7 Best Shampoos For Alaskan Malamutes: Healthy & Safe Options Only!
When choosing a shampoo for Malamutes, it’s really important to use an appropriate shampoo that will gently cleanse without irritating or drying out the skin and coat.
There are so many shampoos on the market it’s hard to know which ones are good and which ones are actually good. This article will explain everything you need to know.
I will cover 7 of the top shampoos that are suitable for Malamutes and each will have its own explanation. I’ll explain a little bit about what’s bad and what’s good within dog shampoos, before ending with some valuable bathing tips.
What Is The Best Dog Shampoo For a Malamute? Our Top 7 Picks
4Legger Certified USDA Organic Natural Dog Shampoo
Best all round natural shampoo ✔️ Our Winner!
Our favorite shampoo has to be from 4Legger. This family-owned company has topped the charts with having arguably the best organic and all-natural dog shampoo on the market.
Their formula is made from 100% natural biodegradable ingredients with no detergent, parabens, sulfates, preservatives, or any nasty chemicals. What an excellent start.
Not only does their ingredient list have a clean sheet, but they’ve been completely USDA certified which means all of their shampoos meet human-grade food standards (not that you’re going to eat it) but that goes to show you what the quality of their ingredients are. Not many shampoo companies are able to pass USDA requirements. Pretty impressive.
Taking everything into account, this shampoo is incredibly gentle and perfect for sensitive skin. In fact, this shampoo is so mild that it’s even our No.1 recommended choice for puppies.
Wahl Natural Gentle Puppy Shampoo
Best for sensitive puppies ✔️
Our close second is from Wahl. The first thing you’re going to notice about this shampoo is how affordable it is. But that doesn’t mean it’s inferior… Oh no.
Wahl has created a concentrated, plant-derived formula that builds up a thick lather from a very small amount of shampoo. A thick lather will help to ensure a deep soothing clean for your puppy’s delicate skin.
This shampoo contains no harsh chemical, parabens, alcohol, and is completely PEG-8o free. This formula is made for puppies so it’s tear-free and incredibly mild. Despite being made for puppies, an adult Malamute can still use this shampoo too! The milder, the better.
Their formula is excellent for fixing dry skin issues due to the hydrating properties of aloe vera. The formula is Ph balanced to ensure a gentle clean, perfect for sensitive breeds, AKA Malamutes!
If you have more than multi-Malamute this will be an excellent option as it lasts such a long time!
Earthbath Oatmeal & Aloe Natural Dog Shampoo
Best for sensitive skin ✔️ Vet recommended
You’ve likely heard of Earthbath before as the brand has been around a while. Earthbath has maintained its position as one of the best shampoos for dogs due to its incredibly gentle chemical-free formula.
The well-tried formula is 100% biodegradable and doesn’t contain anything that isn’t natural. Exactly what we like to see!
You won’t find any unnecessary fragrance being added to this shampoo. While most essential oils are added for fragrance, having fewer overall ingredients always means less chance of irritation. Leaving out the fragrance is a good move that many other brands don’t often make.
Earthbath is a favorite amongst veterinarians and highly recommended for dogs and even puppies with dry skin, sensitive skin or that suffer from allergies.
Buddy’s Best Hypoallergenic Natural Dog Shampoo
Best hypoallergenic formula for gentle cleansing ✔️
Buddy’s Best has made a hypoallergenic formula that’s gentle enough for your senior Malamute, as well as your Malamute puppy.
A blend of Shea butter, aloe vera and oatmeal soothes and moisturizes your Malamute’s sensitive skin without irritation from harsh chemicals, alcohol, or soap.
The ingredients used are natural, vegan friendly, and result in a cruelty-free formula leaving your Malamute silky smooth without any tears in the process.
Buddy’s Best doesn’t cram their product with harsh preservatives, parabens, or anything unnatural and that’s extremely important to us, and for your Malamute.
If you’re particularly interested in a silky smooth Malamute, try Buddy’s Best.
Pet Pleasant Honeydew Natural Lavender Oatmeal Shampoo
Best for gentle, soothing & aromatic bathing ✔️
I’ve personally used this shampoo on adult Malamutes, Malamute puppies, and in fact many dogs, and not once did any of them have an issue with it.
This is down to the fact that the brand doesn’t include harsh chemicals, it’s paraben-free, soap-free, and the ingredients are natural.
It contains oatmeal and lavender essential oils that together soothe, moisturize, and deodorize your Malamute’s skin and coat.
This formula is incredibly gentle and is recommended by veterinarians as an ideal shampoo for puppies as well as senior dogs.
Something I particularly liked about this shampoo was the lavender. Lavender is known to have a real calming effect and I definitely noticed this. Admittedly there’s no way to measure how much this works, but I personally believed it helped every bathtime.
This shampoo is made in the USA and is 100% cruelty-free.
Buddy Wash Original Lavender & Mint
Best affordable easy rinse formula ✔️
The natural coconut-based formula from Buddy Wash is designed to create a rich lather that will clean and wash off with ease. Removing the suds completely is always a very important part of bathing yet some shampoos make it really difficult if the formula doesn’t rinse well. Buddy wash has you covered here.
The range of pure botanical ingredients means this isn’t just a shampoo, but it also acts as a conditioner too. Lavender, green tea, aloe vera, and chamomile, in particular, are great at soothing and nourishing the skin and coat.
The shampoo is made with natural ingredients and doesn’t contain any harsh chemicals, parabens, alcohol, or soap.
And buddy wash is remarkably affordable, with a much lower price tag than most other shampoos of such high quality.
Honeydew Natural Anti-Itch Dog Shampoo
Best for Malamute’s with itchy skin ✔️
Our final pick goes again to Pet Pleasant (Honeydew). If you’re not into lavender, then this is the next best option.
Their all-natural formula with colloidal oatmeal is specially made for dogs with dry itchy skin, or that suffer from allergies. This formula is designed to clean and renourish your Malamute’s skin and coat, without further irritation.
This shampoo is considered to be of medical strength to ensure a deep clean, but you can rest assured, it doesn’t contain any harsh chemicals, soap, parabens, alcohol and exceeds all GMP standards.
If your Malamute is suffering from itchy skin this should be one of your first choices.
Related: Best Leashes For a Alaskan Malamute
Important Things to Know When Choosing a Quality Dog Shampoo
As there are so many shampoos on the market, all with varying differences, it quickly becomes confusing as to what’s important, and what isn’t.
Let me run through exactly what you need to know when choosing your next Malamute shampoo. What to look out for, what’s good, and what to avoid!
What To Avoid
Unfortunately, there are many shampoos out there that put their efforts on selling to YOU, over creating a genuinely healthy, safe product for your pet.
These brands may appear to be fancy and they may have the best-looking bottles and they’ll often boast about their tropical fragrances. This is all to appeal to you, rather than help your furry friend.
It’s important to look past these exterior features, turn the bottle over, and check out the ingredients.
Stay clear of shampoos that contain:
- Chemicals
- Parabens
- Alcohol
- Unnatural Sulfates (what makes the shampoo soapy)
- Colorings
- Unnatural Preservatives
- Unnatural Fragrances
Why chemicals are bad
Chemicals in bad shampoos are added because of their cleansing abilities. The issue is that these harsh chemicals strip away the natural oils found on the surface of your Malamute’s coat and skin.
This has two major negative effects…
- It leaves the skin extremely dry and flaky, which leads to itchiness, sensitivity and it’s extremely uncomfortable for your Malamute.
- When a sudden loss of natural oil happens, the skin’s natural reaction is to produce a lot more oil. You can think of it as an emergency response. The problem with this is that too much oil is always produced. This makes the coat dirty and SMELLY very quickly again after bathing. I’m sure you’ve heard of this complaint from other dog owners before…this is why that happens.
Chemicals to watch out for
- Propylene glycol
- Sodium laureth sulfate (or any sulfates for that matter)
- Phthalates
- Parabens
- Methylparaben
- Formaldehyde
- Cocamidopropyl Betaine
- Isopropyl alcohol
- Isopropyl (SD-40)
What to look for in a healthy & safe shampoo
Now you know exactly what to avoid, let’s decode all of the positive aspects of top-quality dog shampoo.
Natural Ingredients
Natural ingredients are the best ingredients.There are so many amazing health benefits from naturally occurring plants that we just don’t need to use chemicals.Brands that care about the health of your Malamute know this and use only natural ingredients within their product.
Ingredients such as Aloe Vera, Coconut, Chamomile, and Mint have their own beneficial purposes from soothing, rehydrating, cleansing, calming, and not to mention the anti-inflammatory properties.
The other important point to mention about natural ingredients is their ability to clean without stripping the natural oils from your Malamute’s coat or skin. A frequent issue dog owners mention is how “they have only just bathed their Malamute” and he already smells again. This is typical of using a shampoo that contains chemicals.
Why Oatmeal?
For the longest time I had no idea why all these shampoos contain Oatmeal? What the deal with that?Prepare your mind to be blown.
For hundreds, if not thousands of years, Oatmeal was actually known for its skincare properties, over its use as a food.
What’s Colloidal Oatmeal? Colloidal oatmeal is simply whole oatmeal kernels that have been finely milled and ground up into a fine powder form. This is the oatmeal that’s used for skincare products.
What science has shown.
- It soothes and rehydrates skin
- It restores the skins natural PH balance
- It helps develop a natural lather
- It reduces inflammation on the skin
So as you can see, it’s practially a super ingredient with a plethora of healing properties. That’s exactly why it’s in MOST quality shampoos out there.
Concentrated Formulas
Formulas that labeled as concentrated will go a long way when only using a little bit.
The clear benefit of this is not having to use a huge amount of formula just to build up a decent lather.
Regular shampoos will likely have a harder time penetrating the Malamute’s thick double coat, whereas concentrated formulas will have the strength.
It’s not the end of the world if the shampoo you want isn’t concentrated, it just means you will have to use a little more each bath time to get a lather going.
Formulas Labelled Good for Puppies
When the shampoo is gentle and mild enough for it to be suitable for puppies, you’re off to a good start.
Most of the time, puppy-safe formulas automatically assumes there are no harsh chemicals or ingredients that will irritate the delicate skin or coat of a young puppy. Of course, always check the label.
If it’s for puppies, can my adult Malamute use it? Absolutely! it’s only the other way around where you have to be more cautious.
The unfortunate reality is that Malamutes are generally a sensitive breed so it’s important that we use gentle products. And puppy-friendly shampoos are an instant indication of a gentle product.
5 Tips on Bathing Your Malamute
Let’s run through some helpful pointers to help you make the most out of every bath time
Reach the skin
Yep, it seems obvious. But it’s easy to think you’re reaching the skin when in fact you aren’t.
The thick double coat of a Malamute makes it somewhat hard for shampoo to penetrate (concentrated or not). Therefore, it’s important you massage well, and use your fingers to reach down through the coat and ensure you contact the skin.
Use room temperature water
Water too warm or too cold will not be a pleasant experience for your Malamute and will create more resistance for the next time.
Room temperature water is preferred as warm or hot water will increase the chances of your Malamute’s skin drying out afterward. It could also cause them to become too cold, when suddenly out of the warm water.
Use peanut butter as a distraction
I saw an AWESOME clip on youtube demonstrating the powerful use of peanut butter. All you need to do is smear some on the side of your tub, tile wall, or any surface where the suds will not run, and you’ll have a stress free bathing session to look forward to.
Brush and check his coat before you start bathing
It’s a really good idea to check his coat for tangles, mating, and other debris before you start bathing.
Plus, it always helps to give your Malamute a brush before bathing. This will help to remove any excess dead hair before getting wet and clumpy. You can also give him a brush after he’s fully dried. The brush-bath-brush is a nice little combination that will help especially around shedding season.
Rinse, rinse, then rinse again
Everyone knows how important it is to rinse out the suds, but actually doing it is something different.
Excess suds left in the coat after bathing will contribute to skin irritation and a dirty Malamute, much quicker than you would like.
Just when you think you’ve rinsed out all the suds, do it another two times! You won’t regret it and your Malamute will thank you with extra shakes!
Summary
So there you have it! You have our top 7 picks for the best shampoo for Malamutes as well as some important information about what makes shampoos good, and bad.
If you have any recommendations, feel free to contact me and I’ll amend this post.
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