Yeah, they do!

I just had the amazing opportunity to compete in the Creative Competition held at the Knoxville Pet Stylists Super Show this past weekend. Now keep in mind that the competitions have always been for dogs……at least until recently.

Ann Stafford of the Atlanta Pet Fair was so kind to allow me to “participate” in the Creative Competition at her show in 2009. For the first time a cat was groomed in-ring and presented. I couldn’t compete because of a pesky little rule tucked away somewhere whereby speakers were not eligible for competition.  I did it for fun and exposure and to simply show that it COULD be done.

I participated again at the APF, this time with a dog and a cat. The competition was presentation only – all grooms being done out-of-ring.  This, of course, is easier on the competitors, but doesn’t give the public a chance to see the grooming that goes on before hand (of which there is a LOT!)  Again, I was a speaker (for which I was most honored to be), so that meant another “participation” and no winning of any kind.  But I do admit it gave me a just a hint of wondering if I could cut the mustard, so to speak.  Especially since this 2nd time around I added a Standard Poo to the mix.  This was the first dog I had ever groomed. I know nothing of dog grooming, but I figured it was Creative Styling so what did I have to mess up, right?

As luck would have it, the show in Knoxville has no speaker-can’t-compete-rules so here I was faced with my first opportunity to really get in there and see how my grooms (on both dog and cat) would stack up to the competition. This is what I learned:  They stacked up pretty nicely.

I won first place in the First Timer’s Division (since I was a first time competitor) AND BEST OVERALL CREATIVE! What an honor!  What fun.

I learned I couldn’t pull off my intended grooms on both my Poo and my Persian in the allotted time frame.  So plan B had to be put in place.  Since there was no plan B before the competition began, I had to formulate one right there with only a minute or two left on the time clock. It all worked out in the end though. I am so happy and really enjoyed the pressure, excitement, and fun of it all.  I will say those creative groomers are a great bunch to hang with.  They all do such amazing work.