Part of the experience of being a dog owner, is that there comes a time when your dog will get dirt, debris, a foreign object (s), hair, or suffer trauma to its' eyes.  It is important for the dog owner to have an idea of how to cope with these situations before serious damage occurs to the dog's eyes.
     Prevention of injury is one important step that dog owners have the most control over.  Do not allow your dog to hang its head out a window of the car while riding.  Damage to the eyes can easily occur from debris, insects and the wind.  Also the ears and nose can be affected.  Another common mistake that dog owners commit is to allow their dog to ride in the back of a pickup truck.  We have seen this time and again, some dogs are not even tied or restrained while in the open bed.  The swirling of the air currents in the bed of a pickup truck can cause dirt, debris and insects to become lodged in the dog's eyes, ears, and nose.  It can also dump the dog off, or out, of the truck bed onto the road when negotiating a curve.   Dogs getting into fights with other animals, and being hit by cars, are easily prevented by the owner taking responsibility for his animal's safety.
     You will know that your dog is having an eye problem if you notice that the dog is squinting, blinking, and/or excessively tearing.  The dog will sometimes 'paw' at its' eyes, and yelp in pain.  While grooming your dog is an excellent time to note any unusual swelling, or redness in the area of the eye.  Sometimes the dog's eye just simply does not look normal.
     If you have never treated a dog's eyes before, go to your veterinarian to learn the proper technique for examining and treating eyes.  Extreme care and gentleness must be exercised, or you may do more harm than good.
     *Do not use any ointments, creams, drops, etc. that are old and out of date, or not specifically labeled for opthalmological use.
     Dogs with long hair about their face and muzzle sometimes have trouble with the hair rubbing against the eyeball.  Usually a simple trimming of the hair is the solution to this problem.
     Should you have a dog that has gone out to the woods and has returned with debris and twigs all tangled in his face hair and on removing all this from the dog's hair you discover that you need to flush out the dog's eyes.  A simple solution can be made by thoroughly mixing one teaspoon of salt with one pint of water (filtered water is preferred).  Completely soak a wad of cotton in this solution and then squeeze the solution out of the wad of cotton into the eye. Do not touch the eye with the wad of cotton.
     A foreign object, such as a thorn, dirt, etc., should be removed by a veterinarian as serious injury can occur if the dog struggles while you are trying to remove the object.