Great Dane Shampoo: 8 Best Dog Shampoos For Great Danes

You’re taking a walk down the shampoo aisle, and you see all these incredibly delicious smelling shampoos. Cranberry milk chocolate, acai, and vanilla bean, and lemon midnight moon; while these might sound great for humans, they can be quite harmful to our favorite pets.

Bathing a Great Dane is a lot like you would expect, getting your Dane into the tub and rinsing him down well but you want to make sure you’re applying the right shampoo. Danes skin is sensitive and is prone to drying out especially during warm weather, so you always want to make sure you’re using a moisturizing shampoo that helps keep their skin smooth and comfortable.

In this article we’re taking a look at the best dog shampoo for Great Danes, continue reading below for more.

Things to Consider when Shopping for a Top-Rated Great Dane Shampoo

Shopping for a high-quality shampoo for your Great Dane should be a priority on your list of grooming tasks even though Danes are somewhat odor-free and easy to manage. Your Danes skin is sensitive, and their coat quickly becomes patchy if they are irritated or infected.

Great Danes do a lot of their grooming, and if they suffer from an allergy, they may over-groom a specific area on their body. We call these areas hotspots because they become so moist from grooming that they cause an infection.

There are a few ingredients you need to keep your Danes skin healthy and free of infections. Here are some things to pay attention to when you’re shopping around.

• Hypoallergenic – Whether your Great Dane has allergies or not you want to get a shampoo that is hypoallergenic, so you do not flare up any allergies you didn’t know about. These shampoos typically have the best all-natural ingredients and are free of artificial dyes and fragrances as well.
• Anti-Itch – It might sound obvious but not ever shampoo is designed to prevent your dog from itching. Some shampoos that contain soap and artificial ingredients make your dog itch worse, so you want to find a shampoo that helps moisturize your Danes skin, and that will stop them from wanting to itch.
• Antimicrobial – A great way to combat hot spots and other moisture-related infections is to kill the bacteria with an antimicrobial shampoo. Your Dane does not typically need to get bathed more than a few times a year because they are almost odor-free, but if you notice her scratching and biting a lot at a specific area, you might want to try a bath with an antimicrobial shampoo.
• Paraben-Free – We see the phrase “paraben free” all the time in our shampoo, but most people don’t know what that means. Parabens are synthetic preservatives designed to keep mold and fungus from growing, but some scientific facts explain how bad parabens are for our pets.

Studies are showing that parabens are a direct link to cancer, abnormal hormone levels, and skin irritation in dogs.

The 5 Best Dog Shampoos for Great Danes

Now that you understand what to look for, here’s five of our picks for the best dog shampoos for Great Danes.

Our 2023 Picks: Best Great Dane Shampoo:
Rank	Shampoo	Price	Rating
Overall Best	Zesty Paws Oatmeal Anti-Itch Dog Shampoo With Aloe Vera Buy Online Customer Reviews	$$	A+
#2	Buddy Wash Original Lavender And Mint Dog Shampoo Buy Online Customer Reviews	$	A+
#3	Earthbath Oatmeal And Aloe Dog Shampoo Buy Online Customer Reviews	$	A+
#4	Veterinary Formula Clinical Care Antiseptic And Antifungal Shampoo Buy Online Customer Reviews	$$	A
#5	TropiClean Hypoallergenic Gentle Coconut Puppy Shampoo Buy Online Customer Reviews	$	A-
#6	HyLyt Hypoallergenic Shampoo With Essential Fatty Acids Buy Online Customer Reviews	$$	A
#7	MiconaHex + Triz Shampoo For Dogs Buy Online Customer Reviews	$$$	A
#8	Douxo Chlorhexidine PS Dog Shampoo Buy Online Customer Reviews	$$$	A-

Zesty Paws Oatmeal Anti-Itch Dog Shampoo with Aloe Vera

Best Overall – This shampoo contains soothing oatmeal and aloe vera to help your itchy pup’s skin. If your Great Dane has a habit of over grooming certain areas of their body, a gentle wash with this shampoo will relieve them of any allergens they might have on the surface of their skin.

One of the main ingredients, aloe vera, is antifungal and antibacterial so it will also heal and prevent infection if your dog has hotspots.

Lastly, since your Great Dane does not typically have a strong odor you don’t need a lot of artificial fragrances; this shampoo uses sweet almond extract and vanilla to neutralize any odors leaving your Dane smelling amazing.

Pros:

• Anti-itch formula
• Antimicrobial
• Contains many vitamins and minerals
• Works for dogs of all ages

Cons:

• Dangerous if consumed
• Contains dyes

Buddy Wash Original Lavender and Mint Dog Shampoo

Best Deodorizer – This two-in-one shampoo and conditioner are soap free, but it still creates a nice lather on your dog to leave them smelling fantastic. When you’re washing your Dane, it’s important that the shampoo lathers up well, otherwise you’ll be scrubbing your dog down all day and using a lot of shampoo with every bath.

The shampoo contains an alcohol-free coconut liquid blended with botanical extracts like sage, aloe, rosemary, and chamomile. The smell of the shampoo is amazing, and all the ingredients are natural and reliably sourced.

Pros:

• All natural
• Soap and alcohol-free
• Great deodorizer
• Affordable

Cons:

• Not antimicrobial
• The smell doesn’t last that long

Earthbath Oatmeal and Aloe Dog Shampoo

Best Affordable – Let’s face it; you’re bathing a huge dog so the price of dog shampoo might be an important deciding factor. Luckily, you do not need to settle for a shampoo that is full of dyes and ingredients that will harm your pup; you can still get this all-natural soap-free shampoo for the same price as all the other guys.

Something we love about this shampoo is it’s specifically made to treat dry, itchy skin which is something your Dane is prone to especially during hot weather. If you find your pup scratching in specific areas a lot, it could mean he got into something that’s making him itchy so a wash with an anti-itch shampoo should do the trick. Moisturize your Danes skin and leave him smelling amazing for days after.

Pros:

• Anti-itch formula
• Soap-free shampoo
• All natural ingredients
• 100% paraben free

Cons:

• Dangerous if ingested
• Only helps dry, itchy skin

Veterinary Formula Clinical Care Antiseptic and Antifungal Shampoo

Best Antiseptic – What type of shampoo should you use to relieve skin infections like dermatitis and pyoderma? You need a special formula that focuses specifically on helping dogs with hotspots and bacteria based infections; regular deodorizing shampoo will not cut it.

This Veterinary Formula shampoo relieves fungal and bacterial infections while soothing and healing the affected areas with aloe vera. The manufacturer recommends shampooing your pup twice a week until their skin improves. After that, you can use the shampoo once a month to prevent problems from arising.

We were a bit disappointed to find out this shampoo contains both artificial fragrances and dyes so there is always a chance that it may irritate your pup more than it helps.

Pros:

• Clinical formula
• Antiseptic and Antifungal
• Relieves specific skin issues
• Soothes skin back to health

Cons:

• Contains fragrances and dyes
• Requires frequent bathing to alleviate skin issues

TropiClean Hypoallergenic Gentle Coconut Puppy Shampoo

Best for Puppies – If you’ve ever bathed a Great Dane puppy you know, they are pretty easy going about water and they do not typically give a hard time with baths. Give them the best by providing an all natural and gentle puppy shampoo that will not irritate their skin or dry them out.

It’s important to be careful about what you expose your pup to during the puppy stage because their allergies and skin are extremely sensitive. The gentle coconut and limited ingredients in this shampoo cleanse their coat and prevent their skin from becoming itchy and cracked.

Pros:

• Great for puppies
• All natural ingredients
• Gentle and mild
• Sweet smelling

Cons:

• Difficult to lather up
• Issues with shipping

Best Alternatives for Great Dane Shampoo

There are so many options for excellent Great Dane shampoo that everyone is likely to find something they love. If the five options above don’t appeal to you, check out three more that we’re sure you’ll find useful.

HyLyt Hypoallergenic Shampoo with Essential Fatty Acids

This dog shampoo contains a list of ingredients that are hypoallergenic, soap-free, and moisturizing, so your pup has the perfect pH level. It contains essential fatty acids that enrich your dog’s skin and help stop it from flaking and cracking. The gentle formula works well alongside topical flea and tick medications so you can continue treating your pup normally.

MiconaHex + Triz Shampoo for Dogs

Here we have another antimicrobial shampoo that helps treat dogs who suffer from hotspots and other bacterial infections. It’s a medical shampoo to help treat Great Danes who may over-groom specific areas of their skin; so, you can use this shampoo to help restore dry, damaged skin and fight dandruff.

Douxo Chlorhexidine PS Dog Shampoo

Here we have an antiseptic shampoo containing specific moisturizing ingredients like chlorhexidine, climbazole, and phytosphingosine. All of these ingredients moisturize dry skin and help control bacterial and fungal infections.

Something we like about this shampoo is that it’s designed to create a barrier on your Danes skin, so the health effects last for weeks after the bath.

5 Tips for Bathing a Great Dane

Great Danes are a unique breed because they’re pretty low maintenance, but they still require attention to make sure they have a healthy coat and skin. Here are a few tips to help you next time you bathe your Dane.

1. The most important thing to remember about bathing your Great Dane is moderation, we’ve said it a few times already, but you don’t need to bathe this breed more than once every 60 days, and it could be even less if your Dane swims or doesn’t get dirty much. A gentle wipe down with a damp washcloth should usually do the trick.
2. While your dog’s body might not require a lot of washing, some Danes drool and slobber, so a daily wiping off their face and jowls is necessary to prevent infection around the folds of their face.
3. You also want to pay attention to your Danes eyes; if their eyes have excess mucus buildup, they could get crusty and irritate the eyes. We’ve noticed that this breed tends to have an eye discharge if they are outside in the wind or riding in a car with their head out the window; If the mucus is colored or crusty contact a vet.
4. Your Danes ears can also get infected, so you want to use an all-natural ear cleaner at least once a week. You can use this to clean in and around the ears, and you’ll be surprised how happy this makes your pup.
5. Before bathing your Dane, you want to give him or her a good brushing or even better use a blow dryer to blow off all the extra fur. Otherwise, you’ll be dealing with a tub and drain full of fur.

FAQ

Q: Do Great Danes enjoy bath time?

A: This breed typically enjoys all water activities, but they have a strong memory association so if they have a bad bathing experience, they will tuck their tail between their legs and fight you telling them to get in the tub.

Q: How can I get my Dane to stop scratching?

A: There are a few different answers to this; first you can try bathing them with an anti-itch shampoo. Second, you might be bathing your Dane too much which is causing their skin to dry out; reduce baths to once every other month and see if that helps. Lastly, your pup might have some form of infection which could merit a trip to the vet.

Q: What do I do when my Great Dane doesn’t take a bath?

A: We always believe that making things fun is the best answer. If the weather is warm, try giving your Dane an outdoor bath by lathering him up and using a hose; if you have to stay indoors for the bath the only choice you have is patience. He’ll come around eventually with the right positive reinforcement, and you can always offer treats and other rewards.