About Me:

I am a professional Pet Groomer. I have been grooming for 28 years. This Blog is a kind of diary of my work. I wish I had started years ago, writing some of the experiences I have had while grooming. Most days are fun, some can be sad, some can be just down right crazy. If you are a pet owner and come across this blog, I hope it helps you understand how your pet is groomed. If you are a Pet Groomer, I hope you can relate to some of the stories. Maybe even learn a grooming tip or can leave a friendly grooming tip for me. There is always something to learn, no matter how long you have been grooming.

Monday, September 12, 2011

Groom Expo 2011 Creative Grooming Pictures

There were 11 creative grooms at Hershey this year, and I was one of them.
It is fun to compete, but boy can it be stressful.
Of course I added to my stress by taking a totally white dog up on stage.
It turned out that I was not the only one who decided to take a colorless dog on stage.
Angela Kumpe and Rachel Key also started with a white dog on the stage.

Because I was competing in Creative this year, I handed my good camera to my son and gave him a quick lesson in using it.
I thought that he did a great job.
He had a little trouble getting some nice, straight on pictures of some of the dogs because of all the other people trying to get shots also.
I am sorry that some of the pictures are a little blurry.

I would also like to apologize to Misty, the groomer with the other rainbow dog.
She was grooming right next to me, but I did not get the correct spelling of her last name.

I will start with those of us groomers who busted our bu**s to trying to win.

I thought that all of the creative ideas this year were great.









When you are standing on the stage waiting for your turn to do your presentation, it is very hard to see what the other groomers are doing.

Your also trying not to freak out because it will be your turn soon. :)

If I remember correctly, this creative grooming was a tribute to 9/11 and peace.







 This creative groomer was from France and he did not speak a word of English.

He had to borrow most of his tools because the electric is different here.

He also learned just enough English to give his presentation.

As I understand it, he came to compete at Groom Expo because he wants to bring Creative grooming to Europe.

This was also a rescue dog that he used.










This Creative groomer saw this dog on Friday for the first time.

She planned a Creative Groom, and competed on Sunday.

How is that for stress?

I think she did a great job.




















This groomers Creative Groom was a tribute to her bother who recently passed away.

He loved his college team.

I don't know how she got through her presentation without crying.

It was a beautiful tribute.















I thought this dog looked cool before Sami even started grooming it.

She did some really great scissor work.

This was a Harry Potter theme.

Oh, Sami, if you see this, thank you for telling me to breath.  :)














Misty was next to me for the competition.

I will admit that I was surprised that they put two rainbow themed dogs next to each other on stage, but they did.

Misty's dog was so much brighter than mine.

This was her first time competing in Creative.

I thought she did a great job.



Edit 9/23/11: Groomed By:
Misty Gieczys













This was one of my favorites.

I love the colors.

This was 'Tiger' from Winnie the Poo.

This was Rachel's first time competing also.

I thought her dog looked great.












Then there was my entry.

I did all of my coloring with blow pens.
Boy, did I have a headache on the way home.
My colors came out looking very pastel.
I would have liked them to be a little brighter.
At the 10 minute warning for scissors down, I knew that I was not going to finish everything I had planned on doing.
So, with 10 minutes left, I sadly scissored all of my flowers off.
I did not want to present an unfinished dog.
I also didn't finish my butterfly.
Oh well, I am just glad I finished the rainbow, and I was still standing, light headed and all.

I wrote a poem for my presentation.
It is on yesterdays post.






The Winners of Groom Expo Creative Grooming













Lori's dogs always have so much going on.

It is amazing how she gets all of those colors on the dog, in such intricate patterns.

I am sorry that I didn't get a sharper picture.











What can I say about Angela?

She was next to me.
 How intimidating was that?

Her dog had no color on it when she started.

Of course she was smart, she had an airbrush system.

She also changed her pattern on stage because she did not like what she already had on the dog.

She also did not start putting the color on until 10 minutes before the end of the competition.

She is unbelievable!



Lori and Angela did their theme together.













I am so sorry that the after pictures for this dog are not sharper.

The colors on this dog were gorgeous.

Her scissoring was great.

The dinosaurs were so cute.

Take note of the puppy tiger in her arms that stole the show.

This is just one side.






















This side was my favorite dinosaur.
















Hope you enjoyed the pictures.

Happy Grooming, MFF

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