My dog has got messy eyes again.  This is the second time since I got her as a pup last July.  Are some dogs more prone to this?   Is it likely to be something in the environment or would she have picked it up from another dog?  She had messy eyes which developed into nodules because I didn't give her the full treatment (drops flew everywhere) then ointment which worked a treat.  Then she had an ear infection and now eyes again. 

Do you live near any fields which are growing rape seed. This sets my dogs off sometimes. A trick I was told is cold teabags. Wipe the eyes with them of a morning. It does work.

Yes, some dogs are more prone to this.  Particularly those where the lower eyelid is quite slack and therefore dirt and debris can accumulate there, causing irritation and possibly infection.

Cleaning her eyes regularly, either with cold water or a suitable proprietary eye cleaner (I have also heard cold tea recommended but as a general rule I don't put anything in my dogs' eyes which I haven't tried myself!) helps as a preventive measure.  If infection is already present, then your dog will need veterinary treatment.

my vet reccomended tea too.

Well I wouldn't use a tea bag - perhaps dip cotton wool in - however she is fussy over anything like that and I can only use my finger to clean yuk!  I do use the precaution of not using the same finger for each eye.
I found the best treatment from the vet was maxitrol eye ointment which I could push in with my thumb - she accepts that.  However they haven't got it in stock at the moment - have to phone back soon to see if they can order it or if the vet recommends anything else.
No rapeseed round here just ordinary grass.  Is it pollen that gets in the eye then?

I use cold tea bags on my eyes when they're a bit gritty and puffy after a late night :)

Any small particles of debris: pollen, seeds, dust etc.

Have you talked to your vet or vet nurse about the problems you have administering eye drops and eye cleaning?  I only say this because it was unbelievably helpful to me when I saw a vet nurse quickly slip some eyedrops in the correct way for the first time - worth a hundred words of explanation from a book or the internet ... 

Also, when I say cleaning the eye, I'm talking about gently flushing the eye out with drops which will then run out, bringing the dirt with them - not something I would have thought possible with a finger! :-)

I use teabags on my dogs eyes if they ever have anything wrong and they work a treat!  Luckily it is very rare for them to have anything wrong with their eyes though, but teabags are my first port of call.

Lillith - believe me the only way I will get eye drops in my dogs eye will be a 2 person job. That is how the vet copes.  Meg spots the bottle at home and plays keep away.  If I try to hold her she will snap.  I can start using a muzzle but I really don't want to go down that road because one day I may really need that.  You can trick her once but only once.  I have tried to get my husband to help but he is clumsy and not always around when I need that second pair of hands.  When I say I use my thumb it is to push the ointment into the corner of her eye.  If I clean the muck from her eye then I have to wipe it away as it comes out.  I cannot wash her eye out.  If I use any thing else she is very very wary.  She is a collie by the way. The only way I get to put the flea treatment on is to part the hair ready - put a biscuit on the floor and tell her to wait.  Then it is a very quick squirt and hoping it will go onto the skin not on the hair.  The tiniest sound makes her leap out of the way.  As if she has ever had anything harmful done to her!  The vet did put a dye in her eye the first time to make sure that she hadn't scratched herself.