# Help removing a collar stain?



## SMoore (Nov 9, 2007)

Well as some of you know I recently adopted **** (we now call him Max but anyway) when he was first taken out of the city shelter he had this red dog collar on that was probably an inch or so too small for his neck size. It was rusted on so bad in fact that I had to get something to get it off with.

It has left this red ring around his neck ever since. I asked Petsmart if their bath would help and they told me that I should cut his fur around his neck and let it grow back... I don't want to have his fur cut, he's a german shepherd. He doesn't NEED a haircut. They said no that there isnt a shampoo that would get that sort of stain out (they also said completely shaving a german shepherd is acceptable, but i think that sounds wrong, correct me if im wrong about it)

Anyhow, so I went over to petco instead who reassured me that shaving a dog like a german shepherd makes the hair grow back funny so not to do it. She offered to try their bath and if it didn't work she'd only charge me half price, so I thought that seemed fair. It didn't take her long and after drying it's STILL there. The lady ended up not charging me at all so I tipped her $40 for taking the time to do it for me.

Long story short... i've tried all I can think of to get this red ring from around his neck. I wish I had a good pic of it, but I dont think I do. He has semi long hair so it doesnt show up much in photos.


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## 0hmyd0g (Aug 18, 2008)

When I coloured my white dog with bright pink dye and got sick of it after a few months.
The only thing that would get it to wash out was a bluing shampoo for white dogs. I used a high concentrate and scrubbed a lot, but it took about 6 washings (almost once a week) to finally get it out. I also used conditioner for dogs so her skin didn't dry out.


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## Graco22 (Jul 16, 2007)

I have seen this alot, and its almost always with red collars...lol I don't know why the blue and black ones don't bleed so much. Its basically the red dye from the collar getting wet, then staining the coat. Highlyl unlikely that you are going to get anything that is just going to wash it out in one step. Eventually, it will wear off. You can try a blueing shampoo, but blueing shampoo's don't remove stains, they deposit tiny amounts of blue/purple, making the light reflect off the coat more, seeming more white. I would probably try EZ Groom's Crystal White. It is an enzyme activated shampoo, and you heat it up when you dilute it to activate teh enzymes. It is the best stain remover/whitening shampoo I have found, and I have tried TONS. If that doesn't lighten it, or remove it, I think you will be stuck waiting for it to fade off. Oh, and make sure to let the Crystal White soak on him for a good 10 minutes or so, then add some more, and let soak another few minutes. You can only order it, you will not find it in stores. But they ship SUPER fast and you would have it in a day or two, tops.


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## SMoore (Nov 9, 2007)

Graco22 said:


> I have seen this alot, and its almost always with red collars...lol I don't know why the blue and black ones don't bleed so much. Its basically the red dye from the collar getting wet, then staining the coat. Highlyl unlikely that you are going to get anything that is just going to wash it out in one step. Eventually, it will wear off. You can try a blueing shampoo, but blueing shampoo's don't remove stains, they deposit tiny amounts of blue/purple, making the light reflect off the coat more, seeming more white. I would probably try EZ Groom's Crystal White. It is an enzyme activated shampoo, and you heat it up when you dilute it to activate teh enzymes. It is the best stain remover/whitening shampoo I have found, and I have tried TONS. If that doesn't lighten it, or remove it, I think you will be stuck waiting for it to fade off. Oh, and make sure to let the Crystal White soak on him for a good 10 minutes or so, then add some more, and let soak another few minutes. You can only order it, you will not find it in stores. But they ship SUPER fast and you would have it in a day or two, tops.


I might look for this, thanks! How hard is it on his coat/skin? He's had a very poor diet until living with me so his coat is terrible. I know being on solid gold will help drastically, but i dont want to dry his skin out too much with a harsh shampoo. I've been using earthbath as suggested by someone on here and it works well but does nothing for the stain.


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## amynrichie (Sep 3, 2008)

my fawn pug had a red ring around the collar once. I couldn't wash it out in the bath either, and finally quit trying. It eventually wore off, probably because she eventually shed all those hairs!


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## Graco22 (Jul 16, 2007)

> I might look for this, thanks! How hard is it on his coat/skin? He's had a very poor diet until living with me so his coat is terrible. I know being on solid gold will help drastically, but i dont want to dry his skin out too much with a harsh shampoo. I've been using earthbath as suggested by someone on here and it works well but does nothing for the stain.



Its not bad on the coat, and doesn't seem harsh on the skin at all. I don't like to bath my standard poodle in that shampoo more than once a month, but I am dealing with 6 or more inches of coat, that I have to keep "undamaged". You are dealing with a shedding breed that will shed that coat out before this shampoo would be doing any damage to the coat. You can use a good conditioner afterwards if you wanted, but I don't think it would be necessary really. I have been using this shampoo for a few years now on problem things and whitening my own poodle, and have not seen any problems from it yet. It works better than any whitening shampoo, and doesn't appear harsh. I wouldn't use it weekly, but bi-weekly would be fine I think, especially on a dog with a shedding coat. The coat is shed out and new in probably in 6-10 weeks, and you have new coat.


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## MoonStr80 (Oct 9, 2006)

My brother had a dog that had red color stain I mainly cut the hair that was stained, and the hair grew back to its natural colors


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## Purplex15 (May 28, 2007)

you arent wrong about shaving gsd's, so bravo on your part. also, the groomer/ bather at petco sounds so nice. and i thank you on behalf of all groomers for tiping her that 40 bucks. 

the only thing i can think of is this stuff called quiksilver. it is a horse shampoo, so you can only get it at tack stores. it will get rid of any stain on horses (it is generally usued before shows on white socks). it will turn white horses purple if left in for too long, but you may not have that problem.

i wouldnt worry about using this, or what graco mentioned. i dont think either will dry the coat out, unless you bathed them in it multiple times in one day. try it once, and if it doesnt work, then you probably wont use it again anyways. but, i do know that dog shampoo will not get it out. you will have to try something stronger, or just wait for that hair to shed out


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