Q. My 12-year-old dog, Emmy, has been pure white her entire life — until the last 7 months. As you can see from the photo, she now has a rust-colored face and paws. Three different veterinarians have given me three different theories for why this has happened, ranging from old age to allergies. At this point she has been on four allergy medications, including steroids, but none of them has helped. I should note that she has also had pus in her left eye, which is red. I have been applying the over-the-counter eye ointment Maxitrol, but I am already on my fourth tube — it only works for a couple of days. Please help my baby girl. I don’t know what else to do.
Donna Hendershot
Somerset, Pennsylvania
Dear Ms. Hendershot,
A. Hair around a dog’s eyes may take on a rust color any time there is an increased flow of tears. Tears contain proteins that bind to iron, and when the tears reach the outside of the body and are hit by oxygen, they literally rust, explains Tufts veterinary ophthalmologist Stefano Pizzirani, DVM. It is particularly obvious on white-coated dogs.
Tear overflow can occur for a number of reasons. The most common is extra hairs rubbing onto the cornea, which is very sensitive. (Have you ever had a hair in your eye?) Sometimes an infection or foreign body causes a problem. Allergies, too, can increase tear production, with the rusty coloring showing up on the sides of the nose.
As for the rust color anywhere on the legs, including the paws, the cause is licking. Saliva, like tears, can cause a red stain. Common causes of excess licking include psychological triggers or again, allergies.
In the case of your own dog, Dr. Pizzirani says, it looks from the photo like there’s a small mass on the bottom of the dog’s left eye, at the edge of the eyelid. That can produce some friction on the cornea, he says, which would increase tearing and overflow.
The best bet would be to have Emmy examined and diagnosed by a veterinary ophthalmologist and perhaps a veterinary dermatologist. Proper treatment will bring her coat back to its natural color.
My dog has been licking her back paws causing them to turn almost completely rust color just the paws she licks him lick some licks them any suggestion
She is four years old a rescue dog. She’s the best dog we’ve ever had but she licks her paws which stands for bed but stains our bed
I have a yellow lab whose belly and leg fur was white when he recued me 2 yrs ago. Since that time, I believe he had hot spots near his belly and started licking quite a bit.
After many months, I noticed his fur was turning off white and brownish where he’d been licking.
Since that time, he’s also licked areas under his front legs and the hair there is also turning brownish.
Noah’s a 90 lb. Lab who I can’t bathe myself. I have him washed once every 6 weeks by someone who comes to my house to bathes him from her grooming van. Should I get something for her to use while washing or get something to apply myself every few days or week?
If it’s not allergy then it’s for humidity.
I wash my dog’s paws after every walkies and it’s not completely dry when she is at home. Poor doggy is getting red and rusty because of this.
The tip is to make sure she won’t over lick and she is completely dry (with air brush) every day.
my dogs two front legs turned rusty color what is this i changed her food to no grain a few weeks ago but no change
My white dog, 2yrs plus started turning rusty red around her belly fur and paws, even her tear line, my vet said i should give her 2ml cod liver oil for 10 days and I’m glad she’s getting back to normal. Try cod liver oil for babies
This routine helped the red paws…
History…
My mum’s dog was living in a garage which seemed more like a dungeon and an out door garden which seemed more like a jungle…
The doggies bedding stunk… and was filthy…
The doggy licked her paws raw red all day every day.
I very quickly took ownership of the dog… and took her to the vet as soon as she was in my care.
The vet gave her steroid creme but after a few days of applying it the doggy got very fearful of the cream, so I stopped applying it.
1.
I then got the dog groomed, and her nails trimmed – note: research nerves in dogs nails first as they might need to be trimmed proportionately depending how long they are.
2.
I also made a daily routine for this dog, so I walk her twice a day for min 15 min each time or, max 30 min each time and on occasion an hour if she is not tired. I let her sniff lots too.
I noticed her paws are more itchy from grass and her eyes tear more after sniffing…
3.
So I then added a bath to her daily routine…
The bath improved her feet biting by reducing it almost instantly.
So I then added a foot bath to the dogs daily routine after EVERY walk…or anytime her paws touched grass..
It seems like a lot of effort but once you get a routine for this it takes about 10 minutes or 15 min including drying paws and wiping down the sink area etc.
so…
I just fill the laundry sink (ensuring it is free of any chemicals) and fill the sink with luke-warm water (cool enough for a human baby)… then…
I use a take-a-way plastic container to scoop up the water and gently drop it down onto the dogs paws…
I also swoosh the water about -near her paws to get all the dirt, sand, grassy allergens etc off her paws…
If she pooped during her walk I started to wash her bottom too, with a glove and doggy shampoo & conditioner (a natural one)…
I basically just get all the dirt and grime off her paws, bottom and off her face (but I wash her face with seperate water and a clean cloth)… I have just began to pull the sink plug out too to rinse away the sandy particles then I rinse again with the tap left on… but this second rinse is more on the days where the grass is super muddy.
She went from biting her paws all day and night to biting one paw a day and only for about 10 seconds until I say nicely stop biting…
Literally I am so surprised at how fast her paw biting has reduced and by 99%… in a matter of days…
I first started off using a natural human soap as that is all I had near me at the time… and that was a mix of lemon myrtle, ginger and olive oil hand soap…
4.
Then I began using a natural dog shampoo and conditioner… one my mum bought – but my mum never got around to actually bathing her… and that is called Melanie Newman Salon Essentials Refresh Dog Shampoo and then the same but a Conditioner, and it has lemon myrtle, citrus and avocado.
The biting has stopped almost 100% but to stop the one small 10 second bite per day I am now going to add a tiny amount of white vinegar just to kill off any nasties. Her red colour has completely gone… and her paws are now a light sandy blonde colour and in some parts back to white where they were dark previously, and they are getting lighter every few days… the same with her cheeks… they were a really dark brown and really hard fur, but I just decided to wash her face one day with the doggy shampoo but I had to be really careful not to get it in her eyes and so I had to do that very slowly and carefully – took ages and was a huge mess but worth it coz her face is looking better – still not great but much better. But her paws…
5.
And then after her foot bath-rinse I also very slowly and gently dry her paws with a towel… in between her toes etc…
6.
But because her fur was still wet for hours so I put her on my lap one day and dried her fur in front of a small an air blow heater but at a safe distance so she would not burn – to do that I sat her on my lap and just gently weaved my fingers through her fur – takes about 2 minutes to dry her fully doing this… so her feet improved 99%…
7.
So… in short…
I highly recommend a paw rinse after EVERY walk and then
8.
A gentle towel off in between the toes and
9.
If you have a spare 2 min just a quick gentle spot dry in front of a heater (not too close though coz it can burn their skin from too much direct heat).
And I really enjoy cuddling her now knowing she is super clean and comfortable.
I hope this helps.
Kind regards,
Steph.
I bought a foot tube for my boys feet and a baby bath do mot so daunting in our bath. I use Hibiscrub and oatmeal shampoo.
He loves a blowdry with the hairdryer on cool heat.
So keeping their coat fresh after walkes definitely helps from seasonal allergies and mud etc.
Also explore food allergies – grain & chicken ..
Salmon oil , cod liver oil & coconut oil all a great addition to their daily food.
I’ve been watching this great grooming channel and she sometimes gets dogs who have licking problems and discoloration. She has a course I think, and she also sells lots of pet friendly products, including a pet friendly whitening shampoo that can be good for reducing rust colour on white dogs.