As a first attempt to treat mild tear staining, many vets/breeders treat tear stain with an oral antibiotic. The most prevalent antibiotic used initially is Tylan powder. Tylan powder is an antibiotic that is not commonly used with dogs. This is helpful, as most dogs will not have built up an immunity to this antibiotic. Tylan is also a very mild antibiotic that has a secondary benefit of being useful in the treatment and prevention of some gastro-intestinal infections that can be picked up at dogs shows or other places with many dogs present. It is also a safe antibiotic for puppies over 12 weeks of age. You should see a difference in 14 days. Remember that the existing stain will not disappear but the hair will start to grown out white around the staining area.

If you have a darker stain that is resistant to a mild antibiotic treatment, you will need to more directly identify the specific health issue. First, visit your veterinarian to have a thorough examine, to look for ear infections, eye infection, blocked tear ducts and teeth issues. No antibiotic can fix some of these underlying health issues by themselves. If all of these things check out normal, I suggest having the tearing cultured. Putting them on random antibiotics at the wrong doses could eliminate many common antibiotics by desensitizing the dog's system to them. In bad cases, I have found the bacteria to be resistant to most commonly used veterinary antibiotics. Having the tearing cultured almost always is successful because the sensitivity report that tells your veterinarian what
exact antibiotics the bacteria will respond to. Tear staining can be attacked in two ways, with both oral antibiotics and with eye medication. Consult your vet for the proper doses.

Bad tear staining can be communicable. Constant wetness under the eyes is the perfect environment to develop a secondary
bacterial infection. This tends to turn into a form of Staph. Dogs licking each, other sharing water, using the same brushes can pass the bacteria. I Lysol my brushes every so often, or have dedicated brushes for certain dogs. I clean my dog room and puppy room with a bleach based solution and at completely other times an ammonia based solution, either can be mixed with Fabulouso. Many health issues (i.e. coccidia) are only killed by ammonia not bleach and vice versa. For day to day cleaning of my doggie areas, I use Odo-Ban. Regular washing with anti-bacterial dish washing liquid of all dog's water and food bowls is very important. Water and food bowls should be either ceramic, glass or stainless steel. Plastic and other materials can harbor bacteria. Once a month, the bowls can be soaked in a weak bleach solution for true sanitation.

Tear staining is usually has an environmental basis, too. In addition to antibiotics, I also use more holistic solutions:

     **Using filtered or distilled water.

     **Using ionizers in the rooms with the dogs for air purity, good ventilation for example exhaust fans, ceiling fans, open windows etc.

     **Exposure to sunshine is crucial. Being outside with sunshine and clean fresh air is healthy for everyone, including dogs.

     **Keeping your dogs clean with their hair out their faces is also important.

     **Keeping your dogs environment clean is imperative.

     **Keeping the filters in your air conditioning and heating systems clean.

Genetically, there are some bloodlines that are more prone to tearing then others. Hair growth on the eye rims, and more protruding eyes can be indicators. Prevalent problems with related dogs in different environments is also another good indicator. The predisposition to having health issues that cause tear staining can be genetic in orging. Look for trends in the dogs of that particular bloodline.

As for cleaning up the already stained hair. The key is to eliminate the cause of staining first and then you will find the stained hair will slowly fade and be much easier to whiten. There are ways to remove the stain once the staining has stopped. But, unless there is a crucial reason to remove the stain, always remember that staining is just a superficial thing and the ways to remove the stain are harsh to say the least. Tearing is always a medical issue, with environment, care and genetics playing a part in the mix. Consistency and time are always the keys to the best solution!

I hope this helps.
 Tonia Holibaugh-Rhapsody Maltese