Baking Soda and Ordenone: Work together to deodorize and freshen the coat.

• Vegetable Protein Extract & Hydrolyzed Soy Protein: Help build body and elasticity and leave the coat looking fuller and luscious.

Fruit Fantasy Fragrance

All Pet Head™ formulas are pH adjusted and free of Paraben, sulfate, DEA and are cruelty free.

Our recommendation for only washing dogs every month or so comes from the Vet of one of the The Beauty Brains’ dogs. So that’s not our personal opinion.

We also agree that pets have different cleansing needs than humans. Your comments about baby shampoos not cleansing well enough for “dirty dogs” are very accurate!

As far as alpha olefin sulfonates are concerned, based on the data we’ve seen they’re not as mild as the amphoteric surfactants used in baby shampoos but they are better degreasers. So you may very well be right about them being a good alternative to sulfates.

And bravo for mentioning that conditioning formulas are important for dogs too! As we pointed out in our original post, we’re not experts in pet products, but we agree conditioning agents are an important part of any shampoo.

First I disagree that dogs should be bathed only once a month. This may have been true with our older generation of products, but with today’s better formulations, there is little risk in more frequent bathing. Show dogs and pampered pets are often shampooed nearly as often as human counterparts. Dogs with environmental allergies do better with frequent bathing to remove allergens.

The downside of many of the more “natural”, sulfate-free, gentle shampoos for pets is that the formulas are imitating human baby products, but do not take into account the most significant difference in the task of cleaning a dirty dog and cleaning a human child: dogs are way more dirty. This is especially true if they go a month or more between baths. Using these mild formulations on dirty dogs is like washing hubby’s work clothes in a hand wash for silks. It doesn’t get out all the dirt and excess oils. That’s the main reason you see a little SLES thrown in the mix. It gets the canine clean.

Alpha Olefin Sulfonate in my view is the only non-sulfate detergent that has the cleaning power necessary to clean a really dirty dog, and it’s not exactly “mild”. And I’m surprised at Beauty Brains: You know better than to judge a formula by its primary surfactant. Your readers should be looking at the whole ingredient package, including conditioning agents, and emollients.

There is no one “best pet shampoo”, as dog hair and skin vary considerably. In some cases, you want softness, in others, you want a crisp coat. If you are using silicone-based detanglers, you might want a clarifying shampoo, while a dry skin calls for a moisturizing formula. These nuances in products will not be found by looking simply for something that is gentle and sulfate-free.

No sulfate fear here.
Barbara Bird, CMG, pet grooming educator, and pet owner.