# 'Tear stains' on the white patch on my black dog's face



## Canyx (Jul 1, 2011)

Soro has had his white muzzle for a while now but lately I've been noticing brown 'tear stains' near his bottom lip where the upper canines fall into the 'dip.' And just the *slightest* tint of brown in the white on his face in general. I've heard a number of causes like diet, acidity, plastic bowls vs steel ones.... But I've never really paid attention since my dog is black and I thought I would never have to deal with it.
Also, it could be that since even Soro's black fur has a brown tint to it, it could be that? And I'm not overly bothered.

But any advice on how to get rid of it?

You can see it in this picture:


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## Rescued (Jan 8, 2012)

this has happened to all of our old dogs that got white on the muzzle. usually their flews cover it so you can't even see it?


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## georgiapeach (Mar 17, 2012)

My westie mix, allergic to nearly everything (chicken, lamb, potatoes, alfalfa, grains of all kinds), has done better on a grainfree/potato free/alfalfa free kibble (she's eating California Natural Salmon Meal and Peas). I also feed her out of a ceramic bowl, rather than a stainless steel bowl, and the dogs' water bowl is glass, rather than metal. Since we adopted her about a year ago, stains all around her mouth and under her eyes, which were awful, are gone (most stains are from yeast overgrowth)! My cream-colored poodle gets stains under his eyes if he's fed a grain inclusive kibble. They pretty much go away if fed grain free.


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## Canyx (Jul 1, 2011)

Rescued said:


> this has happened to all of our old dogs that got white on the muzzle. usually their flews cover it so you can't even see it?


But when I do silly things to his face I can see it!

And georgiapeach, I do feed grain-free.


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## georgiapeach (Mar 17, 2012)

Have you tried ceramic or glass bowls? I've also heard of dogs whose stains went away when filtered water was given to them rather than tap water (minerals in the tap water, I guess). If you have filtered water on your fridge, you could try this.


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## Canyx (Jul 1, 2011)

I might look into that, thanks!
I also just noticed that the brown near his nose (not shown in picture) went away over night. So THAT could have been mud


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## nemefeme (Jan 10, 2013)

THATTTT PICTURE LMAOOOO I'm dying of laughter


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