Sentry Natural Defense Flea & Tick Dog & Puppy Shampoo

June 30, 2011 8:39 am | By Zootoo Editor Flinn D.

Pet owners are well aware that it can be hard to find a good, effective flea and tick shampoo that uses natural ingredients. And consumers often go for the unnatural ones – this reviewer has done the same, wrongly assuming that nothing that grows on earth can kill fleas and ticks. Well, Sentry Natural Defense Flea & Tick Dog & Puppy Shampoo has proved this theory wrong.

Fortunately for us natural-minded pet owners, it turns out that there are plenty of natural ingredients that do a bang-up job of killing fleas and ticks. Here are a few of them: Peppermint oil, rosemary oil, sodium sulfate, cedar oil – all naturally occurring, all deadly to fleas and ticks. And that’s not all -- Sentry Natural Defense is approved for puppies in addition to fully mature dogs because, after all, puppies are flea and tick sufferers as well.

Being able to use a natural flea and tick shampoo is good news for dog and puppy owners the world over. Pet stores shelves are clogged with flea and tick repellents but as any seasoned dog walker will tell you, these products can often cause minor irritations and rashes to your pooch due to the chemicals in them that do the killing.

So did Sentry live up to the hype? In a word, yes. While I will note that the smell is a bit strong, the shampoo did the trick and kept our tester dog flea and tick-free for our afternoon trial runs out-of-doors. To be extra sure, I recommend double-dipping Fido – bathing him both before and after your walk, just to make sure there aren’t any hitchhikers. Bottom line: Sentry Natural Defense does a great job at keeping your pet flea and tick-free without using a lot of potentially harmful chemicals or ingredients, but it does have a strong smell.

Pros: Uses natural ingredients to kill pests; effective at keeping fleas and ticks away.

Cons: Strong smell might be overwhelming to some owners.