# Saliva staining



## oshagcj914 (Jun 12, 2016)

Help, groomers and white dog owners! Asaah (harlequin Great Dane) had a minor injury on her paw that she was licking and now has some saliva staining to her paw. I've already given her a bath, and her usual shampoo, Quic Silver, does a nice job making her whites whiter, but it did nothing for this. Any advice? All I could think of was peroxide, but she also has black spots and I don't want to turn them orange. I'm never getting another white (or black and white) dog again!


----------



## MollyMuiMa (Oct 13, 2012)

Sorry......I've tried everything and I've yet to find anything that works for Molly paw! She developed a habit of licking her right front paws as a self soothing thing when she was a pup.........she also has contact allergies which don't help! If it is the allergies though, I give her a dose of Zyrtec and that seems to lessen it a bit. I have on occasion slathered her feet with #1 All systems Shazam and then put socks on her and that lightened the stains quite a bit but not to a white white.....it is a peroxide type whitener so we don't do it often.


----------



## kmart (Apr 28, 2015)

The only thing that would really make it disappear would probably be chalk. Whitening shampoo and treatments might help, but theres honestly nothing I can think of that we use in the salon that would work 100% besides shaving the hair off.


----------



## Dechi (Aug 22, 2015)

If she's stopped licking, shave it... It will grow back in no time, and no more stains !


----------



## oshagcj914 (Jun 12, 2016)

I wondered if I was going to have to just shave her. Bummer. She has another spot on her armpit from a cut there months ago and a spot on her flank from years ago. She's going to have a lot of bald spots! And I guess I'll learn to shave feet for when I get my spoo too  Time to watch some YouTube feet shaving videos! I was just hoping there was something magical to take the stain away without shaving all her fur off.


----------



## kayla_baxter (Jul 17, 2015)

Zephyr has a discoloured front leg right now from licking too, but no where near as bad as the doodle mutt, she's a red stained mess. 


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


----------



## oshagcj914 (Jun 12, 2016)

kayla_baxter said:


> Zephyr has a discoloured front leg right now from licking too, but no where near as bad as the doodle mutt, she's a red stained mess.
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


I do love harls, but I think my next Dane will be fawn, or maybe brindle - surely they don't show dirt! As soon as we get done with our therapy dog stuff I think I'll try and shave Asaah's foot, leg, and flank and see if that helps. Poor thing will have bald patches all over.


----------



## Païllâsse (Jun 14, 2016)

Sorry but what is a saliva stain?? My spoo always licks his paws when he chews a bone, and yet he has not any saliva stain....


----------



## MollyMuiMa (Oct 13, 2012)

Païllâsse said:


> Sorry but what is a saliva stain?? My spoo always licks his paws when he chews a bone, and yet he has not any saliva stain....


Paillase, on light colored dogs, if they lick a spot excessively the spot turns a rusty red/brown color and on a white or light colored dog it just looks awful.
The saliva (spit) and tears in a dog contain 'porphyrin' and that is what oxidizes and causes the stains on their faces, from their eyes, and on their body from licking. Impossible to remove, and shaving the hair and letting clean hair grow in, is the only way to prevent...... but as long as the dogs eyes keep tearing, or they keep licking, it is mostly a losing battle! LOL!


----------



## darialam (Aug 7, 2016)

That's one reason I love the black dogs! Lol


----------



## oshagcj914 (Jun 12, 2016)

darialam said:


> That's one reason I love the black dogs! Lol


True story! My family had a beagle when I was a baby I think, but otherwise Asaah is my first pet with much white on her, so I've never had this problem before. I told my future spoo breeder I'll take any color as long as it's not light!


----------



## kontiki (Apr 6, 2013)

Hmm - wondering what Asaah's diet had been prior to the licking? I have a cream/white Spoo and feed him raw most of the time. He doesn't get spots from licking normally, actually I can only remember about 3 times in 6 years. 

Hey - maybe you could use brown dye to cover them making a pattern that would just look like other patterning on Asaah?


----------



## NatalieAnne (Jul 23, 2016)

Has anyone tried baking soda/vinegar wash followed by Shimmer Lights human shampoo? This apparently works in theater on hair stained with theatre blood.


----------



## oshagcj914 (Jun 12, 2016)

kontiki said:


> Hmm - wondering what Asaah's diet had been prior to the licking? I have a cream/white Spoo and feed him raw most of the time. He doesn't get spots from licking normally, actually I can only remember about 3 times in 6 years.
> 
> Hey - maybe you could use brown dye to cover them making a pattern that would just look like other patterning on Asaah?


She's been raw fed her entire life.


----------



## kontiki (Apr 6, 2013)

Hmm, Could there possibly be minerals or additives or bacteria in her water? Or using plastic bowls for feeding or water? This article says to use ceramic or glass or stainless steel bowls as plastic can accumulate bacteria. 
http://pets.thenest.com/dogs-white-hair-turning-brown-11573.html

Also suggested elsewhere were allergies - perhaps to something in the environment or possibly to one of the meats? 

This suggests uses for sea salt (Not regular table salt) on her fur. Another thing it mentions is a bit of apple cider vinegar in her water: https://www.cuteness.com/article/rid-fur-stains-dog-licking


----------



## oshagcj914 (Jun 12, 2016)

kontiki said:


> Hmm, Could there possibly be minerals or additives or bacteria in her water? Or using plastic bowls for feeding or water? This article says to use ceramic or glass or stainless steel bowls as plastic can accumulate bacteria.
> http://pets.thenest.com/dogs-white-hair-turning-brown-11573.html
> 
> Also suggested elsewhere were allergies - perhaps to something in the environment or possibly to one of the meats?
> ...


I use stainless steel bowls already, and she has had ACV in her water. Can't really do anything about the water (I'm not doing bottled for a Great Dane as she doesn't drink much anyway and it would get dumped). I suppose she could have allergies, although the saliva staining is the only symptom she really has. I'll look at that article, althpugh I'm betting I'll just end up shaving her foot once I locate some clippers.


----------

