Hi all,

My BT bitch has lovely white paws and markings, all except her chest area. It used to be nice and white but now she has a reddish staining on her coat. She has been bathed but it is not coming out. It is like the colour of tear staining.
All my dogs are on a hypo allergenic food, have their beds washed regularly in non bio liquid, but this stain persists. It takes away from the whole look and even with a dab of chalk it shows through.
Do you have any ideas how to rid the staining? I thought it may have been the beet pulp in the food, but an article i read said beet pulp has no colour. we have 3 weeks until the next show and need some tips please?

do you have other dogs just wondering if they are licking her chest or maybe it is part of her chest area she can lick sometimes excessive licking at an area can turn it a red/orange colour

> I thought it may have been the beet pulp in the food, but an article i read said beet pulp has no colour.

Depends on the actual pulp used.  Beet pulp in it's natural form has no colour (bit like a turnip), but some beet pulp is molassed giving it a deep, dark reddish brown colour and often this is the kind used to bulk up dog food.

Is she licking her chest area?  It may well be staining from licking and the bacteria on the area causes a red stain.  You could try putting a no bite solution on the area, or using a bib if it will cover the area.   One of mine gets food somehow on the chest area then proceed to lick it off and I put a snood on him for feeding now.

I have a dog who did start to lick an old wound site and it turned red-brown I mixed pure aloe vera gel with a couple of drops of lavender essential oil mixed in a put it on the area daily and he stopped licking it mainly because of the smell of the lavender which he hates.

What kind of collar does she wear? Could it be rust marks from a chain.

My GR had rust staining on his chest from the ring that held his name tag on. He swims most days and it took me a while to work out why his chest was changing colour. I now use a collar that has our details embroidered on it and the staining has gradually disappeared.

My bernese has the same and we think it is from her collar - she had a rolled leather collar and would insist on paddling with it on, but all her collars seemed to leave this same stain. The stain is a peachy-red sort of colour and we have never managed to remove it but as she is not shown it doesn't really matter. Have you tried any of the tear stain removing liquids on it?

Rubbing a bit of Thornit powder will get rid of it over a week or so, certainly reduce it before the show  - then a bit of chalk should do the rest

...unless of course it does turn out to be staining from her collar:-)

thanks all, it isn't her collar as hers is a webbed one, she isn't licking it.

thanks for the suggestion on thornit, i had thought of that aswell because i know it gets rid of the ear stains in poodles.
will order some and give it a go.
someone also suggested she may have to much acid and to try milk of magnesia 3 times a week.

here goes...

If it is staining from saliva I have found giving only filtered water in a metal bowl significantly reduces reddish staining (you have to wait a few weeks).