Stinky Eye Boogers

[loganberry]

I have this 2 year old Chihuahua that I think is part Jack Russell or some related small dog. He has often been noticed for the tears in his eyes as if he is crying. Doesn't happen all the time but I notice it often enough to be concerned. We have some medicated eye drops to help lubricate his eyes, but sometimes his face really stinks and I narrow it down to his eyes. Especially after a long day of playing he gets this build-up of eye boogers and tears and it tends to clump up right in the corners of his eyes. It goes away when we wash his face with soap and water, but it tends to come back within a couple days. Does anyone know exactly what the problem is here?

We have spoken to our vet about it and they said that he doesn't seem to have the chronic eye dryness as expected with other dogs of large eyes, but all the same... I don't want to be subjecting him to eye drops all the time and washing his face cause I know he hates it.

As for living conditions, he stays inside a house that is air conditioned 24-7. Could it be the air?