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Shampoo

Choosing the Best Shampoo
and Coat Products for a Pug

Pug dog and young child
pug dog and young child
Poppy, enjoying a cuddle, courtesy of Maria

Overview

With Pugs, it's important to choose the right coat products including shampoo, conditioner, and a leave-in coat spray. This is because this breed poses particular challenges including dry skin issues, sensitivities to additives, being prone to skin yeast infections, and having a dense coat that tends to hold in odors. 

And, if your Pug is experiencing any sort of skin or coat issue, part of the treatment process will undoubtedly include the use of specialty shampoos. 

This article covers:

Overview of Coat Products: Use and Frequency - A look at what should be used, the benefits of these, and how often to use them. 
Shampoo for Pugs - What shampoo is really meant to do, ingredients to steer clear of, recommended shampoos based on your Pug's needs, and shampooing tips. 
Wash-out Coat Conditioners - Why this should be used directly after shampooing and top recommendations. 
Leave-in Coat Sprays - The many benefits of using a daily spritz. 
Specialty Organic and Medicated Shampoos and Sprays  - Both organic all-natural and medicated products that can offer quick relief and effective treatment of common skin-related issues seen with Pugs. 

Overview of Coat Products: Use and Frequency

Shampoo
  • Needed to cleanse away accumulated body oils which can clog skin pores and lead to bad odors
  • Additionally helps free loose hairs
  • Can help keep skin healthy and properly moisturized
  • Can help treat common problems such as dry skin, itching, rashes, and yeast skin infections
  • Used once every 3 weeks unless a Pug has an issue that requires more frequent bathing
Conditioner
  • Needed to smooth down hair cuticles after shampooing
  • Offers a base of protection against external elements
  • Used in conjunction with shampoo, every 3 weeks or more often if an issue requires more frequent bathing
Leave-in coat spray
  • Offers daily protection from a wide range of elements
  • Used every 1 to 3 days.
Next, we'll dive into the details of each of these to ensure that your Pug receives the most benefits possible.

Shampoo for Pugs

What shampoo should do for a Pug: 
  • Remove accumulated body oil. Around-the-clock, a dog's body is producing natural oils that are secreted through the hair follicles. These serve a practical purpose of naturally protecting and moisturizing the skin. But, these do not evaporate; rather, they accumulate. When these build-up, they block skin pores, interfere with normal air flow, and can cause an unpleasant odor
One of the goals when shampooing a Pug is to cleanse away these oils in a healthy way. The wrong type of shampoo can either be too harsh, stripping oils so severely that a dog's skin is left raw or irritated or, opposite to that, is not effective enough and simply skims over the oils. 
  • Promote good skin and fur health. Pugs tend to have sensitive skin, so shampooing is an opportunity to soak your Pug in ingredients that correct any dryness by improving moisture levels, restore health and elasticity, help protect the skin going forward, and work to resolve issues like itching, rashes, hot spots, and other common skin problems. 
  • Help free loose hairs. The Pug is a high-shedding breed with lots of short hairs either right at the fall stage or trapped in the dense coat. The brushing you do before baths and the shampooing process can help fully loosen and remove these hairs. 
What to avoid:
Knowing what is best to use on a Pug involves knowing what to stay away from. This includes:
  • Soaping agents. It's easy to assume that some sort of soap should be used when bathing a Pug, but canines can have adverse skin reactions to soaping agents. Instead, plant-based cleansers should be used. 
  • Additives including synthetic preservatives, sulfates, parabens, phthalates, polyethylene glycol, and artificial perfumes or dyes which can cause allergic reactions or irritation, and some are linked to health issues including organ damage and some cancers, with long term use. 
  • A pH balance under 6.5 or over 7.5. 
The best shampoos for Pugs: 
It takes a lot for a shampoo to be considered a great choice to use on a Pug. It must be effective enough to reach and remove excess body oils from deep beneath this breed's dense coat but at the same time be gentle on the skin. It must be all-natural, have plant-based cleansers, have the right pH balance, and have organic restorative ingredients. 

These are our top 4 choices (excluding medicated shampoos, which are covered next):

1. Earthbath Oatmeal & Aloe Shampoo. This is an awesome choice that's an ideal 'basic' shampoo for Pugs. This 100% all-natural formula with coconut-based cleansers also contains almond oil and vanilla and together these four ingredients are very effective to keep skin super-healthy and prevent dry skin and irritations. It can also treat existing itchiness or minor rashes. 
2. Earthbath Mediterranean Magic Shampoo.  This is 100% all-natural as well with effective plant-based (coconut) cleansers and is perfect for Pugs that tend to hold in bad odors. This contains rosemary oil which is a wonderful natural deodorizer and aloe vera which promotes good skin health. 
3. Earthbath Eucalyptus and Peppermint Shampoo. For Pugs that are trying to rebound from allergies, hot spots, skin irritations, or bug bites, this fantastic blend quickly soothes and offers cooling relief. It has the same coconut cleansers as the other formulas and also is 100% all-natural. 
4. For times of heavy shedding (often in the late autumn and early spring), Furminator deShedding Ultra Premium Shampoo can be a great help. This is designed to release dead hairs from the coat in breeds like the Pug that have thick fur. This is applied, left on for 10 minutes, and then washed out. Since this works so well, this should not be used more than once a month. 
Shampooing tips:
Once you've chosen a great shampoo for your Pug, you'll want to be sure to follow a few guidelines for optimal results: 

1. Before you shampoo your Pug, go over the coat to remove dead hairs. While a slicker brush can work okay, an awesome alternative is the Pet Grooming Gloves by Pat Your Pet; there's nothing to hold and the rubber tips are incredible at snagging onto dead hairs from even the thickest of coats, allowing you to de-shed your Pug must faster than with a brush. 

2. Since Pugs have such dense coats, be sure to thoroughly soak the coat down to the skin before applying any shampoo. This is best accomplished by using a spray nozzle. 

3. Be generous with the shampoo, you do not want the beneficial ingredients to be spread too thin. 
4. Young Pug puppies and black-coated Pugs (with a single layer of fur) may be able to be scrubbed by hand, however with adult non-black Pugs (that usually have a double-coat), a bath brush will help you massage the shampoo down to skin level. 

5. Massage the shampoo in for 3 to 5 minutes. If your Pug has any sort of skin or coat issues, you can massage for up to 10 minutes to allow nourishing ingredients to soak in. 

6. Once you rinse out the shampoo, always follow with a condition; this is covered next. 

Wash-Out Coat Conditioners 

What conditioner should do for a Pug:

Shampoo and conditioner are meant to work together; stopping with the shampoo can be a mistake that can lead to unhealthy fur and poor coat texture. 

During the bathing process, hair cuticles (the outer layer of the hairs) open up. This is great for when you're washing your Pug. But, if they are left in this state, the fur will be very vulnerable to external elements such as cold air or dry air in the winter, and contact friction all year-round. The fur can become overly dry, feel like straw, develop split ends, and lose its shine. 

A conditioner is designed to smooth the hair cuticles back down to their 'closed' position, thus resetting the protective shield of the hairs. In addition to this, once the real cleansing work is done, via the shampoo, the conditioner is your opportunity to slather the coat once final time with moisturizing and restorative ingredients. This will help carry your Pug over until the next bath. 
The best wash-out coat conditioner for Pugs: 

Our top recommendations is Earthbath Oatmeal and Aloe Conditioner. This works excellent when paired with any of Earthbath's shampoo formulas (see the previous section of 'Shampoo for Pugs'). The oatmeal, aloe, and additional vanilla and almond are a perfect blend for this breed's sensitive skin. 
pug-dog-posing
pug-dog-posing
Ky Ky, at 2 years old, photo courtesy of Tim Van Allen

Leave-in Coat Sprays

Advantages of a leave-in spray:

This is a spray that is misted onto a dog's coat and is not washed out.  This is often used alongside brushing and is meant to be applied as often as every day but can be done randomly as needed. Though this sort of product can work as a detangler, something Pugs do not need, but these can have lots of other benefits. 

Let's look at what a good leave-in will do:
  1. Offer round-the clock protection from environmental and weather related elements including UV exposure in the summer and dry arid air in the winter. 
  2. Protect fur from contact friction. 
  3. Help repel tiny debris, dirt, urine, allergens, and irritants. 
  4. Lock in moisture for a healthy shine.
  5. Keep a Pug smelling nice and clean. 
So, as you can see, spritzing your Pug can be a helpful part of overall grooming and upkeep. 
Recommendations:

There are a couple of great choices.

1. Nootie Daily Spritz Conditioning Spray. This is a line of sprays that work great to repel elements and keep the coat shiny and healthy, but also smell out-of-this world. Options include coconut lime, Japanese cherry blossom, cucumber melon, and warm vanilla cookie. 
2. Aromatherapy Freshening & Shining Spray for Pets. If your Pug needs some help staying chill, this is a clever blend of both a coat spray and aromatherapy via the use of lavender and chamomile. While it is not a miracle cure, some owners use this for separation anxiety issues alongside implementing other strategies. 
Coat spray tips:

1. Don't go overboard and drench the coat. This is not meant to be washed out and you may be using this as often as every day, so just a light mist is all that is needed. 

2. Lightly spray the entire body including the underbelly (to help repel urine that may splash back onto your Pug) and the top of the paws and the legs (to help repel outdoor irritants including pollen and lawn care products). 

Specialty Organic and Medicated Shampoos and Sprays

It should first be noted that if your Pug is suffering from an unknown skin condition or ailment, it is best to have the veterinarian examine your puppy or dog to diagnose the exact problem. While some specialty shampoos do cover more than one issue, you don't want to be treating your Pug for mites when it is actually a yeast issue and vice-versa. Also, some conditions may require prescribed medicated shampoo.

This said, there are some very effective shampoos that can resolve a host of issues seen with the Pug breed. 
Common issues seen with Pugs that may respond well to a specialty shampoo: 
  • Allergies. This includes itching, hot spots, and rashes. Fur may be affected as well, turning brittle or even developing thinning or bald spots. There can be other symptoms such as runny nose, coughing, wheezing, and/or watery eyes. It will be important to have the triggers identified and take steps to eliminate or reduce them. But, in the meantime, there are some shampoos and sprays that can offer immediate relief. 
  • Overly dry skin. This is most commonly seen in the wintertime and into the early spring. 
  • Irritated skin. This can be caused by a wide range of elements including contact irritations such as lawn care chemicals and abrasive surfaces but also includes insect bites and overexposure to UV rays. 
  • Skin yeast infection. A telltale sign is a strong musty odor and may include skin lesions or discolored skin.
  • Mites and other parasitic skin infections. 
Recommendations:
Specialty: Organic shampoo

Fully lathering your Pug in a healing shampoo is an effective method to offer full-body relief and is a good way to set things back on track. For an all-natural allergy shampoo, and one that works fantastic for itching, unknown irritations, yeast, and bacterial skin infections, Moosh Bentonite Clay Shampoo is excellent. 

This has bentonite clay which pulls away all types of irritants and toxins out from the skin. It also has neem oil, argan oil, shea butter, and aloe vera which all help restore proper skin moisture and promote healing. This is 100% all natural and organic with no sulfates, chemicals, or preservatives. 

This can be used 1 to 2 times per week. Once this is massaged into the coat, allow it to stay for 10 minutes before rinsing with lukewarm water and following with a quality coat conditioner. 
Specialty: Organic spray 

While the previously mentioned shampoo treats a Pug's whole body, it is only used a couple of times a week, so a spray can be very beneficial for targeting the most troubling areas on a Pug and providing immediate round-the-clock relief. If you want to stay with something all-natural, Bodhi Dog's Anti-Itch Spray is a good choice. This has both baking soda and oatmeal which are two of the most effective organic anti-itch and anti-inflammatory ingredients possible and this also works well for hot spots and other irritations. 
Medicated: Shampoo: Skin yeast, fungi, or bacterial infections

If a Pug has a severe or chronic skin infection, a medicated shampoo may be needed. It is important to have this sort of issue diagnosed by the veterinarian, because you do not want to use topical anti-fungal or anti-bacterial ingredients if something else, like skin allergies, is the real problem. 
With this in mind, two of the most effective ingredients for yeast are chlorhexidine and ketoconazole. This combination can also help clear up skin bacterial infections and even ringworm. 
A shampoo that has both of these ingredients, as well as aloe vera which can help sooth skin irritations, is Curaseb Antifungal & Antibacterial Shampoo. This is used every other day for the first week and then twice a week for the next two weeks and should be left on for 10 minutes after being massaged in. Be sure to follow with a quality conditioner. 
Always have the latest Pug info:

Become a free PetPugDog member to start receiving newsletters that let you know about new articles and important updates. You can also suggest a topic for us to write about; we always look to member suggestions. 
You may also like: 
Pug Dog Care Tips - A great round-up of all the things you can do to keep your Pug happy, comfortable, and healthy. 
Pug Dog Feeding Guidelines - This covers everything you need to know about feeding your Pug and keeping your guy or gal on a healthy meal and snack plan. 
Pug Dog Exercise - Is your Pug active enough? Or maybe overexerting themselves? See the guidelines for this breed and tips to keep exercise fun and safe. 
Pug Dog Dental Care - Toy breeds and brachycephalic breeds are both prone to tooth decay, so this means that Pugs really need attention given to their teeth. See what you can do from home to keep plaque and tartar at bay. 
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