# When can I start treating the tear stains?



## Alice Ana (Mar 17, 2010)

Alice is 11 weeks old today and I want to get rid of the tear stains. Can I start now?

Thanks :blush:


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## Ladysmom (Oct 19, 2004)

Not sure what you mean by "treating", but if you're talking about Angel Eyes/Tylan, Alice is too young. It can stain/damage her permanent teeth while they are still in her gums. You have to wait until she is finished teething.


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## Alice Ana (Mar 17, 2010)

i don't have angel eyes or tylan, it's stuff you put on a cotton ball to clean the area.


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## Nikki's Mom (Feb 13, 2008)

You can clean the area with a gentle cleaner and keep it nice and dry with a little cornstarch combed through.


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## Alice Ana (Mar 17, 2010)

thank you


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## LJSquishy (Feb 27, 2008)

You can start using what you have now, it won't harm her...but it won't work.  Tear stain removers don't generally work, but keeping the eye area clean & dry does help! Has anyone suggested you wash her face daily with Spa Lavish Facial Scrub? It is great at cleaning the eye area and smells heavenly! Until Alice is about 1 year old, you shouldn't be too concerned about her tear staining as right now it's just from teething. 

She looks beautiful, by the way. I'm so glad she's in a good home now despite her rough start!


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## Canada (Jun 4, 2009)

LJSquishy said:


> You can start using what you have now, it won't harm her...but it won't work.  Tear stain removers don't generally work, but keeping the eye area clean & dry does help! Has anyone suggested you wash her face daily with Spa Lavish Facial Scrub? It is great at cleaning the eye area and smells heavenly! Until Alice is about 1 year old, you shouldn't be too concerned about her tear staining as right now it's just from teething.
> 
> She looks beautiful, by the way. I'm so glad she's in a good home now despite her rough start!


Great advice above! :thumbsup:

And the good thing about you starting the face cleaning regimen with the Spa Lavish Facial Scrub, is that Alice will get used to the routine at a young age. And it _really_ does smell that good!

I use a baby wash cloth for the scrub, they are thin, so they are easier to use.

Sounds like your an excellent Mama for Alice!


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## Alice Ana (Mar 17, 2010)

Canada said:


> Great advice above! :thumbsup:
> 
> And the good thing about you starting the face cleaning regimen with the Spa Lavish Facial Scrub, is that Alice will get used to the routine at a young age. And it _really_ does smell that good!
> 
> ...


thanks guys  i'll look it up and see if i can't order any now.:thumbsup:


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## jodublin (Sep 27, 2006)

lovely puppy .good luck with the tear stains .


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## Maltsnme (Feb 7, 2009)

Nikki's Mom said:


> You can clean the area with a gentle cleaner and keep it nice and dry with a little cornstarch combed through.


honestly, you hit it right on Nikki's Mum  gentle cleaner, DAILY or TWICE daily if you can and you need to keep the hair out of the eyes...so you either need to keep that hair around the eyes trimmed, or you need to start banding it, when it gets long enough to fit into a band between the eyes..like this:










Ritzy had bad tear stains before I got her. (see photo below, she was 6 weeks) The above photo was taken when she was 4 mo old, ~1 month after getting here. See how light the stains got? I used Anna's products (which I have used on 4 dogs/puppies and it always works, just takes DILEGENCE and time, but you can use whatever you want, you just need to DO it, daily!!!) 










They stayed this bad, if not worse, until she came to my house. So, just keep the area cleaned with a cleaner (don't use the products with anbiotics, you do NOT need them) and I don't think that tear staining as a puppy is always due to teething... many times it is the hair in the eyes. 

Pictures of your baby please ))

Karla and Girlz


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## sheila's malt (Apr 17, 2010)

Alice something else that might help is to have her trimmed around the eye area. Sugar had tear stains when i first got her and I had her trimmed and used( with a cotton ball) crystal eye that you get at the pet store. Now she don't have tear stains. Good luck!!


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## bellaratamaltese (May 24, 2006)

sheila's malt said:


> Alice something else that might help is to have her trimmed around the eye area. Sugar had tear stains when i first got her and I had her trimmed and used( with a cotton ball) crystal eye that you get at the pet store. Now she don't have tear stains. Good luck!!


If you want to go this route, be very careful trimming or have a groomer do it (although I would wait until she is fully vaccinated before taking her to a groomer) Once you cut that hair, it's hard to grow back (takes FOREVER) so make sure it's something you want to do.


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## Alice Ana (Mar 17, 2010)

i think the breeder tried to trim her hair and now its at awkward lengths around her nose and eyes (UGH), so it's not quite long enough to pull back into a band - but pretty close... i'm guessing maybe a month or less? i'm going to try clipping it back with these little flower clips. they're very light, so i don't think it's going to bother her at all. she seems completely comfortable with everything going on at our house, so i'm thinking i'll start washing her face today. i've been using a warm wash cloth, but it hasn't helped much.
i don't want to clip the hair around her eyes because i want it to grow out. i want to put her hair in bands, so i'm just going to let it all keep growing and clip it when necessary.

thanks everyone 

EDIT: http://www.walmart.com/ip/Goody-Clear-3-Different-Sizes-Hair-Rubber-Bands-1-ct/12018417 can i use these to pull her hair out of her face?


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## Maltsnme (Feb 7, 2009)

Alice Ana said:


> i think the breeder tried to trim her hair and now its at awkward lengths around her nose and eyes (UGH), so it's not quite long enough to pull back into a band - but pretty close... i'm guessing maybe a month or less? i'm going to try clipping it back with these little flower clips. they're very light, so i don't think it's going to bother her at all. she seems completely comfortable with everything going on at our house, so i'm thinking i'll start washing her face today. i've been using a warm wash cloth, but it hasn't helped much.
> i don't want to clip the hair around her eyes because i want it to grow out. i want to put her hair in bands, so i'm just going to let it all keep growing and clip it when necessary.
> 
> thanks everyone
> ...


 
Well, make sure you do it as soon as you can (go back and look at Ritzy's photo) because most people wait too long. It can be put into bands between teh eyes, pretty quick...then hold her, so she doesn't get down right away and rub it out.. she'll get used to it, quickly. 

As for bands, go and look at some of the show bows sites. you need very light ones, that won't break hair

Karla~N~Girlz


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## barefoot contessa (Mar 9, 2010)

*Wonderful post!*

:aktion033:


Nikki's Mom said:


> You can clean the area with a gentle cleaner and keep it nice and dry with a little cornstarch combed through.


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## Alice Ana (Mar 17, 2010)

maltsnme said:


> Well, make sure you do it as soon as you can (go back and look at Ritzy's photo) because most people wait too long. It can be put into bands between teh eyes, pretty quick...then hold her, so she doesn't get down right away and rub it out.. she'll get used to it, quickly.
> 
> As for bands, go and look at some of the show bows sites. you need very light ones, that won't break hair
> 
> Karla~N~Girlz



i put two cute pink clips in her hair. i distracted her for awhile because she didn't like them at first. i kept them in her hair for maybe 5 hours chili.

how do i know if the bands are going to break the hair? wouldn't the ones i posted work?


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## mss (Mar 1, 2006)

I can't tell how big the Walmart human hair bands are, but I would guess they are too big.

Grooming bands are about 1/4 inch in diameter. I think they have some kind of coating on them that keeps them from tangling the fur too much. But usually people just cut them out. 

The grooming bands come in packages with large numbers of bands in each package. I think I had two packages in my Maltese's whole life.  When he got older, I didn't do topknots very often--partly because I wasn't very good at it. More often I did a single ponytail with the smallest human terrycloth ponytail holder.


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