6 Best Dog Shampoos & Conditioners For Boxers in 2024
Quick Guide
The Boxer is one of the most patient, loving, and generally agreeable breeds on the planet. They’re famous for being an incredibly low maintenance breed, but they do suffer from skin issues which need to be managed with one of the best shampoos for Boxers on the market.
With that in mind, today we’re going to give you a super detailed guide into the world of grooming and bathing a Boxer. We’ll be sharing several hints and tips that’ll make your routine quicker and easier, and we’ll be commenting on some frequently asked questions that we receive from our readers.
We’re also going to be talking about shampoos and conditioners today. We’ll look at the kinds of issues that Boxers suffer from, and we’ll discuss the kinds of properties you should be looking out for in a good Boxer shampoo to manage them properly.
Finally, we’ll put all the knowledge we’re about to share with you to good use in our Boxer shampoo review section. We’ve looked at countless products and found 6 that we think are perfect for the needs of the breed.
Let’s get started.
What is the Best Dog Shampoo and Conditioner for Boxers?
- Buddy Wash Relaxing Green Tea & Bergamot Dog Shampoo – Best Overall & Most Popular
- 4Legger Organic, Hypo-Allergenic, Lemongrass & Aloe
- Natures Miracle Supreme Odor Control Natural Puppy Shampoo
- Earthbath Shed Control Green Tea & Awapuhi Dog & Cat Shampoo
- Burt’s Bees Oatmeal Shampoo with Colloidal Oat Flour & Honey for Dogs
- Douxo Chlorhexidine PS Dog & Cat Shampoo
Popular Types Of Boxer Shampoos
Let’s dive right into this article by looking at the kinds of skin and coat issues that Boxers face (and the kinds of properties a good shampoo for Boxers should have).
Skin Care Shampoos
From the outside, the Boxer looks like one of the strongest most durable and hardy breeds in the world. Their huge proud stature and brave demeanor make them look almost invincible (while remaining adorable at the same time).
However, Boxers are well known to suffer from a wide range of skin conditions that other breeds would easily shrug off. Identifying and diagnosing these conditions (and telling you how to avoid them) is a topic for another day – however, it’s possible to mitigate them with a good shampoo.
Skincare shampoos are reasonably easy to come across. The Boxer is not the only dog in the world to suffer from these conditions, and as such, a large number of products have been created with infusions designed to soothe and protect the delicate skin of a canine.
There are several effective compounds and infusions that can be used in skin care shampoos, but the most popular is good old aloe vera. It works just as well on dogs as it does on us humans, and providing you’ve picked a high-quality product – it’s going to leave you with a happier, healthier pooch.
However, you need to be careful when shopping around for skincare shampoos.
Low-quality brands understand that consumers want some kind of skin care properties in the products that they use – so they add a super tiny amount of aloe vera in the formula. This allows them to market the product as a skin care shampoo and slap a huge “ALOE VERA!” badge on the bottle – when in reality the quantity inside the product is almost negligible.
Ensure you do your research before picking a skin care shampoo. Look into the brand and their reputation, look at real customer reviews, and try and find out the amount of skin care compounds inside the bottle.
This is hard, long, and quite frankly boring work. Trust us, we’ve done it for you already in the review section below. All of the products we’re listing there have a more than an acceptable amount of aloe vera (or other skin care compounds) in their formula, and they’re all reputable brands that you can trust.
Shedding Control
Because the Boxer is a short haired low maintenance breed, many people incorrectly assume that they’re a low shedding dog too. Unfortunately for us, that’s not the case, and the Boxer is one of the worst short-haired breeds in the world in the shedding department.
One of the best things you can do to minimize the amount of hair your dog sheds is to use a dedicated anti shedding shampoo. These products have compounds in their conditioners that are specifically designed to strengthen the hairs on your dog’s body to help them stay attached to your pooch instead of being scattered around your home.
It’s important for us to point out here that these products aren’t going to stop your dog from shedding. However, the difference that they make is noticeable, and when combined with a proper grooming routine (which we will discuss in just a moment) they will drastically reduce the amount of household cleaning you need to do.
Again, the quality of these anti shedding products varies massively. It’s another huge issue that dog owners need to deal with, and due to this, low-quality brands that claim to help fight against shedding (despite their products doing next to nothing in real world terms) are common.
3 Tips On Maintaining The Perfect Boxer Coat
So now we know a bit about the 2 main things that you need to take into account when picking the perfect Boxer shampoo. In this part of the article, we’re going to talk a bit about grooming tips that’ll help you keep your pooch in great condition.
Groom Weekly
The short hair of the Boxer doesn’t really matt or tangle like some other breeds. However, despite this they still need a regular grooming schedule due to the amount of shedding the breed is known to suffer from.
To be totally honest, most Boxer owners groom once or twice a month and simply deal with the additional hair around their home. However, this isn’t ideal. Weekly grooming sessions are much better for your pooch, and despite them seeming like a waste of time – they’re actually time savers.
The amount of time you spend grooming your pooch on a regular basis is nothing compared to the additional amount of time you’re going to have to spend cleaning the hair that’s scattered around your home from less frequent grooming schedules.
Inspect For Skin Issues
As we’ve mentioned already, Boxers, unfortunately, suffer from a wide range of skin issues. Some of these skin issues can start off reasonably small at first, but over time, they’ll grow into more serious problems that can be painful and require a trip to the vet.
When you groom your pooch, give them a quick skin inspection at the same time. If you catch skin issues early they are almost always easier to treat, and you’ll be saving your pooch from a whole heap of discomfort by making an early diagnosis.
Overall Best Shampoo for Boxers
| Our 2024 Picks: Best Shampoo for Boxers | |||
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Buddy Wash Relaxing Green Tea & Bergamot Dog Shampoo
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4Legger Organic, Hypo-Allergenic, Lemongrass & Aloe
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Nature’s Miracle Supreme Odor Control Natural Shampoo
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Earthbath Shed Control Green Tea & Awapuhi
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Burt’s Bees Oatmeal Shampoo With Colloidal Oat Flour
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Douxo Chlorhexidine PS Dog & Cat Shampoo
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Buddy Wash Relaxing Green Tea & Bergamot Dog Shampoo & Conditioner
So now we know a bit about the grooming requirements of the breed, and we know about the kinds of qualities we should be looking out for in a good shampoo for Boxers. It’s time for us to put all that new information to good use and get stuck into the product recommendation section of this article.
We’ve conducted a huge amount of research to bring you these recommendations. These are our impartial product suggestions that we would happily use on our own dogs. We’re not just recommending them to earn a commission, and we’re not biased towards any particular brand either.
We’re going to talk about some runners up later in this article, but in our opinion, we think that the Relaxing Green Tea & Bergamot Dog Shampoo & Conditioner by Buddy Wash is the best shampoo for Boxers on the market right now.
Buddy Wash is an awesome brand that has an excellent reputation with consumers and industry professionals alike. They’re known for making products with excellent performance that are sold at a very reasonable price point.
We love the fact that this is an all-natural shampoo (like most of Buddy Wash’s products) that doesn’t use harsh soap or alcohol in the formula to provide its deodorizing benefits. Instead, it uses a blend of coconut extracts and other essential oils to remove dust, dirt, and debris while destroying the smelly bacteria that currently call your dog home. It’s a high-quality formula, which generates a thick luxurious lather (which is something cheaper non-soap based products struggle with) and you’ll easily be able to get full coverage without breaking a sweat.
This is a 2 in 1 shampoo and conditioner, and like the shampoo – the product has a high-quality conditioner that uses cosmetic grade natural ingredients. There’s a wide range of essential oils, vitamins, and minerals here (like sage, rosemary, and bergamot) that work hand in hand with one another to nourish and protect your dog’s skin. This conditioner will reduce shedding (to a certain extent) and it’ll leave your pooch with a glossy coat that looks better than you ever thought possible.
The most important thing with any conditioner that you’re going to use on a Boxer is skin care. This product has a massive dose of aloe vera and green tea extracts that promote healthy skin and aid in the recovery of any issues that may already be present. It’s one of the better all-rounder products on the market in terms of skincare – which is one of the main reasons it has made our overall recommendation today.
There are also several scented infusions in this product that are designed to soothe your pooch throughout the bathing session. The combination of mint and lavender create a relaxing sensation through aromatherapy that should improve the mood of even the most unhappy pooch during bath time.
Note: These aromatherapy style infusions aren’t some kind of super ingredient that’s going to instantly make your pooch happy about jumping in the tub. We don’t want to oversell their benefits here. However, we’re confident that you’ll notice the difference they make.
All this awesome cleaning power is packaged in a 16oz bottle, and at around $7 it’s excellent value for money.
We strongly recommend you add it to the very top of your shortlist.
4Legger Organic, Hypo-Allergenic, Lemongrass & Aloe
Runner Up – The product above was very nearly beaten to the top spot by the awesome Organic, Hypo-Allergenic, Lemongrass & Aloe Dog Shampoo by 4-Legger. It comes in at a very respectable (and close) second place, and it’s just as worthy of your consideration as the product above.
4-Legger is a brand that does everything they can to make the most gentle, natural, and eco-friendly products on the market. They don’t have a huge product range like some other brands, instead, they focus on improving the quality of the select few that they have on offer.
This is an all natural shampoo that doesn’t have a single chemical compound anywhere in the formula. It’s eco-friendly, cruelty-free, soap-free, alcohol-free, vegan, and it’s made from the highest quality organic materials possible. 4-Legger were so confident about the organic nature of their product that they asked the USDA to rate their shampoo, they classified it as “Organic to exceptional standards”, which is something very few other doggy shampoos can compete with.
Despite being an all natural and gentle shampoo, this is a product that has some serious cleaning power. Lemongrass is the main active ingredient here, and it’s a wonder material in terms of natural sanitization. It’s antibacterial and antifungal, which means any smelly bacteria that are causing your pooch to stink are going to be destroyed instantly, and any spores that have attached themselves to your dog are going to be neutralized too. Lemongrass even has some mild pest repellent properties that make your pooch seem a little less attractive to ticks and fleas who are looking for a new host.
Note: The pest repellent properties of this product aren’t good enough to be used as a replacement for a dedicated flea and tick treatment – but they’re a nice added bonus. However, this product is completely compatible with almost every topically applied pest repellent on the market – so you can still keep your pooch protected.
Lemongrass isn’t a soothing scent, and it has very little benefit in terms of relaxing aromatherapy – which is the only weak point of this product for us. However, it’s not a deal breaker, and to be honest, we love the zesty fresh scent this stuff leaves behind after you’ve finished your bathing session with your pooch.
The conditioner in this product is of exceptional quality, and it’ll nourish and cleanse each and every hair on your dog’s body very easily. The thick lather the product generates ensures complete coverage, and the combination of essential oils inside the formula will enhance your dog’s coat while preventing tangling and matting at the same time.
Like the Buddy Wash product above, this stuff has a huge amount of aloe vera in the formula that’ll help prevent painful skin issues from occurring. It’s calming and soothing nature will help promote recovery of skin that’s already damaged, and your pooch will be able to heal from any existing issues quickly.
The only thing about this product that we didn’t like is the price. It’s not exactly cheap at $15 for a bottle the same size as the Buddy Wash product we recommended above. It’s for this reason alone that this stuff became our runner up instead of our overall recommendation.
To be fair to 4-Legger, this is a super concentrated formula, and you’re going to need much less shampoo per bathing session than almost any other product on the market. However, in our opinion, the concentration isn’t enough to make up for the additional cost entirely, and there’s no getting around the fact that this is a more expensive product.
That being said, this shampoo is still excellent value for money.
We think it’s actually a better product in terms of performance than the Buddy Wash shampoo above. If you can afford the $15 this product costs without it breaking the bank, then we strongly recommend you add it to your shortlist.
It’s more than worthy of your consideration.
Natures Miracle Supreme Odor Control Natural Puppy Shampoo & Conditioner
Best Boxer Puppy Shampoo – The delicate skin of the Boxer is even more fragile when they’re young pups. Due to this, you need to find a super gentle formula that’s not going cause your pooch issues at this very delicate stage of life. We think that the best shampoo for puppy Boxers on the market at the moment is the awesome Supreme Odor Control Natural Puppy Shampoo & Conditioner by Nature’s Miracle.
This is a super gentle formula that has a decent amount of cleaning power. It’ll sanitize and deodorize your pooch without drying out their skin or causing painful irritations. The conditioner is equally as effective and moisturizes their skin and enhances their coat leaving them in tip-top condition in-between bathing sessions.
The most important feature of this product for us is the fact that it’s a tearless formula. If your pooch gets normal shampoo in their eyes during a bathing session it can create painful memories that last a lifetime. Ensuring that there’s no pain by using a tearless formula like this one will prevent this from happening, and it also gives you a better chance of your pooch enjoying bath time in the future.
3 More Top Rated Dog Shampoos For Boxers
We quickly want to talk a little bit about 3 other excellent shampoos we came across during our research that are worthy of a quick shoutout.
Earthbath Shed Control Green Tea & Awapuhi Dog & Cat Shampoo
This is a dedicated shampoo that is designed to help with dogs that shed a little more than their owners would like. The conditioner inside the formula will nourish your dog’s skin and hair allowing it to stay attached to your pooch for longer than it otherwise would. It’s an all natural product from a great brand, and it’s more than worthy of your consideration.
Burt’s Bees Oatmeal Shampoo with Colloidal Oat Flour & Honey for Dogs
This is the cheapest shampoo on the market that we’re happy to recommend. It costs $5 for a 16oz bottle, and considering the price – the performance it provides is exceptional. It’ll clean your pooch well, deodorize them sufficiently, and it’ll condition their coat and skin to a more than acceptable level too.
If you’re on a budget, this is the product for you.
Douxo Chlorhexidine PS Dog & Cat Shampoo
If your Boxer is struggling with skin issues that never seem to clear up on their own – then you should give this shampoo a try. It’s the strongest medicated non-prescription shampoo that we know about, and if it doesn’t solve your dog’s skin issues – you need to book an appointment with the vet.
4 Tips On Bathing Your Boxer
So hopefully at least one of the products in the review section above has caught your eye. In this next section, we’re going to be looking at a few essential hints and tips that you should take into consideration to make bathing better for you and your pooch.
Put A Towel Down
The huge paws of the Boxer are perfectly suited for outdoor living. Your pooch is perfectly comfortable running through forests and jumping in rivers without giving a second thought to stability. However, they are not particularly well suited to finding grip on the smooth ceramic of your bathtub. These materials are highly unnatural, and when they are coated in warm soapy water – they’re incredibly slippery.
You may not realize it, but it takes a certain level of concentration for your pooch to maintain their balance when they’re in the tub. It’s not the end of the world, but it’s an additional source of stress that your dog would probably rather not have to deal with.
By putting a towel down in the tub before bathing your pooch you can remove these issues entirely. It’s a much more textured surface and it allows your dog to stand comfortably without giving the process any conscious thought at all.
Dry Using Two Towels
Boxers are large dogs with thick coats that can hold a huge amount of water. When they start to shake themselves dry, everything and anything in the surrounding area is going to get completely soaked.
You can temporarily stop the shaking instinct of your pooch by grabbing their snout and preventing them from twisting it. This works because the shaking action starts from the head, and if it’s prevented from moving your dog can’t shake the rest of their body either.
However, this is a temporary fix (that might not work at all). The urge for your dog to shake themselves dry is genetically ingrained in your pooch, and it’s impossible for them to resist.
The second you let go – you’re going to get soaked.
The best way to deal with this is to not bother trying to grab their snout and delay the shaking – instead throw a towel over their back.
The towel should be on hand the very instant you turn the water off, you’ve only got a few seconds to cover your pooch before the shaking begins. Don’t worry too much about trying to keep it in position while they are shaking, it’s almost impossible anyway. Once this towel has taken the brunt of the aquatic onslaught, switch over to a completely dry towel to finish the drying session as per normal.
Get Everything Ready Before Bathing
Like most dogs, Boxers aren’t exactly fond of being bathed. Given the slightest opportunity, there’s a good chance that they’re going to escape at the very first moment they can. They don’t care that you’re only popping into the other room to grab the towel you forgot – if they can get out the tub, they will.
With a dog the size of the Boxer, this is a mistake you’re not going to make twice. An excitable soaking wet pooch running around your home shaking huge amounts of water over your furniture is obviously less than ideal.
Before you start the bathing session, make sure that you’ve got everything you need ready and within arm’s reach to avoid this situation from occurring.
Rinse Them Well
One of the most common mistakes owners make when bathing their pooch is not properly rinsing their dog at the end of the bathing session. It’s an easy mistake to make when you are unaware of the importance of removing shampoo in its entirety – but it can cause your pooch a whole heap of discomfort.
The chemicals and compounds in dog shampoos are specifically formulated to nourish their skin and work with the natural oils your pooch creates on their own. However, they are also designed to be completely removed after application. If you leave any trace of these compounds on your dog’s skin they can cause serious irritation and redness – which can lead to itching and infection.
This is important for all dogs, but it’s super important for Boxers considering the delicate nature of their skin.
When you rinse your pooch, make it a deliberate process instead of just assuming you’ve gotten every area. Start from the head, and work your way from top to bottom until you reach the tail. Ensure you completely saturate your dog’s hair as you do this and wipe downwards at the same time.
Once you’ve done that we recommend that you do it all over again (but less intensive this time). This will ensure that any shampoo that escaped the first rinsing session is completely removed – and it’ll virtually eliminate the chance of shampoo related skin issues from occurring.
FAQ Regarding Bathing a Boxer
In this final section of the article, we’re going to discuss a couple of questions that we get asked frequently by our readers regarding bathing a Boxer.
How Often Do I Need To Bathe My Boxer?
The boxer is a moderately smelly dog. They’re not the worst breed in the world for causing a stink, but there is certainly “room for improvement”. Most people like to bathe their pooch around once every 4 to 6 weeks on average to keep things fresh and clean.
If your pooch gets particularly mucky (after a muddy walk for example) it’s fine to wash them once a week. However, you shouldn’t bathe them more regularly than this as it’ll strip the oils from their coat that they need to prevent shedding and keep their skin healthy.
My Boxer Puppy Gets Scared Around Bath Time, What Can I Do To Help?
Bathing can be a scary experience for a puppy, and this is a common problem that owners of many breeds have to deal with.
One of the best ways to reduce bathing nerves is to bathe your pup in the sink instead of the bathtub. Bathtubs are much too large for a young pup, and they feel like a ceramic prison that they can’t escape from that’s filling up with water. Take your pooch to a sink with a flat bottom (which almost certainly rules out your bathroom sink) and they’ll feel much more relaxed.
Note: This can only be done while your pooch is very young. Boxers get really big really quickly, and trying to put them in a sink that’s too small for them is going to cause an accident.
Additionally, you should prepare everything ahead of time before calling your pooch over for a bathing session. You should remember to run the water before the bath starts too – waiting around for the sink to fill up causes anxiety that can be easily avoided.
Conclusion
So there you have it, that’s all there is to know about the bathing and grooming requirements of the boxer.
If you incorporate some of the tips we’ve shared today into your routine, we’re confident that you and your pooch are going to have better bathing experiences for years to come.
We strongly recommend that you pick one of the shampoos from the list we provided earlier. We conducted a huge amount of impartial research to bring them to you, and they honestly represent some of the best products on the market right now.
They are all winners to have been mentioned here today, and they are all more than worthy of your consideration.
