Finding the right shampoo for your dog is a hard decision, especially when they have sensitive skin. How do we find the right shampoo for our furry best friends? In this article, we’ll be picking our favorite shampoos for dogs based on category and listing their ingredients, formulas, and special features.
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Winners at a Glance
5 Best Gentle and Effective Dog Shampoos
Best Fragrance-free Shampoo
EarthBath Oatmeal & Aloe Shampoo
Added fragrances can be irritating to a sensitive dog’s skin, sometimes causing rashes, itching, and hives. Earthbath created an organic, natural formula to achieve an effective and moisturizing shampoo without the overwhelming scent!
What’s Great
- Natural and organic ingredients
- Helps relieve itching & dry skin
- Safe for puppies 6 weeks and up
- Fragrance and Cruelty-free
What Can Improve
- Not tear-free formula
- Some customers experienced leaks from bottles
What Customers Say
“Within one wash, his skin was moisturized to get rid of all that dead skin that was all over his back and hind legs.”
Best Hypoallergenic Shampoo
AlwaysPups Tearless Puppy Shampoo
This pH-balanced hypoallergenic, tearless formula can be used for both puppies and adult dogs with sensitive skin.
Their minimal ingredients are baby shampoo base and plant-derived, and its unique (not too strong) nostalgic sugar cookie scent is an added bonus.
What’s Great
- Only 5 ingredients
- Tear-free and Hypoallergenic
- Made in the USA
- Paraben, Sulfate, and Cruelty-free
What Can Improve
- No variety in scent for tearless shampoo
What Customers Say
“Love the gentle scent that is subtle but not too overbearing. My Yorkie’s fur feels soft and not too dry afterward, also the shampoo didn’t seem to irritate his eyes at all during the bath.”
Best Deep Cleaning Shampoo
Isle of Dogs Deep Cleaning Shampoo
Our pups are masters of getting themselves into the smelliest of messes, and we need a deep cleaning shampoo to do the trick and get that odor out. Isle of Dogs nails it with their gentle cleansing odor neutralizing formula and top star reviews!
What’s Great
- Natural odor neutralizers
- Can be used on all coat types
- Sulfate and Paraben-free
What Can Improve
- Scent can be overwhelming
- Long ingredient list
What Customers Say
“Smells incredible on application. Strips out the nasty dirt and grime from truly dirty pets, doesn’t seem to take too much natural oils. I always condition after using. Would 100% recommend!”
Best 2-in1 Shampoo
Buddy Wash Dog Shampoo & Conditioner for Dogs
Buddy Wash 2-in-1 shampoo not only cleans, but conditions your dog’s fur at the same time. Specially formulated using hydrating oils and botanical extracts, this shampoo not only smells great but gets the job done for an affordable price.
What’s Great
- 2-in-1 shampoo + conditioner formula
- Calming effects of lavender and mint
- Formulated with natural herbs and oils
- Cruelty-free
What Can Improve
- Reports of leaky packaging when the item arrived
- Contains tea tree oil – can cause adverse reactions in rare cases
What Customers Say
“A little goes a long way, especially for smaller dogs. My dog’s fur smells so good afterward, and the scent is soft and soothing, not overpowering, and it lasts.”
Best Waterless Shampoo
Pawstruck No Rinse Shampoo for Dogs
This no rinse spray shampoo from Pawstruck is a great alternative to refreshen your dogs in between baths. It is natural, bio-degradable, cruelty-free, and smells like fresh citrus!
What’s Great
- Natural and biodegradable formula
- Made in the USA
- Paraben, Sulfate, and Phosphate-free
What Can Improve
- Scent can be overwhelming
- Some customers experienced leaks from bottles
What Customers Say
“This product helps SO much! The smell is alright, nothing flowery or perfume like, and it is easy to apply, rub, and air-dry.”
Tips: How to Choose the Right Dog Shampoo
Lastly, to fully understand what products you should be using, we’ll break down the most common ingredients used in most pet products, and why they can be harmful to your pet.
Ingredients to Avoid in Shampoo:
(Most) Surfactants/Sulfates
Surfactant is an umbrella term that can be classified into 3 categories: anionic, cationic, and nonionic. Anionic Surfactants are known to have not only have a toxic effect on the body but to be detrimental to the environment.
Sodium Lauryl is a sulfate commonly used as a detergent, and cleansing or foaming agent for pet shampoos (these are used to make products look foamy). Studies have shown this ingredient to cause lasting eye and skin irritation in animals.
Phthalates
Phthalates are mainly used to make plastic more durable, and are often called plasticizers. In the case of dog shampoos, they are used to bond the fragrance of the product to other ingredients and are shown to disrupt the hormonal imbalance in dogs.
Parabens
The most common parabens in dog shampoos are listed under : Butylparaben, Methlyparaben, Propylparaben, and Isopropylparaben. This chemical is used for mold and bacteria prevention to extend the product’s shelf life. According to the American Chemical Society, research has shown parabens to be endocrine-disrupting compounds (EDCs) that potentially interfere with hormones, and have harmful effects on your pet’s developments, reproductive, and neurological systems.
Preservatives
Most common listed under : 2-Bromo-2-nitropropane-1,3-diol (bronopol), Diazolidinyl urea, DMDM hydantoin, Imidazolidinyl urea, Quaternium-7, -15, -31, -61, and Sodium hydroxymethylglycinate. These chemicals have been known to trigger an immune response in animals and result in the burning, itching, blistering, or scaling of the skin.
Can I use human shampoo on my dog?
Human shampoo can be harmful for our pets mainly due to the disruption of an essential layer of skin called the Acid Mantle.
This layer keeps our body hydrated and protects our skin from contaminants such as viruses and bacteria. The acid mantle is so thin that it gets washed away every single time we bathe!
We rely on bathing products such as shampoo to restore the acid mantle, and pH balance plays a crucial role in the restoration process. The average human pH balance is 5.5-5.6, and for dogs, it is 6.2-7.4.
When using human shampoo on our pets, an incompatible pH balance disrupts the restoration of the acid mantle, leaving our pet’s skin irritated and vulnerable for bacteria to invade.
