# Is there any secret to keeping Hav's face looking clean?



## hannah&boo (Nov 4, 2009)

Hi guys I am a fairly new Hav owner to a four year old rescue my beautiful little Boo 
I currently brush him daily (with treats after!) as he was a real pain to brush at first but after six weeks he now gets excited when I get the brush out....the little foody! I wetwipe any gunk out of his eyes and wipe around his mouth pretty much daily but he still always looks quite stained, I am using Burns food (no artificial colours) and filtered water to avoid staining from food etc,
is there anything I can use or should I be using a flannel and water instead of wet wipes? 
Also I am bathing him about every 2/3 weeks is this ok...too much or two little lol! any suggestions and advice would be greatly appreciated


----------



## Sheri (Oct 11, 2008)

hannah&boo said:


> Hi guys I am a fairly new Hav owner to a four year old rescue my beautiful little Boo
> I currently brush him daily (with treats after!) as he was a real pain to brush at first but after six weeks he now gets excited when I get the brush out....the little foody! I wetwipe any gunk out of his eyes and wipe around his mouth pretty much daily but he still always looks quite stained, I am using Burns food (no artificial colours) and filtered water to avoid staining from food etc,
> is there anything I can use or should I be using a flannel and water instead of wet wipes?
> Also I am bathing him about every 2/3 weeks is this ok...too much or two little lol! any suggestions and advice would be greatly appreciated


There have been alot of threads on the issue of tear stains and muzzle staining here! It is a common problem for the Havs with light areas on their faces. Can you use the search button up in a blue bar on the Home page of the Forum? If you enter in "staining" and variations you will get a ton of hits to read up on. There are too many for me to really copy them here, but I can get some of them if you can't work the Search button. There are quite a few things to try...

About bathing, it varies a lot with folks, depends on how dirty your dog gets, and if you use a good shampoo that doesn't dry the skin...(also a lot of threads about bathing...;-) But, a few folks bathe them weekly, I think most of us do about every 10-14 days, and a few bathe once a month. They mat less, brush out easier, if they are clean.


----------



## hannah&boo (Nov 4, 2009)

Hi Sheri, thanks that's great I will have a good read of all the threads I haven't quite got to grips with the site yet (it's not that the site is difficult! it's just well you know it takes me a while lol!) but I will check it all out


----------



## RikiDaisyDixie (Apr 15, 2008)

*help with water bottle*

We have a water stand made by Leslie's husband that the dogs "lick" instead of gulp. It has helped keep their faces dry and their muzzles cleaner. It is the same kind of water bottle parrots use!


----------



## davetgabby (Dec 29, 2007)

avoid spaghetti , cheezees , and anything they like ,like food ,dirt , anything outside the house,LOL Just don't feed them or let them outdoors. Even then they'd still find away to dirty their face. Or get a black faced Hav.


----------



## mellowbo (Aug 12, 2007)

It sounds like you are doing good. Sometimes I think grain free food helps. Watch and see if in a while it grows out cleaner. If it does you may be dealing with old stains that will probably grow out. 
Carole


----------



## christie6104 (Apr 8, 2009)

I've found that after you gently wipe the eye area clean, you can (gently) use a flea comb to get out any "boogies." (It helps if the area is damp so it won't pull the hair).


----------



## hannah&boo (Nov 4, 2009)

thanks to everyone for the advice  and I could get a black faced Hav too I suppose well it wouldn't hurt would it lol!!!


----------



## irnfit (Nov 21, 2006)

Kodi is 4yrs old and he never had a problem with staining until this summer. I think it was because his allergies were so bad.


----------



## TheVintageVamp (Oct 14, 2009)

Oh my gosh, Murray came in with his face and feet an absolute mess last night! I let him out while I was getting dinner started and then got distracted and forgot! YIKES!

About 45 minutes later DH heard him banging on the back door and opened it up to one dirty boy....I don't know what he had been digging in, but it did not just wipe off with the baby wipes I have by the back door. 

And now we have rain and snow in the forecast for tomorrow... :Cry:


----------



## Pixiesmom (Jul 31, 2008)

Pixie's face gets gross on a daily basis. The only solution I know is wipe, repeat 100x's during the course of the day.
I feel your pain!


----------



## hannah&boo (Nov 4, 2009)

I know i find it so funny I look at Boo one minute and he looks beautifully fluffy and clean then within five minutes I have this little tramp (a lovely tramp lol!) looking up to me and I am never quite sure how he looks so messy so quickly!


----------



## mama40 (Jul 8, 2009)

*"bottle drinker"*

we bought a drink bottle used for hamsters that hangs from his playpen. Once he is a little older and has free run of the house, we plan to attach it with small bungees to the side of his crate next to his food bowl. It was less tha $15 at Petco and holds 16 oz. they have a 32 oz also if you have more than one dog. We do use filtered water from the fridge.


----------



## hannah&boo (Nov 4, 2009)

thats sounds like a really good idea, did he have any trouble working out how to use it?


----------



## TheVintageVamp (Oct 14, 2009)

Well, I found Murray's secret pig pen this morning. We live out in the country and have a burn pile in one corner of our lot. Seems Mr. Murray has decided it's great fun to go digging in the ashes...:frusty:


----------



## Redorr (Feb 2, 2008)

hannah&boo said:


> thats sounds like a really good idea, did he have any trouble working out how to use it?


The bottles are great. Some suggest getting a glass bottle as the plastic may have the chemicals. Lola used one for as long as we had the ex-pen set up. She took to it right away, with no training. Some people have put a dab of peanut butter on the tip to get them to lick it. Then they get the picture pretty quickly!

My Lola has face staining. But her face is mostly black, so now that her beard is really stained, it looks almost black! Works for me! I wipe her face with moist wipes after meals, and that includes combing out the eye boogers with a flea comb every morning. Fun. I had no idea what I was getting into with this kid. Lucky I love her so much!!


----------



## krandall (Jun 11, 2009)

davetgabby said:


> avoid spaghetti , cheezees , and anything they like ,like food ,dirt , anything outside the house,LOL Just don't feed them or let them outdoors. Even then they'd still find away to dirty their face. Or get a black faced Hav.


And then you have to deal with dirty feet instead!!!<g>


----------



## hannah&boo (Nov 4, 2009)

I must admit I didn't realise how high maintenance Boo would be, the other morning I realised I had spent half an hour brushing and cleaning Boo's face and I hadn't even had a cup of coffee yet! but I wouldn't change him for the world!


----------



## gelbergirl (Jun 9, 2007)

spoon feed them ! ha ha :eyebrows:


----------

