The internet finds a new subject to direct their bottled up angst at every couple of months. Like fads, topics such as the ice age baby, Matthew Morrison, and baby boomers cycle under internet scrutiny. Recently, the target has been crusty white dogs. You know the kind. The ankle-biting, yappy, tear-stained, white dogs. Often a Maltese or Shih Tzu.
If you are not familiar with these dogs, the crust is caused by dried up tears and mucus that builds up on the fur around their eyes. The tears also cause red-brown tear stains that are extremely visible on white dogs. Here’s the science behind it: porphyrin molecules, found in dog tears, are rich in iron. When exposed to oxygen, the porphyrin molecules dry and leave behind a rust-colored stain. Thus, crusty white dogs.
Now as a proud owner of a white dog (his name is Jasper), I feel that it is my duty to intervene. Like the Lorax who speaks for the trees, I speak for the crusty white dogs. While the dog in question is neither a Maltese nor a Shitzu, he is indeed white, and he has been known to be frequently crusty. My Havanese enjoys long naps and rolling in grass on sunny afternoons. Newly blind, his crustiness factor has noticeably increased for reasons that I am unsure of. Maybe he is unaware that his eyes are open for too long which results in an excess production of tears. Maybe he falls asleep with his eyes partly open. Maybe his constant encounters with the legs of chairs and bottom steps of stairs make him particularly teary? I would ask him if I could. Nevertheless, I can confirm that his eyes are in fact crusty. I also must bring up the fact that my other dog, Moose, who is the same breed as Jasper but brown, is also proportionally crusty.
To learn how to combat the crust factor, I did a little research. The only way to stop the staining and build up of crust is to consistently clean your dog’s undereye fur. Since the stains are caused by tears, it would make sense that cleaning the fur is the solution. I don’t know why I didn’t think of that myself… Anyways, I bought two short, thin-toothed combs with rounded teeth that are made for this exact job. Every couple of days I heat up a little bowl of water and use it to soften the fur around Jasper’s eyes. I make sure the water is a safe temperature. When the fur is softened and the crust is loosened, I gently comb the fur. I have been doing this procedure quite consistently for several weeks and I can see a huge difference! My dog is used to it now and has no issue with the combing. I have also heard of special eye drops that you can use as well but this method works great— I would also be afraid to put anything in Jasper’s eyes.
In conclusion, crusty white dogs are only crusty due to a lack of care from their owner. It’s not their fault! Blame the human, not the innocent Havanese. If you are a fellow crusty-white-dog-owner, I implore you to buy a tear stain remover comb as well. And to the haters I beg the question: why bully the crusty white dogs when dogs of other fur colors are equally crusty? How about white cats? If eye crust does not discriminate, your anger towards small animals should not either. Hate all or none. Thank you, good night.
Now as a proud owner of a white dog (his name is Jasper), I feel that it is my duty to intervene. Like the Lorax who speaks for the trees, I speak for the crusty white dogs. While the dog in question is neither a Maltese nor a Shitzu, he is indeed white, and he has been known to be frequently crusty. My Havanese enjoys long naps and rolling in grass on sunny afternoons. Newly blind, his crustiness factor has noticeably increased for reasons that I am unsure of. Maybe he is unaware that his eyes are open for too long which results in an excess production of tears. Maybe he falls asleep with his eyes partly open. Maybe his constant encounters with the legs of chairs and bottom steps of stairs make him particularly teary? I would ask him if I could. Nevertheless, I can confirm that his eyes are in fact crusty. I also must bring up the fact that my other dog, Moose, who is the same breed as Jasper but brown, is also proportionally crusty.
The internet finds a new subject to direct their bottled up angst at every couple of months. Like fads, topics such as the ice age baby, Matthew Morrison, and baby boomers cycle under internet scrutiny. Recently, the target has been crusty white dogs. You know the kind. The ankle-biting, yappy, tear-stained, white dogs. Often a Maltese or Shih Tzu.
If you are not familiar with these dogs, the crust is caused by dried up tears and mucus that builds up on the fur around their eyes. The tears also cause red-brown tear stains that are extremely visible on white dogs. Here’s the science behind it: porphyrin molecules, found in dog tears, are rich in iron. When exposed to oxygen, the porphyrin molecules dry and leave behind a rust-colored stain. Thus, crusty white dogs.
To learn how to combat the crust factor, I did a little research. The only way to stop the staining and build up of crust is to consistently clean your dog’s undereye fur. Since the stains are caused by tears, it would make sense that cleaning the fur is the solution. I don’t know why I didn’t think of that myself… Anyways, I bought two short, thin-toothed combs with rounded teeth that are made for this exact job. Every couple of days I heat up a little bowl of water and use it to soften the fur around Jasper’s eyes. I make sure the water is a safe temperature. When the fur is softened and the crust is loosened, I gently comb the fur. I have been doing this procedure quite consistently for several weeks and I can see a huge difference! My dog is used to it now and has no issue with the combing. I have also heard of special eye drops that you can use as well but this method works great— I would also be afraid to put anything in Jasper’s eyes.
In conclusion, crusty white dogs are only crusty due to a lack of care from their owner. It’s not their fault! Blame the human, not the innocent Havanese. If you are a fellow crusty-white-dog-owner, I implore you to buy a tear stain remover comb as well. And to the haters I beg the question: why bully the crusty white dogs when dogs of other fur colors are equally crusty? How about white cats? If eye crust does not discriminate, your anger towards small animals should not either. Hate all or none. Thank you, good night.
Small White Dogs With Crusty Eyes or Small White Dog With Shit In Its Eyes refers to a series of memes about how small white dogs, notably Maltese or Shih Tzus, tend to develop a red or brown crusty substance around their eyes, typically made up of dried tears. The eye crust became the subject of memes online in mid-2020, many of the jokes claiming that rich white people tend to own the dogs and that the dogs are ugly, inspiring further memes over the following years.
There are a variety of reasons that small white dog breeds get these stains. According to PetMD, the most common cause of the red-brown stains is dried tears, which contain a pigment called porphyrin that turns red or brown after prolonged air exposure. This can happen to all dog breeds with long hair around their eyes but is easier to spot on white dogs.
Around June 2020, people began making jokes about how rich white people tend to own small white dogs with “crusty” eyes. As an early example, on June 12th, 2020, TikToker @mayafarhattt posted a video showcasing a now-deleted tweet, posted earlier that month, reading, “Every white girl with rich parents has that ugly ass white dog that has brown crust around its eyes.” In the video, the TikToker shows off her dog, which has red around its eyes, gaining over 4 million views in two years (shown below).
Jokes about tear staining on white dogs eyes continued over the following years. On July 22nd, 2020, Twitter user @bjbjonez posted, “bitches always like isn’t my dog so cute? but it’s a white dog with those crispy red eye stains,” gaining over 469,000 likes and 43,000 retweets in just under two years (shown below).
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Yeah, THOSE dogs. Well, they’re usually Maltese Terriers and people are finally uniting against the little crusty-eyed pups online.
Look, no one wants to actively hate a dog but those crusty white ones really are… a choice. According to Dog Time, Malteses are so popular because of their “gentle” but “sprightly” demeanour, which makes them perfect for kids. Plus, they’re small and hypoallergenic, so that’s another plus for those who want a dog but are wary about getting one.
In recent weeks there has been an influx of people poking fun at the crusty, old white dogs on TikTok.
Videos about the breed having a really specific unpleasant smell, constantly stained eyes and a strange ability to continuously cheat death have continued to circulate on the app.
So don’t worry, if you own a Maltese, you’re not alone. I mean, it would really be fucking impossible for you to be alone considering every third person owns one of them.
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