Has anyone got any tips for keeping my girls beard clean? despite scrubbing with shampoo i still cant get them grey, they stay a horrible brown colour I wondered if it was the dog food staining them but they are doing well on it so i dont want to change it. Any suggestions would be appreciated.(hope this is the right section to post this on)
Thanks
Jan

Willow, Murphy's is always brown, not sure it is staining as it is like it even after a good bath, I always thought it was a throwback to the red Deerhounds, he always has a tad on his back hips. I've seen others with lots of red in their coats, almost like highlights.
Someone may tell us it is something else, which would be intersting!!!

Also their beards are always wet from drinking, that tinges it brown/red colour too

I did wonder if it was just the normal colour but i dont think its been as brown as at present our water is from a spring and sometimes comes through blue!!!Good job the beards dont go blue as well:ohmy:

Ben has less brown tinge on his beard than he used to when he was younger but does have a bit on the side of his nose. He's also got a reddish tinge on his rear, just above where his tail meets his back. According to Kay Barrets book "Living with Deerhounds" the red/brown is dead hair but I'm not convinced that it's true as that hair doesn't comb out any more than the grey hair does.

After Murphy's had a rummage in the bin, it's been other colours too!!

I think it is normal, I've never really taken much notice of it before

It's a throw back to the red strains, the old hair is usually very lght grey and frizzy. Wouldn't it be nice to see other colours rather than just grey! what a boring colour, wouldn't it be nice to see fawn, red etc again!!

I hadnt noticed that much either till recently,Willow doesnt have any tan/red at all shes a blue grey which is why i wondered if it was stained ,my other girl Murron does but i tend to strip it out as its ususally quite dry,but saying that i tend to agree with you Robb, Murron was brindle as a pup so its probably not just dry hair but normal colour.
Fawn would be absolutely beautiful though

I'm not sure wether it is staining or not. I assumed it was staining caused by their food.

I wash the show dogs beards with a whitening shampoo but it doesn't seem to make much difference, they don't come up white anyway.

The Saintvallery hounds have really white beards and I did ask Lady Guise how she managed to get her hounds beards so white but she said it wasn't anything special, she uses human shampoo.

Perhaps your right Helen and it is in certain lines. Orrin and her mother have quite a lot of red tinging through their coats.

After this discussion about brown beards, I gave Murphy a bit of a spruce up today, I fiddled with his beard, gave it a wash and a thin out, then stripped his head out a bit, every time he shook his head and neck looked bigger than his body, so he now looks posh with his new hair do, but he still has a brown beardB) so maybe he/they were always meant to have a brown beard!!

Have a look at other dogs Willow, I'm sure you will find lots have red/brown tinges in their coats.

Its staining from food amd more than anything saliva

the only way to stop it , is to do what the show yorkie people, westie etc and thats put them in ribbons you will find this color around the genetials, ears, etc anywhere were there is fluid


I really hope we do not go down that road

I'll pass on the ribbons, might give Murphy a bad name in our neighbourhood! All the other doggies will be laughing at him!
Yes, now you have said it I can see, he is a bit brown down below as well! But surely it would wash off, food doesn't stain that much??? They only eat meat and I am sure alot are fed dry food now a days?

Though it is a wet area.

The staining comes mainly from the saliva, urine, etc etc, they are acidic, bit like bleach on a white sheet it goes yellow. westies, along with most other breeds staining is always worse and darker brown below there incisors, its dribble tht does

Well it just looks like good old shampoo then,heaven forbid if we tied their beautiful beards in ribbons,what a sad sight that would be.Had a look at their nether regions and yes they look a similar colour,
Jan

I think I'll pass on the idea of ribbons. Keep on with the whitening shampoo and hope for the best!

Ribbons, ribbons, we don't need no stinkin' ribbons to paraphrase quote fron a movie. I think the some of the beards are naturally brownish as opposed to white or grey. The red I've seen seems to be from extensive exposure to the sun. I noticed it on my breeders dogs in Southern Perthshire and here at home in Florida when the girls are out more in the cool Fall weather . I keep them in a more during the summer when It's so hot, so it isn't there as much. It would be great to have a red Deerhound though.

Yes I just learnt the other day that it is definitely saliva that causes the staining. A friends Deerie has very orangey feet because she licks them all the time as well as the brown beard. I had previously thought that it was kibble that caused it.