemicals in it. Plus we have a filter on our water lines but I don't know how well they actually remove minerals. I now if water is left in a bowl, the bowl will eventually turn kind of pinky/orange.


Actually, there as many ideas about what causes staining as there are ideas about how to feed a dog. And everyone is sure their way is right. For sure, keeping the eye and beard area clean and dry are very important. But different foods supplements, water supplies etc. seem to be very individual in terms of whether they work or not. It seems there are a number of different reasons for tear and beard staining


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## Nicm (Feb 28, 2014)

Hey Jackie!Nic here Like Willow my lil Darla is a sable light all over was much darker as a baby but she didn't start staining until after her teething (strange huh?) but like you I noticed it was getting worse and worse. I tried all those supplements etc nothing worked, I clean her eyes daily with contact solution helps but nothing great! So I started reading more in depth about staining etc. I was thinking ok it has to be her diet has to be!

So I got a small dry face water bowl which is nice,!! her beard never gets wet, I took her off Taste of the Wild (all proteins) but mainly noticed it was the beef. I eliminated all chicken even grain free HA don't care anything with the word chicken in it I run! Darla gets a cooling meat for her kibble fish base, not saying dogs can tolerate all fish but she this wild chick can in fact the fisher the better LOL! I did try the a few good dry kibbles like Zignatures and Natures Logic (didn't like her poos on it too loose for my liking) she did just ok but then I switched her to PURE VITA Salmon and sweet potato works great and poops are firmer. Heidi does great on it as well got lucky I guess!!

I did have the groomer trim a few hairs but told her I needed to see where the stain was growing out sure enough its growing out white! Also no more eye goop either, I do use filter water but don't really focus on bottled watered etc..Im telling you its diet related, Jackie also you really should check what's in Willow's treats as well. I had to start over in that dept too! I give her freeze dried treats only! No more bully sticks anymore (beef ) so now we give the girls cow tails and they LOVE THEM or himalyan chews,or kangaroo jerky, and vital essentials treats, (Amazon Prime) oh one more thing: I do give my girls a wet food as a topper they get raw instinct (closest I could find to raw) Salmon, and I like to switch it up time to time, they get is Pure Candiae grain free salmon and mackerel. 

This was long but wanted to say what has/is working finally and Darla started all this at age 10 months she is almost 19 months old geesh so for 9 months I have been dealing with her stains LOL. No more red stains or her front paws and her vulva area, thats from the licking and its from the saliva so I knew its within her lil system, I put it in!! Now I gotta get it out!! Hope this helps some good luck!

Nic Darla & Heidi:grin2:


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## krandall (Jun 11, 2009)

Hi Nic, just wanted to point out that cow's tails ARE beef, so you still do have some beef in their diet. Maybe it was the chicken Darla was reacting to? Chicken is a protein that bothers quite a few dogs, although my Kodi is backwards, and has trouble with beef, fish and dairy. :laugh:


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## Nicm (Feb 28, 2014)

EEKK well guess who's not getting cow tails!!! Heidi is a brat anyways and a lil piggy she's gonna be in hav heaven, well off for more research your probably right the protein beef in the taste of the wild could have been it but Im scared of chicken. Why does all this have to be so hard oh well Im off to look for another hard chew besides Himalyan's!! Any suggestions ? pls I welcome them all! Thanks Karen for responding and I just ordered more cow tails today dangit! 

On a happy note :: Heidi Ho sure does have these bells down to a T, in fact she has rang these bells so much in the last couple of weeks Im dreaming of her ringing the bells getting out of bed to open the back door! My husband sits up and says Nicole what are you doing? Heidi rang the bells!! no she didn't she's asleep in the crate look LOL good lord:crazy: she was a bit slower than darla Darla got them at 5 months old daily Heidi 7 months old next week oh well Im just glad we made it!! Ha guess who just rangg the freggin bells yep thats my cue:boom:

Thanks again Karen0


Nic Darla & Heidi


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## krandall (Jun 11, 2009)

Don't misunderstand... I'm not suggesting that fish isn't the best protein for YOUR dog, or that chicken isn't a problem for her. In Kodi's case, we actually had him tested, and know he has sensitivities to beef, dairy, and worst of all, fish. Every dog with food sensitivites will be different. Unless you dogs have a dairy sensitivity, they should have no problem with Himalayan Chews, which are made from milk.


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## Nicm (Feb 28, 2014)

Oh no I get your your saying,no worries yeah she can tolerate the fish and dairy no problem, I just like to avoid chicken and beef at all cost. My oldest daughter (25) she has a 5 yr old hav and she can't tolerate chicken or duck and chicken her pup is on a fish base as well. Did I mention both of their coasts are beautiful healthy shiny and very soft, we notice when we brush them little hair comes out in the comb. We are happy and finally thriving! 

Thanks for the info what chews are you giving your pups? Just curious?

Nic Darla & Heidi


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## Jackie from Concrete WA (Mar 23, 2015)

Nic, I've never heard of a dry face water bowl. I "googled" it. I'll have to get one although she seems to prefer the little water bottle with the spigot that attaches to her crate over drinking out of a bowl. I have yet to try bottled water but may try that also. She doesn't get any chicken, except in her "poultry" flavored toothpaste. She does love bully sticks though. I think I'll switch to something else like the Himalayan chews. She is currently on a high quality lamb kibble (grain free) but I was going to try one of the Honest Kitchen blends, maybe get a sample or two. You mentioned cooling meat. I have never heard of that before, so I "googled" it, but still don't quite understand, but from the little bit I read, lamb is one of the warmest meats. So, maybe I should switch to another protein. I really appreciate all your suggestions.


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