I arrived with my 4 dog entourage Friday morning and got right to work. Jackson and Jake were bathed and then once we were all settled into the hotel room, Jackson and I headed back out to the competition ring.
Jackson is an absolute angel on the table, and how can one resist his face?!?
Although we did not place, we learned how to tweak our groom for the next time. Here is a picture of Jackson all finished.
Friday night they had a wonderful new class, Pomadorable. Several groomers entered the competition and were randomly assigned the most adorable pomeranians (course, what pom isn't adorable?!?) to groom with scissors only, no clippers. It just so happens one of my roommates, Kendra, won the class! Congratulations Kendra!
Saturday morning I awoke early to enter the ring with the Irish Terrier, Jake. He is such an absolute sweetheart and playful guy when he's not being groomed, however his Irish temper comes out when he's on the table! He was quite the feisty handful. The judges and others around the ring even came to give him a little talking too. His eyes sparkled, I'm sure I heard him chuckle at them and he continued his protestation. We did get through the class and finished the groom though it wasn't quite perfect.
Turns out Jake helped me win a very special award. Sunday during the Best In Show ceremony I was awarded the Will Stone 'Joulie' Memorial Award. This is presented to the groomer who exhibits the most harmonious relationship with their dogs during the competition. When they were announcing the winner they said it was hard to decide until one class made it very apparent. I knew immediately they meant me and Jake. I felt so honored when they said they had never seen a groomer have so much patience with a dog who was being so mischievous. The best part is immediately after the class was over Jake was back to being so lovey towards me, no hard feelings on either side. We still love each other!
Saturday afternoon was time for Miss Maela's debut. For such a young girl and her first time in the competition ring, she did fabulously! No one could walk past her without stopping to remark on how absolutely adorable she was, even when she was dripping with hair before the competition started.
After all was said and done, we placed 3rd amidst about 14 other contestants. I was very excited to place this well in such a large class and against some very fierce competition. Many of the groomers in the ring were members of Groom Team USA. This placement had to hold the most excitement for me out of any of my other placements.
Finally, Sunday morning was ZZ's turn. He had a ton of coat so I had my work cut out for me...no pun intended!
We didn't place in the poodle class, but I learned some good hints to try for our next competition, and I was pretty happy with how ZZ turned out.
All in all, it was great to get back in the competition ring! I've missed it and hope to get to a few more this coming year and possibly have some of Little Shop's employees join me. Thanks for sharing in my adventures! Now that I've been rejuvenated I can get through this holiday season no problemo!
