[Availeth]

Well finally I figured out how to post on here... you just have to click the category itself and then it says "New Thread." They should put a button on the top page that says that or something.... Anyway, I'm not a dog owner but I'd really like one and I'm thinking about buying a papillon.

But there's one little thing about a small dog like that that I'm wondering about. I've seen a lot of dogs that have gooey eyes that cause a stripe down their faces. It just looks kind of bad to me and seems gross. None of the pictures I've seen of papillons have that, although maybe nobody would post a picture of one that did. Is that a problem with them? Just very curious.

Thank you.

 

[Kyllobernese]

What you are talking about is "eye stain". A lot of small breed dogs have it, I don't know about the papillons but I know someone will tell you. Usually, but not always, if the parents do not have eye stain, the puppies won't.

 

[briteday]

Sometimes you don't see it in puppies because they aren't old enough for "staining" to have occured. I have papillons. Both have eye staining at times. However, one dog has black fur down half of her muzzle so the stains can't be seen. The other dog, my avatar, has a more white muzzle and her tears stain trails are very evident.

The tear stains in toy dogs can be caused by a few things, but mainly it is a by-product of selective breeding for the smaller heads, shorter muzzles, making the dogs look more child-like as to appeal to the dog buyers. As you "smush" the muzzle to be shorter the area around the eyes has less room for all of it's functional components. This sometimes causes problems with teary eyes....Here are some of the resulting issues that cause tear staining...allergies (food, environmentsl) and sometimes antihistamines will help, clogged tear ducts...the vet can un-clog them and then you just have to clean and gently massage the area for a few minutes daily to keep the ducts clear, infection...various meds that can easily take care of the problem...some dogs take one round of meds and never have to take it again while others need to dose the med a couple of times per year to keep the stains away. Sometimes puppies will have a transient case of staining that does not need to be treated since once they stop teething the tear staining goes away.

 

[Laurelin]

My papillons all have some tear staining, but not like some other small breeds have. The only one it's ever noticeable on is Summer because she's so light, and she does tear up a bit more than the others. Switching her to a good food did help it out TREMENDOUSLY. Rose hardly ever has tearing, I'm not sure why. I used to have some swabs to clean up under their eyes and those did seem to help some, but I haven't used them in ages.

That's about the worst it gets:

If I had just wiped up under her eyes though you wouldn't be able to see anything.

We saw a huge change in her after switching foods, though that's not always the case.

First day home:

After food switch and using the pads to wipe her eyes clean every now and then:

 

[Availeth]

thank you for all these responses. I won't let this put me off from having a papillon. But now I have one more question and I guess I'll post it as a new thread. Thanks very much.

 

[libbyanddarci]

My Pap is 9 months old and has had runny eyes and tear stains since she was about 5 months old. We have spent a lot of money at a few different vets and the diagnosis is..it is an allergy or just her eyes. We are still trying to eliminate different possible allergens to see what it might be but some days there is little running and others there is a lot.

Regardless of how much her eyes stain...she it the most wonderful, sweet, loving, well tempered dog and I would get 10 more paps if I could.
They are fantastic, curious little dogs and you should not let something like possible tearing sway you from the joy a pap could bring you.

 

[Best*In*Show]

Laurelin, which food did you switch to? -- I'd like to get Ruby's eyes a bit more under control.