Fur discoloration

[wendalah]

I have noticed on my silver-gray dog that he is getting tan patches around his butt and hind legs. I did a little research online and it said that this coulc be saliva stains. We treat him for fleas but he does seem to itch and lick his hindquarters a lot...could this be the culprit?

I have also noticed a little brown on my black poodle, but it's more around his mouth and chin area.

I found some homemade recipes on how to treat the tan stain--anyone have any suggestions that they've tried themselves?

[rileyandfredsmom]

I've always had this issue with my lighter colored animals as they get older...that pure white belly starts to turn brown/tan after a while. It's from them licking and I don't know that there is a lot that can be done about it.

As far as him licking his hindquaters, this could be a couple of things, from my experienc, a nervous habit, dry skin or fleas...if you treat for fleas and haven't found any on him then I would think it would be dry skin or a nervous habit...is there a lot of flaking in that area?

I found this on petmeds.com...maybe it would help?

Tear Clear:
Tear Clear is a safe, non-irritating tear stain remover. It gently cleanses to remove unsightly tear and saliva stains and restores full luster to the coat.

http://www.1800petmeds.com/pdetail.asp?SK=1022&SP=dog

[wendalah]

Thank you for the rec! I am planning on taking a look at commercial stain removers at the pet store this weekend while I'm shopping for their food.

Both of my poodles clean themselves like cats, all the time. (I caught my older poodle doing what I can only describe as giving himself a manicure the other day--he was nibbling and cleaning his claws.) I am thinking the licking is just a habit as his skin doesn't appear inflamed, bitten, or flaky. It stinks, because he has a gorgeous silver coat and I hate to see it turn discolored. But I guess I'll just see if the stain remover works.

[jesvet]

Let me know if you have any success with it!

[jajacobsen]

OT - my female weim nibbles and cleans her claws as well especialy if tehy get "too long." My male doesn't do it as he is so active he keeps his filed down.

I thought about you when I saw some tear clear this weekend as well. I hope it works for you!

[wendalah]

Interesting--some groomers online recommend Clairol Shimmer Lights shampoo for (human) white/gray hair.

They also recommend diluted peroxide and/or diluted lemon juice--apply with toothbrush and put the dog outside in the sun for 15 mins*. If the tear stain stuff doesn't work, I might try the lemon juice as it seems a little gentler than peroxide.

*My dog is a sunbather so he'll like this part.

[rileyandfredsmom]

Our hound dog cleans his feet like that...all the time. He can't stand to have his feet touched or his nails clipped so he just does it himself. He even cleans the 'paws' of his stuffed animals...it's adorable!

[katmg]

Probably not the same thing but my min. poodle growing up used to do that licking thing - especially in her, ahem, private area. She actually did it so much that it got swollen and my mom had to put a special cream on it for awhile. Her fur was black so we never saw any discoloration. Just something to watch for, if they seem to be licking excessively.

(I just realized how much I love my mom. She rubbed cream into the dog's butt for us.)

[wendalah]

Update: I bought a commercial stain remover and it ACTUALLY WORKED! It took several applications but his brown stains are fading rapidly.

I can't remember the exact name of the stuff but I'll post again once I have the bottle in front of me.