Dog Tear Stains Explained & How Glow Groom Can Help
If you’ve ever noticed persistent tear stains on your pup’s fluffy face, you know how frustrating it can be to keep your pet’s fur looking clean and healthy. Many dog owners wonder how to reduce tear staining and whether there’s a reliable way to stop tear stains from coming back. The best way to understand how products like Glow Groom are able to combat these seemingly impenetrable stains is by understanding exactly what that gunk is!
What Are Persistent Tear Stains on Dogs?
Unlike human tears, which mostly evaporate, a dog’s facial hair traps moisture, allowing natural pigments and bacteria to build up and cause those unsightly reddish-brown stains you’re seeing. How a dog’s body breaks down certain molecules, like porphyrins, makes these stains especially stubborn.
Here are some of the causes of tear stains in dogs:
- Tears overflowing from the pet’s eyes saturate the surrounding fur.
- Moisture encourages bacteria and yeast to react with pigments, deepening the colour.
- White dogs show staining most visibly, though darker coats can also be affected.
- Mineral-rich tap water and drooling can worsen the problem.
- Wiping with a damp cloth helps temporarily, but stains often return without addressing the internal source.
Tear stains are more than cosmetic; they show moisture is trapped around the eyes and can signal minor issues like blocked tear ducts, allergies, or irritation. Understanding this helps you keep your dog’s face clean and healthy.
What's The Best Way To Prevent And Remove Gog Tear Stains?
We’re often asked how to get tear stains off dogs eyes. Here at Glow Groom, we believe our tear stain remover supplement is the best product for tear stains in Australia. This being said, we strongly encourage all pet owners to fully investigate the possible causes of their dog’s coat stains. Here, we provide some useful information to assist you in ensuring you eliminate any underlying causes of tear staining on dogs and learn how to prevent dog tear stains in the future. Although tear stain products like Glow Groom's tear stain remedy help against unsightly tear stains, there are plenty of other tips for ensuring the health of your furry friend.
How to Prevent Tear Stains on Dogs - Quick Facts:
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Causes Of Dog & Puppy Tear Stains
Tearing and Tear Stains
There are many possible reasons for excessive tear production, but none are solely responsible for dogs developing tear stains. Staining is a by-product created by the moisture from increased tears flowing through the hair below a dog’s eyes. The constantly wet facial hair found in breeds like Poodles, Schnauzers, Maltese, and more is a breeding ground for bacteria (causing issues like yeast infections) and will often lead to excessive tears. The tear ducts become filled with bacteria that react to incoming light and release that characteristic reddish brown colour stain into the area surrounding a dog’s eyes.
The tear stains dogs get can also be influenced by how your dog breaks down red blood cells. In certain breeds, when their blood cells are broken down, a naturally occurring molecule remains and is flushed out through the dog’s tears. This molecule often contains iron, which leaves behind a red colouration on your pet’s face.
Ear Infections
Extra care needs to be taken in drying your dog’s ears after bathing. Many dogs have a lot of hair inside their ears which can cause infection. You can gently pluck them with tweezers or trim inside the ears with blunt-nosed scissors (as used for babies’ nails), or ask your groomer to do it for you. If you are concerned that your dog has developed an ear infection, seek veterinary advice as soon as possible.
Genetics
Many dogs have a genetic sensitivity in the eardrums, with any water remaining likely to cause an ear infection. Certain breeds of dogs have large eyes and short muzzles, which can also tend to allow more eye irritation and less drainage. This is common among dog breeds like Shih-tzus, Pekingeses, Malteses, and Pugs.
Teething
When puppies cut their first teeth, excessive tearing can occur. When cutting their permanent adult teeth, (usually between 5 to 8 months of age), the changes in the structure of their mouth and facial bones put pressure on the dog’s tear ducts and increase tearing. Many dogs that have had no previous staining problems are prone to developing stubborn stains during this time. Dogs of any age with teeth or gum problems are likely to produce excess tears, increasing the chance of tear marks around your dog’s eyes.
Allergies
Many dogs can be susceptible to allergies in their environment, which can cause them to develop tear stains. Exposure to smoke, wind, heating and air-conditioning has been known to cause allergic reactions in some animals. Try to keep your dog from situations where they are exposed to eye irritations. Always take care when bathing, as shampoo in a dog’s eyes can also cause irritation.
Water
The drinking water in many areas has a high mineral content. If a dog splashes while drinking water from a wide dish, getting the mouth and beard wet, the minerals may cause staining, and the moisture may breed bacteria, leading to saliva or tear stains. Providing your dog with purified water and using a metal bowl can assist with these problems and prevent them.
Food
Your dog’s diet is known to play a significant role in eye discharge and staining. Many dog owners find that feeding their animals dry food with no preservatives, fillers, or additives will boost their resistance to inflammatory reactions. A limited ingredient diet can promote gut health and limit reactions to food allergies, therefore aiding in stain-free faces through gut health. Many commercial pet foods also contain meat pulp along with artificial colours that can stain the hair around the mouth. Check how your pet's diet rates here for more insight. When it comes to the right diet for preventing tear stains in dogs, we recommend Ziwi Peak Air Dried Dog Food and Bell & Bone chews and treats.
Fleas
Fleas are another common problem for dogs that causes tear stains. The instructions on most flea shampoos is to start shampooing from the head down. This is because fleas also need moisture to survive and stay mostly around the head, next to the wetness of the eyes. The constant and vigorous scratching is the dog’s way to relieve the itch resulting from the excrement (digested blood) the fleas leave behind, likely to cause an infection.
Blocked Tear Ducts
We often get asked, why does my dog have tear stains? It may be because some dogs may have clogged tear ducts, which need to be irrigated by a vet. This can be caused by congenital tear duct abnormalities in some breeds, making it harder to drain tears away from their eyes. Whilst a blocked tear duct system usually has no bearing on causing stains or weepy eyes, they should still be monitored for the health and wellbeing of your pet. Glow Groom’s dog tear stain treatment can be a great way of ensuring the health of pets with blocked tear drainage holes or ducts. This way, you can clean dog tear stains off your pooch for good.
Sudden Increase in Tearing
If your dog suddenly shows signs of increased tear stains and acute staining around their eyes or clumping of the hair around the eyes, accompanied by a runny nose, we recommend a visit to your vet as soon as possible. These symptoms are signs of “epiphora”, the medical term for abnormal excess tear production from the dog's eye. Epiphora is caused by a variety of conditions that affect tear production, tear flow, or the function of the eyelids. The treatment for epiphora varies according to the underlying cause. Your vet will provide an accurate diagnosis through thorough examination.
Shallow Eye Sockets
Poodles and brachycephalic breeds with pushed-in faces (Shih-tzus, Pugs etc) are especially vulnerable to epiphora because of their shallow eye sockets. This means that tears frequently spill out onto the dog’s face, exacerbating the tear marks on their face while preventing their eyelids from fully closing. Across all breeds, Glow Groom’s tear stain solution for dogs can help treat your fur baby’s tear stains, even those with these sorts of issues.
Keep your Dog Healthy
Wondering how to clean dog tear stains? Once you have ensured your dog’s overall health and comfort with your veterinarian and ruled out any underlying causes as outlined above, you can feel confident in using Glow Groom’s tear stain treatment for dogs to eliminate bacteria and remove tear stains at the source. Glow Groom is the ideal product for removing tear stains and preventing tear stains in dogs in the long run.
How Glow Groom Removes Tear Stains In Dogs
We're often asked, how does Glow Groom work? Glow Groom tackles dog and cat tear stains from the inside out, addressing the causes of more tears and keeping stained fur under control. A supplement made from a natural mix of plant and herbal extracts, it helps your dog’s body manage tear production naturally while keeping their fur looking fresh and vibrant. For most dogs, it helps reduce staining gradually at the source, while gentle eye wipes remove surface debris. As your dog’s tear ducts become fully developed, Glow Groom makes it easier to keep the hair around their eyes clean and bright. The dosage instructions are easy to follow and can easily be given inside one of your pet’s favourite treats.
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