What to do? - Page 2 - Poodle Forum - Standard Poodle, Toy Poodle, Miniature Poodle Forum ALL Poodle owners too!

Sookster · 01-02-2013, 03:03 PM

Foods with really crappy ingredients (lots of low quality grains like corn, chemicals, artificial colors, etc) can cause excess tearing and eye gunk. I feed raw, and prior to that fed grain free kibble and have never had a problem with staining in any of my light colored poodles (a silver and several whites).

I'd pick something high quality and grain free if possible, though 2 of my white pups were fed Natural Balance original as pups, which isn't grain free, and they never stained. Some of it can simply be due to genetics of the dog, unfortunately.

ETA: I don't have much experience with tearing and stains since I've literally never had much of a problem with it. I don't know if it's because my dogs eat good food, because I keep their faces shaved (every 2 weeks at minimum), or simply because I've been lucky. There are some threads on here about staining that may have much better info.

JMFutures · 01-02-2013, 03:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by My babies

I have 2 toys and I change their looks every 8 weeks. Well the groomer changes their looks. Their hair grows like weed so if you don't like you can have it changed again for the next groom. So far I haven't had them in the same cut yet. It is easier to have a shorter cut during their coat change cuz it tends to Matt up easily even if I brush them every day. I say keep the puppy cut for now and enjoy the puppy look.

He is booked on Monday the 7th....just trying to decide what to do to keep things more manageable! So puppy cut....do you have any pics to show some of the ones you have done on your babies?

JMFutures · 01-02-2013, 03:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by My babies

Does the tear smell? My Miu Miu use to have bad smelly tear stains. I didnt want to give her Angel Eyes because its an antibotic. I started both my toys on apple cider vinegar. 1 tablespoonful mixed with 1 gallon of water purified water(don't give tap water). They've been drinking that since they were puppies. After 1 week Miu Miu's tears didn't smell anymore and I trimmed off the stained hair. So much better now. She still tears but not as much and it doesn't smell. Just a little bit of tear stains at the inner corner of her eyes. I heard the apple cider vinegar is good for them so I've been giving it to them still.

No smell at all!

I also do not want to do angel eyes because of the antibiotic. I'm a more natural kinda gal

He has been on distilled water for a good 2-3 weeks. And I have been trying to clip away at the stained stuff. He does seem to tear easy though

JMFutures · 01-02-2013, 03:27 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sookster

For tear stains, what do you feed? Food can really influence the level of staining you see.

Once stained, you won't get rid of the stain. Best thing to do is shave off the hair and start again. Keeping the hair on the face short will make it less noticeable. Keeping the eyes clean and free of hair will keep the eyes from tearing.

If you think you would ever like to do clean face/feet at any point in the dogs life (and you probably will), I'd recommend having that done asap and have it done regularly. It's hard to get them to accept it without a fight when they are older and have never had it done.

He is now on instinct raw (a.m) and nutrisource kibble weaning to instinct kibble (p.m). He was on nutrisource before and so thats what I got.

3dogs · 01-02-2013, 03:42 PM

A few things can effect tears. 1. Genetics & if that is the case then not any luck in getting rid of but need to manage 2. Your pup could easily have an infection in which case antibiotics are good, your vet can of course diagnose that issue, 3. Allergies can cause bad stains , ask your vet about this & benadryl to help, 4. Food as mentioned.

As far as looks you can still have facial hair if you want but shave out the tear stain area. For groomers a "puppy cut" means nothing. What you want is how much hair you want LEFT on your dog. Do you want a pattern? Tons of photos on the internet so pick some out.

My babies · 01-02-2013, 03:58 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JMFutures

....do you have any pics to show some of the ones you have done on your babies?

Of course. Here they r. Sorry if it's a lot. I know when I want to try a new cut I need to see pics. Hope this gives you an idea.

Gucci in a puppy cut. I left his face and feet unshaved. I wanted to enjoy the puppy fluffiness.

Shaved his face down a bit but left a mustache. He also got his fluffy bracelets and shaved feet

Big boy cut. I wanted to grow out his hair

His newest look. I made this cut up. I combined things. Shaved the top half of his ears, shaved neck, shaved feet. Then the body is cut shorter with more hair on the legs.I think this cut makes him look fat, especially his butt. He looks like a groundhog when he walks. lol

Miu Miu with a shorter cut with shaved face and feet

The cut on her legs goes from thinner to thicker. Sorry I don't remember what the names are of the cuts.

Shaved face and feet with bracelets

JMFutures · 01-02-2013, 04:15 PM

SERIOUSLY - -AWESOME!!! Thank you!

Quote:

Originally Posted by My babies

Of course. Here they r. Sorry if it's a lot. I know when I want to try a new cut I need to see pics. Hope this gives you an idea.

Gucci in a puppy cut. I left his face and feet unshaved. I wanted to enjoy the puppy fluffiness.

Shaved his face down a bit but left a mustache. He also got his fluffy bracelets and shaved feet

Big boy cut. I wanted to grow out his hair

His newest look. I made this cut up. I combined things. Shaved the top half of his ears, shaved neck, shaved feet. Then the body is cut shorter with more hair on the legs.I think this cut makes him look fat, especially his butt. He looks like a groundhog when he walks. lol

Miu Miu with a shorter cut with shaved face and feet

The cut on her legs goes from thinner to thicker. Sorry I don't remember what the names are of the cuts.

Shaved face and feet with bracelets

My babies · 01-02-2013, 04:26 PM

Please post pics after the groom. I'll be waiting anxiously for them. Also when you go to the groomer ask and see if they have any experience grooming poodles. Otherwise this is what you get. I was so embarrassed with this cut from Petco. Luckly my vet recommended this new groomer that I use now. She owns and shows her mini poodle. This is the ugly Gucci. Go ahead and laugh.

He even looks upset about it. lol

CT Girl · 01-02-2013, 04:46 PM

My babies, love the photos. It is great that you have fun with the cuts. I agree, Gucci does not look like she liked the Petco cut but she rocks the others.

Sookster · 01-02-2013, 04:50 PM

Then sounds like diet isn't an issue with the instinct! I was reading on a group in facebook about someone dealing with tear staining in a young (~4-5 month old) standard puppy and lots of folks said it could be due to teething. I'm not sure exactly how, maybe just something along the lines of teething causes stress and in some cases fever which can mess with the natural balance of things in the body and contribute to tear staining, so it could clear up as he finishes up teething.

When people say "puppy cut" they can mean a lot of different things. I think of the cut a puppy is shown in, which is a TON of hair, like this:

With puppy hair, I would probably go with a shortish lamb trim.
This is a lamb-type trim (again, can be interpreted differently)

But it doesn't even have to be an official clip. Whatever you like. And the great thing about poodle hair is IT GROWS and if you don't like it, you can always change it.