What can I do about tear/mouth stains?

Hello everyone,

Audrie is a solid white miniature Schnauzer. We rescued her just over a week ago. She is 4-5 years old and is the sweetest thing. Very timid still, but she is just a doll. We are really very happy with her!

I think her previous owners got her groomed on a regular basis because anytime I brush her she stands completely still and does even attempt to move away. I think she is probably a groomer's dream dog. She has a habit already of running through the sticker bushes and comes inside with stickers and burrs all over her coat. Audrie is as still as could be while I clean her up and would stand all day long if I asked her to. What a dream!

She is not sporting a classic Schnauzer cut right now though. All of her body is quite long and she is lacking the "skirt." I would like to let her skirt and legs grow out and see how she does with a lovely Schnauzer cut. It will be fun seeing the transformation!

Audrie has a lot of eye tear stains and also has a stained upper lip. I was really wondering if you all could give any suggestions on keeping her pretty face even cleaner and prettier? I think I will take her to the groomer to be cleaned up mostly and then keep it up myself after that. Is there anything special I can do to prevent the stains from getting worse or coming back after her groomer gets rid of them?

I have also noticed her feet tend to carry a slightly yellow look. Is this just because she is in need of a good clean up or is it there for good?

Last but not least, her bum area is, like the rest of her body, quite long. She occassionally has poo stuck to her bum and also some of the fur is stuck together from urine. Will getting her shaved short in the bum area help prevent this? =)

Thank you for taking the time to read this. I appreciate your time!

Here are some photos for reference...

Are you going to change her food ?

I hadn't given it any thought... she was just fed dry food at foster care, so I just figured I would keep her on it.

Ozzie's stains went when we changed food ...
He is bright white too....

Cotton wool with warm water will clean what's there now just keep doing it daily ...
There are products like Angel Eyes and Diamond Eyes in the UK but i have not needed them so far ...

What a sweetie, she's gorgeous

had a customer recently who swears by bottled water, ie natural spring water.

bit of a palaver though

I am still battling the tear staining around the eyes and am currently using Bright eyes which is working well so far. it doesnt get rid of the already stained fur but it has helped prevent the new fur from getting as bad, only been using it a couple of months though.

regarding the staining around the muzzle, i have found i cured this by giving them a cup to drink from rather than a bowl, this way their fur doesn't get wet around the mouth and the staining is gone from my two

At the dog groomers I used to work at we use Tropiclean Spa Blueberry Facial scrub. That might be a product you could use at home on her face, and it smells very nice too! http://www.christiesdirect.com/Models.aspx?ModelID=917

the groomers should clip around her bum area to help prevent any fecal matter from getting caught, apart from that I think you just need to keep an eye on her bottom after she goes to the toliet. You can buy Pet Head body wipes to help wipe any bits stuck. Hope that helps

Daily saline bathing helps tear staining, although to be honest I can't see much staining with your girl. Use a different bit of cotton wool for each eye, start from eye corner, not touching eye and wipe gently down a few times. dry with soft tissue wiped down same way. Finish off with Vaseline (petroleum jelly) just lightly smear down line of staining. It's water repellant and helps stop the tears from staining the areas.