# Eye boogers



## newspoomom (Jun 16, 2010)

Okay, so moving on from the ever popular topic of poop... 

My little Spoo has eye boogers, which, from what I've read and my veterinarian has indicated, seem to be completely normal. (Ruled out a medical condition) But, he used to let me clean/pick them off, and now he refuses and wiggles his head around and tries to bite at me. If I don't get them, they get crusty and bigger, so I really hate to let him run around looking like an unkempt heathen. He is 4.5 months old now, and I hope as he gets older he will be more complacent....

So my question now is if I am alone in this fight, or if anyone has a trick that's worked well for them. Maybe I should just get over it and let him be a pup, but I find that if I can get them off one time a day, they are manageable.


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## puppylove (Aug 9, 2009)

It's probably gotten uncomfortable for him. You might try cleaning with a wet tissue, allowing the crusties to soften before you start scraping away. 

And it is better to do it every day. Even if he doesn't like it, he'll take it better than if it's only done occasionally and with alot of fuss. Dogs are creatures of habit.


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## Olie (Oct 10, 2009)

Yeah a quick tissue to them in the morning does halp, but should get it daily. Suri get funky eye boogers and if you miss them they can make their skin irritated too.


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## schnauzerpoodle (Apr 21, 2010)

This is what my groomer taught me to do: Before every meal, gently hold your pup's muzzle, and then put down the bowl. So the holding of muzzle (and later the handling of his eye area) always follows with food (or sth he likes). After a few days, hold a non-alcohol baby wipe, hold his muzzle and wipe his face (try his eye area if he refuses, just gently wipe his face) and then put down the food bowl. After a few days, wipe his eyes and then feed him high value treat. This is what the groomer says he wants his clients to do with puppies. He said he can tell if the puppies have been handled (or crate-trained) at home right away.

Nickel hated it too but now he looks forward to it. After each eye-cleaning, he would stare at the treat jar waiting for his treat.


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## newspoomom (Jun 16, 2010)

Thank you all, I truly appreciate your replies. They help me a lot.


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## Beach girl (Aug 5, 2010)

Very good ideas. I'm going to try that wipe the eyes before feeding plan.

I use pet wipes that I buy at Petco. They are the same thing, I guess, as the non-alcohol baby wipes.

Also I tried Angel Eyes (a supplement put into the dog's food that changes the eye secretions), but as I posted in another thread, this made him lose a bit of bladder control. Not a good idea. I went back to manually cleaning off the eye gunk and quit the Angel Eyes.


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## schnauzerpoodle (Apr 21, 2010)

Those pet/eye wipes are a lot more expensive than baby wipes you can find at Costco. I use those non-alcohol baby wipes for Nickel's eyes, face, bum bum and his after-dog-park body wipes, etc.


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## Beach girl (Aug 5, 2010)

Thanks for the tip. I never really paid attention to the comparison cost; just tossed everything into the cart and had my own personal heart attack when the total bill is added up. ;-)

I've got to find a cheaper source for greenies, too.


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## flyingduster (Sep 6, 2009)

personally, I encourage Paris to eat her eye boogers, so she LOVES me wiping them out; cos it means she gets to nom them up! LOL! She starts licking her lips when I'm wiping her eyes, and the instant I let go of her face she's licking at my fingers for the boogers I might have fished out. hehehehehe


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## LEUllman (Feb 1, 2010)

flyingduster said:


> personally, I encourage Paris to eat her eye boogers. . .


As my daughter would say, Ewwwwww!


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## Underpants Gnome (Oct 12, 2009)

flyingduster said:


> personally, I encourage Paris to eat her eye boogers, so she LOVES me wiping them out; cos it means she gets to nom them up! LOL! She starts licking her lips when I'm wiping her eyes, and the instant I let go of her face she's licking at my fingers for the boogers I might have fished out. hehehehehe


I do that too. It's kind of disgusting, but Dudley seems to like them and I don't need to get out a tissue (which he would want to eat also.)


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## Beach girl (Aug 5, 2010)

Eww, y'all!!

Stopped at CVS today and bought the cheapest jar they had of alcohol-free baby wipes: 140 wipes for $4.00. That sound about par for the course?


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## Lotusland spoos (May 10, 2010)

flyingduster said:


> personally, I encourage Paris to eat her eye boogers, so she LOVES me wiping them out; cos it means she gets to nom them up! LOL! She starts licking her lips when I'm wiping her eyes, and the instant I let go of her face she's licking at my fingers for the boogers I might have fished out. hehehehehe


When I got Sam (Charlie was 2), she had a runny right eye and I had to wipe her eyes several times a day and especially in the morning. Charlie now licks Sam's eyes every time she has boggers or her eye is runny and Sam just stands still. Charlie is like Mommy cleaning Sam's face - it is too cute!


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## flyingduster (Sep 6, 2009)

lol, yes it's ew, but it's a lot less ew than when I flick them out and don't have a tissue handy so I have to do _something_ with the booger stuck to my finger....! LOL!


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## AgilityIG (Feb 8, 2009)

Just another thought - Your puppy is 4.5 months old right now. He is probably teething and his mouth may be a bit sore. If he was fine with it before, it may just be the mouth that's bothering him - not your handling of his eyes. If that is the case, I would be very gentle and give VERY high powered treats (chicken, cheese, etc...) for cleaning his eyes.

Vinnie eats his eye boogies too :biggrin:


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## TeddyTails (Apr 19, 2010)

Murphy didn't like his eyes cleaned either when he was younger (and teething). I lightly held his muzzle and gave him treats, then quickly popped the eye boogers off. Now it is no big deal (he is 9 mos old now). My groomer suggested cleaning his eye area with contact lense cleaner and cotton balls. Pretty cheap to buy in bulk, doesn't harm the eye area and does a great job.

I am still working with Murphy on brushing his teeth. Ugh, he HATES having his teeth brushed! He loves the doggie flavored tooth paste, but don't put anything in my mouth! Anyone have any good ideas on this one? I hope patience wins out in the end and he just starts accepting that I am going to brush his teeth no matter what. Just like he finally started accepting getting his toenails trimmed.


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## puppylove (Aug 9, 2009)

Jackson was pretty slow to take to toothbrushing. Just be patient. I always put a tiny dab of that chicken-flavored tooth paste on the brush and let him lick it off as a treat after we're done with the brushing part. I have a friend who actually has conditioned his dog to an electric toothbrush. That dog has beautiful teeth.

And I too feed eye boogers. It is convenient and those that like them don't mind the eye cleaning so much. (I'm feeling very ewww just reading this)


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