# Dog's tear stains **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [November 23, 2013, 1:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dogs-tear-stains/674581 "2013-11-23T01:09:14Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 19\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2013, 1:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dogs-tear-stains/674581/1 "2013-11-23T01:09:14Z")
My dog has recently developed tear stains from the inner corners of his eyes. He’s about nine. I’ve seen this on other dogs, but never on him. It’s happened in the last couple of weeks. My other dog does not have them. Have not changed their food recently. I feed them “Taste of the Wild” canned and dry. I’ve done a little googling, but thought I might get more focused answers here. Any ideas about possible causes? ---
**Author:** ![moejoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9de053/32.png) [@moejoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/moejoe)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2013, 3:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dogs-tear-stains/674581/2 "2013-11-23T03:28:00Z")
My dog gets them because her tear ducts are closed so the tears have nowhere to go but out. As I recall they can slip a wire-like thing through there and clear them out but for us it was not successful. Maybe ask your vet to give it a try. ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2013, 3:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dogs-tear-stains/674581/3 "2013-11-23T03:50:20Z")
That sounds scary. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2013, 4:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dogs-tear-stains/674581/4 "2013-11-23T04:07:18Z")
> [@ThelmaLou](#): > > That sounds scary. They are dogs, not cats. Give them some bacon and you can stick a wire anywhere. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![GusNSpot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gusnspot/32/436_2.png) [@GusNSpot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GusNSpot)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2013, 7:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dogs-tear-stains/674581/5 "2013-11-23T07:38:55Z")
> [@carnivorousplant](#): > > They are dogs, not cats. > Give them some bacon and you can stick a wire anywhere. > 🙂 Bawahahaha, so true… 🆒 ---
**Author:** ![CrazyCatLady](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/dfb087/32.png) [@CrazyCatLady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CrazyCatLady)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2013, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dogs-tear-stains/674581/6 "2013-11-23T16:31:43Z")
> [@moejoe](#): > > My dog gets them because her tear ducts are closed so the tears have nowhere to go but out. As I recall they can slip a wire-like thing through there and clear them out but for us it was not successful. Maybe ask your vet to give it a try. That’s not really a first-line treatment–you can do serious damage with a punctal probe if the patient isn’t super-still so that would require sedation if not outright anesthesia. First-line treatment would be warm compresses (or more realistically, waiting to see if it clears up on its own if it’s not causing other issues.) It might not even be a problem with the puncta. Tear production may just be up enough that the puncta can’t drain them all. It is, after all, allergy season and while allergies don’t usually cause increased tear production in dogs, it is possible. ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_R.Mortiss](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tim_r.mortiss/32/142_2.png) [@Tim\_R.Mortiss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_R.Mortiss)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2013, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dogs-tear-stains/674581/7 "2013-11-23T16:55:40Z")
My bichon, Martini, gets those. The vet suggested giving him filtered water instead of straight tap water, and it has made a big difference (for the better). I just keep a Brita pitcher on the kitchen counter and use it to top off his bowl each day. ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2013, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dogs-tear-stains/674581/8 "2013-11-23T16:59:24Z")
> [@Tim\_R.Mortiss](#): > > My bichon, Martini, gets those. The vet suggested giving him filtered water instead of straight tap water, and it has made a big difference (for the better). I just keep a Brita pitcher on the kitchen counter and use it to top off his bowl each day. I’ll try that. Thanks. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2013, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dogs-tear-stains/674581/9 "2013-11-23T19:14:04Z")
> [@Tim\_R.Mortiss](#): > > My bichon, Martini, gets those. The vet suggested giving him filtered water instead of straight tap water, and it has made a big difference (for the better). My dog does not have them, my step-daughter’s dog does. I wonder if I should by them distilled or filtered water. ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2013, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dogs-tear-stains/674581/10 "2013-11-23T20:53:57Z")
I put the following string into google: > [@](#): > > dog tear stains “filtered water” and got a lot of hits supporting the idea of using filtered water. Personally, I’m wary of using distilled water, because it doesn’t have minerals in it, right? When I used to make distilled water to drink (as my well water was yukky) I added minerals to it that I bought at Whole Foods for that purpose. Also, some of the hits mentioned giving the dogs a teaspoon of plain yogurt. I used to do this. I’d walk around the house in the morning getting dressed with a container of Faje yogurt in my hand, eating as I went. The doggies followed me from room to room, because they knew the last two teaspoons were for them. 🆒 ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2013, 9:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dogs-tear-stains/674581/11 "2013-11-23T21:02:04Z")
> [@ThelmaLou](#): > > and got a lot of hits supporting the idea of using filtered water. Personally, I’m wary of using distilled water, because it doesn’t have minerals in it, right? Thanks, ThelmaLou, one is not supposed to drink Reverse Osmosis water for the same reason, although it is touted for drinking water as well as using for aquariums. ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2013, 9:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dogs-tear-stains/674581/12 "2013-11-23T21:42:35Z")
> [@carnivorousplant](#): > > Thanks, ThelmaLou, one is not supposed to drink Reverse Osmosis water for the same reason, although it is touted for drinking water as well as using for aquariums. Wow. I didn’t know that. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2013, 11:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dogs-tear-stains/674581/13 "2013-11-23T23:07:01Z")
> [@ThelmaLou](#): > > Wow. I didn’t know that. Perhaps the aquarium RO devices are more potent than those used for drinking water. I drank some. It was colorless, odorless, tasteless and wet. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![MrDurden](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ed655f/32.png) [@MrDurden](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDurden)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2013, 6:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dogs-tear-stains/674581/14 "2013-11-24T06:28:29Z")
In my experience, most dogs just get them as they age. Also, distilled water is perfectly fine for drinking. Dissolved minerals are obtainable from other sources. Calcium, magnesium, etc. are in our daily diet and usually present in such small amounts in normal drinking water that they make little difference. Anyone telling you that distilled water is bad is either selling something or just repeating hogwash someone told them. (as in the current anti-gluten craze) ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2013, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dogs-tear-stains/674581/15 "2013-11-24T15:12:19Z")
> [@MrDurden](#): > > In my experience, most dogs just get them as they age. > > Also, distilled water is perfectly fine for drinking. Dissolved minerals are obtainable from other sources. Calcium, magnesium, etc. are in our daily diet and usually present in such small amounts in normal drinking water that they make little difference. Anyone telling you that distilled water is bad is either selling something or just repeating hogwash someone told them. (as in the current anti-gluten craze) No one “told” me distilled water is bad. :rolleyes: It just seems logical that it would be without minerals. And the minerals are in my diet from other sources, but what about doggies’? The aging thing makes sense, too. ---
**Author:** ![drewtwo99](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d07c76/32.png) [@drewtwo99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drewtwo99)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2013, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dogs-tear-stains/674581/16 "2013-11-24T16:03:51Z")
I’ve heard that distilled/purified water actually leeches out minerals because it’s way purer than the water in your cells in your intestines and such, so through natural diffusion some of the minerals go into it and into your urine. I don’t know if it’s true though. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2013, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dogs-tear-stains/674581/17 "2013-11-24T16:17:32Z")
> [@drewtwo99](#): > > I’ve heard that distilled/purified water actually leeches out minerals because it’s way purer than the water in your cells in your intestines and such, so through natural diffusion some of the minerals go into it and into your urine. > > I don’t know if it’s true though. That makes sense to me, so it is probably an Urban Legend. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![CrazyCatLady](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/dfb087/32.png) [@CrazyCatLady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CrazyCatLady)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2013, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dogs-tear-stains/674581/18 "2013-11-24T18:39:25Z")
> [@ThelmaLou](#): > > And the minerals are in my diet from other sources, but what about doggies’? Um, doggy food? The mineral content of water varies pretty greatly by location, with some locations having very, very, very low levels, and commercial pet foods are formulated with that in mind. ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_R.Mortiss](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tim_r.mortiss/32/142_2.png) [@Tim\_R.Mortiss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_R.Mortiss)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2013, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dogs-tear-stains/674581/19 "2013-11-24T20:58:31Z")
My GF (the keeper of all things doggy in our household) reminded me that the other advice from the vet re: tear stains was to use a stainless steel bowl for his food and water (we had been using ceramic). We switched to SS at the same time we started giving him filtered water. That might have had something to do with his decrease in tear stains, too.