tear stains

Question
My 1 year old white miniature poodle has developed brown-reddish tear stains. Sometimes when I look at her the tears are brimming over and out of her eyes. The stained fur is always damp. Is this a health problem or just par for the course? Is this related to allergies, food? Any way to eliminate or prevent the stains?

Answer
Hello Lily,
For the most part, tear stains are just something you put up with when you have a Poodle, but there are some things you can do to help reduce them.

You said that she "developed" the tear stains like they recently appeared.  Is this something that is new?  If so, you might think about anything new that you have introduced into your house.  New cleaning products, soaps, shampoos, foods, etc.  Have you changed her food recently?
Does she go outside and could be exposed to anyone's lawn that may have been treated with chemicals or fertilizers?  
These could trigger allergies and cause her eyes to run.  
Try giving her a 1/2 tablet of Benedryl in the evening for a week to see if this helps with her eyes.  

You can also keep the hair under her eyes shaved close, and apply Vaseline right under her eye.  This will cause the tears to roll off her eye rim and will help reduce the stains.  

They do make a cleaning product called Diamond Eye, or Show Eyes, that is suppose to help remove the stains, but I have tried it with little success.  

I hope this helps you some.  If you have other questions, please feel free to ask.

Thanks for using AllExerts.com,
Kim