Dog shampoo for dogs who love to roll in horrible things

September 14, 2020 1:44 PM

My dogs like to roll in stinky, terrible, horrifying things ranging from elk poop to long dead sea lion. The shampoo we are using is completely inadequate against this kind of stink. Have you found something that works? Must be tea tree oil free as I am allergic.

Dog tax! We used to use Burt's Bees deodorizing shampoo and it worked pretty well but I can't find it anymore. I would prefer natural over full on chemical assault but on the other hand, if you have never smelled dead sea lion I would recommend you keep it that way, so, maybe bring on the chemicals.

posted by mygothlaundry to Pets & Animals (9 answers total)

I carry a couple of towels and a big thing of hand sanitizer in the car for emergency stinkdog incidents. Rub the sanitizer into the fur, wipe with towel, repeat until you can stand to get them in the car. Then when I get to a tub, I find that Buddy Wash works pretty well for cleaning and deodorizing.
posted by The otter lady at 2:09 PM on September 14, 2020 [1 favorite]

Best answer: Are you averse to shopping on Am*zon for the Burt's Bees product? If not, it is available.

Thanks for the dog pic!
posted by Hey, Zeus! at 2:12 PM on September 14, 2020

Best answer: Our dog loves rolling in racccon feces (omg the stiiiinnnnkk), and Wahl Waterless No-Rinse Shampoo works surprisingly well in our situation. We hit him with a few rounds of the stuff and that's good enough until we can get the doofus to a bath.
posted by JoeZydeco at 2:54 PM on September 14, 2020

My small dogs are pretty limited in what they can roll in, but have experimented with cat poop and compost pile. I got some samples of this TrueBlue Natural Balance Conditioning Shampoo from our local feed store, and was impressed enough to order a bottle.

It's a little perfumery but that fades in a day or two, and it really helps cut down on the everyday stink of our terrier mix pup.
posted by See you tomorrow, saguaro at 3:10 PM on September 14, 2020

This Oatmeal Pet Wash is all natural and smells great, works well on my average smelly dog.
posted by dianeF at 3:19 PM on September 14, 2020

Adding vinegar to the wash - a cup or so in a five gallon bucket full of water and non-detergent liquid soap - is something my dog groomer family did. (Obviously, you'll want to keep it out of their eyes.)
posted by eotvos at 8:11 PM on September 14, 2020

To be clear, regarding my comment above, I don't actually know that vinegar works or is good for dog skin. I only know that it's a thing people do and it causes no obvious harm.
posted by eotvos at 8:31 PM on September 14, 2020

Best answer: We use this one and are happy with it. Great for getting out all sorts of sticky mystery animal poops and other gunk! https://dogslovehownd.com/product/yup-you-stink-conditioning-shampoo-250ml/?v=79cba1185463

Don’t believe it has any tea tree oil.
posted by stillmoving at 5:32 AM on September 15, 2020

I don't know if it works for smelly things per say, but on the germs and yeasts left behind from those smellies: Zymox shampoo.
I used to use Malaseb shampoo for the same reason but IDK if it got discontinued since it's hard to find now.
posted by Neekee at 3:36 PM on September 15, 2020