Saliva Stain

[giraffez]

Is it possible to get rid of saliva stains? My dog has been licking his paws so often his beard is no loger white

[Shaar]

Faces are hard because whatever you put on will be licked straight off.

Everyone was actually talking about whitening products over in the 'Show' section so head there for some good product ideas. Sards wonder soap seems to be the favourite for staining and my suggestion would be to put something like a bitter spray or even a little vicks vapor rub on his paws (hair ONLY, not skin with the vicks) it will deter him from licking them.

[Staranais]

Can't help with the saliva stains, but why is he licking his paws - are they itchy?

[giraffez]

Can't help with the saliva stains, but why is he licking his paws - are they itchy?

Yeah i'm not too sure. Recently i noticed he was licking at four at night. its all stained and so is his beard. I checked the paws and nothing seems to be wrong. It may be behavioural because i noticed if i get his attention and get him to play, he seems to forget about the licking - if its itchy, he would keep licking right?

Some people on this forum mentioned it may be diet (but nothing drastic has changed, he has been eating the same brand since a puppy - except i swtiched him to weight management version). Another mentioned his anal glands may be blocked.

I washed his paws a few times and blew dry it but didn't seem to help much. Trimmed the hair between the gaps as much as i could.

[CrazyCresties]

My Daisy is a partly reformed foot chewer - I think it's a habit formed in her early years of neglect, and also part allergy. She had terrible staining on her feet from licking and also bad tear staining. She is certainly worse when her anal glands need emptying. I'm also 90% sure that cutting beef from her diet has stopped the staining. The hair around her feet is now kept cut as short as possible and washed occasionally with Malaseb. A combination of all these things has helped greatly, but it's taken a couple of years to get to the bottom of it.

I would certainly get your vet to check for any cause of the licking though, get the anal glands checked and maybe look at his diet.

This is how stained they used to be.......

and now......

[giraffez]

My Daisy is a partly reformed foot chewer - I think it's a habit formed in her early years of neglect, and also part allergy. She had terrible staining on her feet from licking and also bad tear staining. She is certainly worse when her anal glands need emptying. I'm also 90% sure that cutting beef from her diet has stopped the staining. The hair around her feet is now kept cut as short as possible and washed occasionally with Malaseb. A combination of all these things has helped greatly, but it's taken a couple of years to get to the bottom of it.

I would certainly get your vet to check for any cause of the licking though, get the anal glands checked and maybe look at his diet.

wow thats a big improvement. Thanks for letting me know. I'll keep an eye out on the beef thing as well.

What causes the anal gland to get blocked? I can't see any runny poo so not sure why his anal glands are blocked.

Edited September 25, 2010 by giraffez

[CrazyCresties]

With some dogs it is down to diet, and the addition of some good meaty bones can help them produce nice firm poos that help the glands empty naturally. Unfortunately some dogs like Daisy have to have them emptied every couple of months as they just don't empty them themselves, not matter how firm and bulky their poo is The vet said it's due to the size and position of the glands

[SmoothieGirl]

Hmm, just a thought, but only experience with white horses not dogs, but the blue shampoo might work. You can get it in horse stores, but you might be able to get it in some pet shops too. As I discovered at the Melb Show last week, they also use a similar blue shampoo on white chickens when they prepare them for showing.

Just a tip though, I found on white/creamy horse tails that after a blue wash or two, you would be best to then use a normal shampoo to wash again, otherwise the coat can be left with a silver grey tinge. After the final wash in normal shampoo it would bring up the tails beautifully white or creamy, whatever the case may be.

Good luck.

[becks]

White shampoo doesn't work on saliva staining, it doesn't just wash off.

[giraffez]

With some dogs it is down to diet, and the addition of some good meaty bones can help them produce nice firm poos that help the glands empty naturally.

Thats weird, I find that when i give him bones, he tends to have runny poo that night and the day after.

[CrazyCresties]

White shampoo doesn't work on saliva staining, it doesn't just wash off.

Yes I had meant to say Daisy gets clipped regularly, so when she was getting the staining, that was the only way to get rid of it.

Thats weird, I find that when i give him bones, he tends to have runny poo that night and the day after.

What bones are you feeding?

[giraffez]

What bones are you feeding?

raw pork knuckle bones(not sure if that is the name but its like the ones in flinstones)

[mackiemad]

i would think that the fat content in the pork bones (i don't feed knuckle bones anyway because i worry about the actual knuckles) would be causing any runny poos after eating them. pork has a high fat content, and fat = slippy in any of the dogs i've had.

perhaps change to lamb bones? or turkey necks are awesome.

as for the beard, i think if you fix the paw licking (probably an allergy, and just because he didn't used to be allergic to his food, it doesn't mean he can't have become allergic as he matured) then the beard staining will grow out.

ETA: when i say lamb bones i mean one that don't have too much fat, my butcher saves the back joints and the shoulder, even some necks if they're not too fatty. lamb can be fatty but i find pork is worse- that may depend on your butcher and where they get their meat from...

Edited September 27, 2010 by mackiemad

[becks]

I can't give my minis any sort of pork product as it goes through them to quick! Try giving him chicken wings instead.

[giraffez]

I can't give my minis any sort of pork product as it goes through them to quick! Try giving him chicken wings instead.

The knuckle bones i give hardly have any meat on them and i strip out all the fat so i don't think its too fatty unless the bones are fatty in nature. I'll try lamb and chicken next time. He used to love the pork bones... but lately i think he has lost some interest in it.

I've stayed off beef for a couple of days now as another poster has mentioned it triggers the paw licking, noticed he has licked less (not sure whether its psychological tho ) I also noticed the padding on his paws have become almost plastic like rather than the rough surface it was before... not sure whether this is a good thing

Edited September 29, 2010 by giraffez