Do you have to clean your dog’s eyes three times a day, and despite all the cleaning, he still has yellow-green stuff in the fur around his eyes? Of course, you don’t need to wipe your eyes three times a day, but as I’m sure he knows, yellow things can smell quite a bit, as they are a breeding ground for bacteria.
The question is what can we do about it? Let’s be honest with each other. Shih Tzu are prone to eye infections due to their bulging eyes. But that’s no reason to give up!
In this article I will discuss the first thing to look for: hair that irritates your Shih Tzu’s eyes. Imagine this. You walk with your hands tied behind your back and from time to time a hair sticks in your eye. I am sure you will find it very uncomfortable and you will do anything to get rid of the irritation. This is exactly the situation that a Shih Tzu faces with the only difference that he can’t do anything about it, it’s up to you, his mommy.
A good start to addressing the problem is to keep most of the hair out of the eyes in a bun. Just make sure you don’t put the bun too tight, otherwise it can damage your hair. Also get a puppy used to a bun as soon as his hair is long enough, otherwise he may have problems later.
The next step is to take care of the hair around the eye area. Puppies especially go through a stage where their hair is very itchy. They get past this stage, but the problem will never go away completely, it will only get better. Use Vaseline to keep the hair out of the eyes. Vaseline is generally safe for a dog, as it doesn’t irritate the eyes and is also safe to consume.
Another option is to cut the hair around the eyes. Just be very careful, as you don’t want to damage the dog’s eyes. It is best to use a round tipped scissors or if you feel uncomfortable doing it yourself, take your dog to a professional groomer. In many cases, tangles have formed around the eyes and it is not so easy to cut the hair.
Let me warn you, though: once you’ve cut the hair around your eyes, it’s a nightmare getting it to grow back the way you want. If you want a particular look for your Shih Tzu, think about it well before doing it.