# nursing stains



## Charleysmom (Dec 6, 2011)

my puppy and her littermates all have mucho browqnish stains on their faces. the breeder posts new pictures each week and the brown stains are just getting worse. The puppies are now five weeks old. Is this normal????

concerned


----------



## krandall (Jun 11, 2009)

loriabigail said:


> my puppy and her littermates all have mucho browqnish stains on their faces. the breeder posts new pictures each week and the brown stains are just getting worse. The puppies are now five weeks old. Is this normal????
> 
> concerned


Many light colored dogs gets brown stains on their faces, both around their mouths and below their eyes. In some it goes away naturally when they are done teething, in some it takes careful management to get rid of the staining, and some live with it all their lives. It's not dangerous in any way, and just goes with the territory when you get a light-faced dog.


----------



## lfung5 (Jun 30, 2007)

That's quite normal on a light colored dog. It can come from saliva, tears, drinking water and food.


----------



## Charleysmom (Dec 6, 2011)

the breeder has said they are nursing stains. why would that be??


----------



## krandall (Jun 11, 2009)

Maybe one of the breeders on the forum will respond, but I do know that certain foods will cause staining. Maybe the mother's milk, in this case, is causing staining. I know that many things a mother eats are carried through into her milk. Maybe something in her diet is causing it. Since it isn't dangerous or a sign of ill health, the breeder may just choose to ignore it, knowing it is likely to go away once the puppies are weaned.

Have you talked to your breeder about your concerns? IMO, it's really important to develop a good, trusting, working relationship with your breeder. If you have a good relationship with her, and develop a feeling of trust, she can be a wonderful resource to you in the months to come. I know that there are a lot of scary stories on this forum about things that have gone wrong when people have purchased puppies from less than reputable sources. But hopefully that is not true in your case. (I don't know the breeder, but the fact that one of our forum members went back to her four times for puppies says a lot to me) 

It can be easy to read all these stories and start mistrusting everything a breeder says. There are a lot of really GOOD breeders out there too, who care deeply about their puppies, and do everything they can to make sure they are healthy, happy and placed in wonderful homes. It would be a shame if you missed out on developing a trusting relationship with your breeder based on what you've read about not-so-good breeders. At this point, I think you are committed to this puppy. As I see it, you have two options. Either start to build a trusting relationship with her or cut your losses, even if it means forfeiting a deposit, and find another breeder whom you CAN trust. Your little guy looks like a darling, and you should be enjoying this period of anticipation rather than worrying the time away!


----------



## Charleysmom (Dec 6, 2011)

thank you so much. that is such a kind response I am very excited about getting Bailey home. more than excited. I suppose I am questioning everything because I haven't met the breeder. I know Laurie has gotten 4 puppies from her - as a matter of fact I plan to meet Laurie and her dogs next week. Laurie has been so wonderful. She actually referred me to the forum and I don't know what I'd do without it. 

I suppose I am a bit nervous too though. Since I haven't met the breeder or my puppy - I'm concerned. I just want everything to go as it should. 

I'm wondering why the breeder doesn't change the food of the mother or do something to reduce the staining. The staining seems excessive. I'm wondering if I can ask her about them. Of course I dont' want to upset her.


----------



## Tom King (Aug 2, 2006)

Some do and some don't. Frolic always has a lot of staining from the nursing, but it goes away a few weeks after they stop nursing. No food change has ever made any difference.


----------



## krandall (Jun 11, 2009)

loriabigail said:


> thank you so much. that is such a kind response I am very excited about getting Bailey home. more than excited. I suppose I am questioning everything because I haven't met the breeder. I know Laurie has gotten 4 puppies from her - as a matter of fact I plan to meet Laurie and her dogs next week. Laurie has been so wonderful. She actually referred me to the forum and I don't know what I'd do without it.
> 
> I suppose I am a bit nervous too though. Since I haven't met the breeder or my puppy - I'm concerned. I just want everything to go as it should.
> 
> I'm wondering why the breeder doesn't change the food of the mother or do something to reduce the staining. The staining seems excessive. I'm wondering if I can ask her about them. Of course I dont' want to upset her.


I don't think ANYTHING you are concerned about is off-limits to ask her about, as long as you do it in a respectful way. A good breeder should want her puppy owners to learn more. I don't know if you have other photos that show more staining than the one you posted in your avatar, but if that is typical, this is NOT excessive. It's pretty typical of many light colored puppies.

As far as the food is concerned, it's a good question to ask her. It may be that the staining just isn't a big deal to her, or it may be that mom has a touchy tummy, and that this food is the one that agrees with her best. Who knows, but it's a perfectly valid question to ask. I have to warn you, though, many people on the forum with light colored dogs have to try LOTS of different things before they solve the staining problem, and some never do. And even some dogs who don't have much staining as adults DO stain badly until they finish teething. It could very well that it wouldn't matter what she fed the mom; the puppies might still have staining.


----------



## Charleysmom (Dec 6, 2011)

I asked the breeder about the stains and she was kind enough to get back to me. Here's what she said - 

"The brown stains are caused by two things - the brown is an oxidation around their eyes. As their fur starts to grow in, it can poke in their eyes (or the fur of the other puppies as they cuddle up with them) and that causes eye irritation. Thus, the eyes start tearing and the tears react with oxygen on their faces. This usually gets better as they grow bigger and the hair gets longer and doesn't poke them in the eye. If it doesn't, there are a couple things you can do: a) wipe down their faces daily with a clean cloth, b) give them distilled water to drink, c) use one of the tear-stain products. 

The other staining around their mouths is a yeast-type coloring due to the moist environment from nursing at mom's abdomen with the other puppies. It also gets there from the moist kibble and canned dog food, as they get very messy when they eat. When they get teeth and can eat kibble dry, this will disappear."

Does this make sense to anyone? Would you let me know what you think? Thanks so much


----------



## krandall (Jun 11, 2009)

loriabigail said:


> I asked the breeder about the stains and she was kind enough to get back to me. Here's what she said -
> 
> "The brown stains are caused by two things - the brown is an oxidation around their eyes. As their fur starts to grow in, it can poke in their eyes (or the fur of the other puppies as they cuddle up with them) and that causes eye irritation. Thus, the eyes start tearing and the tears react with oxygen on their faces. This usually gets better as they grow bigger and the hair gets longer and doesn't poke them in the eye. If it doesn't, there are a couple things you can do: a) wipe down their faces daily with a clean cloth, b) give them distilled water to drink, c) use one of the tear-stain products.
> 
> ...


Themonly thing that doesn't sound right is that I know you don't have to feed dry kibble to have a Hav with a clean face. It seems to depend more on the type of food being fed. They also DO need their beards washed as needed, no matter what color they are... Kodi's face is black, so there is no staining to see, but if he doesn't get his beard washed pretty regularly, it gets "crunchy":biggrin1: (and he eats mostly dry kibble)


----------



## TilliesMom (Sep 30, 2010)

Tillie eats home cooked which is very moist and she has never had any staining around her beard/mouth area, although we still struggle with some near her eyes...


----------



## Suzi (Oct 27, 2010)

loriabigail said:


> I asked the breeder about the stains and she was kind enough to get back to me. Here's what she said -
> 
> "The brown stains are caused by two things - the brown is an oxidation around their eyes. As their fur starts to grow in, it can poke in their eyes (or the fur of the other puppies as they cuddle up with them) and that causes eye irritation. Thus, the eyes start tearing and the tears react with oxygen on their faces. This usually gets better as they grow bigger and the hair gets longer and doesn't poke them in the eye. If it doesn't, there are a couple things you can do: a) wipe down their faces daily with a clean cloth, b) give them distilled water to drink, c) use one of the tear-stain products.
> 
> ...


 Yes what she is saying makes sense. Maddie got groomed and they shaved around her eyes as the hair started to grow back she teared much more than before. The worm moist milk around their faces would make sense that yeast would form. My two got staining from can food and certain chew sticks. Your puppy is really cute you will love her weather she has some staining or not. My Zoey has black around her eyes but has a white muzzle she stains easy I got obsessive with trying to keep it white and I had success . Lately I haven't cared as much and she has some stains. When do you get her?


----------



## Charleysmom (Dec 6, 2011)

crunchy  yes I remember that with my Molly. I used to wash her face regularly and I cleaned her eyes once twice a day with qtips.


----------



## Charleysmom (Dec 6, 2011)

I get Bailey in 2- 2 1/2 weeks. it's very exciting...


----------



## clare (Feb 6, 2010)

Here are some pictures of our Nellie when we first saw her,and then when she came home,and finally as she is now at 19 months old.We had a battle with the tear staining,but it has all cleared up now,in fact it did months ago.I resorted to using the Angel eyes product,which took 6 weeks to work,but since then everything has been fine.I was trying to find pics of her with bad tear staining but of course I was careful how I took pics as I didn't want to show the staining.
Anyway in the last 2 you can see she has no sign of it.


----------



## Charleysmom (Dec 6, 2011)

your puppy is so adorable. thank you for sending the photos. you can see a picture of my Bailey. I will try to send more pictures. Just not sure how. and thanks for explaining about your puppies stains and how they went away.


----------



## Charleysmom (Dec 6, 2011)

here is a photo of Bailey at 6 wks. he's adorable but his face is so stained? does this look usual?


----------



## Kathie (Jul 31, 2008)

Nellie's face looks so nice and white, GiGi. I now have hope for Abby and McGee! I've been using the contact lens solution and it seems to be helping although we slipped up a little over the Christmas week. We got back to it today - one of my New Year resolutions!


----------



## clare (Feb 6, 2010)

Nellie has big round eyes[not ideal in a Hav]and they tend to water a lot,so even though we have got rid of the tear staining,she still some times gets a bit wet under her eyes,I comb her out around there with a flea comb.Dizzie's eyes are as dry as a bone,he has tight almond shaped eyes,but I do like Nellie's round eyes, they give her a girly look.


----------



## Charleysmom (Dec 6, 2011)

what kind of contact lens solution do you use? Is it safe?


----------



## Charleysmom (Dec 6, 2011)

ooops! I had posted the wrong picture. a bit too much to drink on new years maybe? here's bailey. in the family photo he's the one on the right.

so much staining. I hope it all works out.


----------

