A shampoo is not a flea treatment, and being clear about that distinction saves people both money and disappointment. Washing lifts the fleas that are on the dog now, along with the dirt and the smell, but it does nothing about the eggs in the carpet or the ones that jump aboard again tomorrow. Used alongside a proper preventative it is genuinely useful. Used instead of one, it is a bath.

What it does well is clean without stripping. The formula is pH balanced for canine skin, which sits at a different pH from ours, so human shampoo tends to dry a dog out. It is paraben free and vegan, made with ethically sourced ingredients, and gentle enough for puppies from eight weeks. Coat type barely changes the result: curly, wiry, long and short all wash out the same, and 500ml covers a lot of baths on all but the largest dogs.

• 500ml bottle
• Vegan and paraben free
• pH balanced and suitable for all coat types
• Safe for puppies over eight weeks
• Ethically sourced ingredients
• Cleans the coat thoroughly while washing out fleas and ticks

Be clear about what this is. It removes fleas and ticks present in the coat at the time of washing. It is not a spot-on, it leaves no lasting residual effect, and a real infestation needs the house treated as well as the dog. A tick already attached should be taken off with a tick tool rather than washed at.

Who it's for: Dogs who come home out of long grass and woodland, sensitive-skinned dogs who react to harsher washes, and puppies over eight weeks having a first proper bath.