Archive for May, 2008

Groomer’s Bake & The Chow Chow Challenge

This week’s Quick Sniff Challenge called for the groomers to create their own dog biscuit at the Three Dog Bakery of LA.  You’d think it would smell a bit like Mama’s kitchen in there…Yeah right!!  Kathleen as the winner of last week’s challenge was given peanuts to use in her biscuits but had no idea how to utilize them – Jasper added his own special ingredient, sweat droplets ewww!!  He was sweating so terribly that his sweat was literally dripping into his biscuit mix…I’d love to read the nutritional facts on those biscuits!! The problem with this challenge was the groomer’s weren’t committing to sweet or savory biscuits.  Each biscuit was both savory and sweet which can confuse a dog’s palate (and mine)! Artist turned out to be a vegan (who knew?) and felt very comfortable in the challenge but Jessica committed to cheese as her main ingredient and that was enough to give her the win and a leg up in the next challenge.

Whoa Baby…The challenge of the week was grooming a Chow Chow!!  This challenge brought the unshakable Kathleen to her knees and tears!!  Jessica was given the opportunity to bring the owner of her Chow into the grooming station for 5 minutes should she feel it would be helpful, however her dog was so fabulous she didn’t need to utilize her leg up!!  Will trimmed his dog Kia so closely you would have thought she was entering the military!!  Perhaps, Joey said it best the dog looked less like a Chow and more like an American Eskimo (gasp!)  I could hardly believe my ears when the judges told Jonathan that this was NOT his best work as he has been the clear front-runner in this competition and obvious favorite of the judges…While Artist rocked the doghouse with both his grooming ability and confidence!!  I was thrilled for him when he was voted Groomer of the Week!!  Will and Kathleen were at the back of the pack this week – Will for his grooming and Kathleen for her lack of confidence (didn’t she learn anything from Artist last week).  However, at the end of the day Will was sent home…We wish him well!!

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Groomer Has It – The Confrontation & Cat Grooming

There was a dogfight right out of the gate tonight when Malissa confronted Kathleen and Jonathan about last weeks challenge.  Malissa was hurt and angry that Kathleen took her dog away from her, but if we remember Malissa did say she was done grooming the dog.  Naturally, she has no recollection of this statement.  I loved Jonathan’s comeback for Malissa citing that she was only working for herself during the challenge while he and Kathleen were working as team and Malissa put their entire team at risk!

 

The Quick Sniff challenge was fabulous and in my opinion it should be a requirement for every groomer.  The groomers first learned and then practiced pet first aide with expert Denise Fleck at an LA firehouse.  Armed with their new wealth of knowledge they were given a three part first aide challenge where Artist set the bar high at 2 minutes 27 seconds. Ultimately he was beat out by Jasper at 2 minutes four seconds but as the winner of last weeks Quick Sniff Challenge 5 seconds was deducted from his time bringing him down to 1 minute 58 seconds.  The leg up gave Jasper the edge he needed and was crowned top dog of the challenge.

 

This weeks grooming challenge required the groomers to groom long haired cats (gasp!!).  It seems that Jessica was the only groomer that was psyched to get her paws on a cat.  I felt my allergies acting up just watching this segment.  Malissa must have had a hairball clogging her ears because even after strict instructions not to scissor the face or whiskers she clearly did a lot of facial scissoring!  How did this girl ever make the cut to get on this show?  Jessica and Artist also had a difficult time with their kitty cats as they both got bit, scratched, hissed, and swatted at.  Kathleen, Jonathan, Will, and Jorge managed the challenge with little difficulty and once again set themselves apart from the rest of the pack. 

 

During the judging Malissa lied to the judges when asked if she scissored the cat’s face initially she said yes, until questioned she then changed her story and said she plucked the cat not scissored.  I say liar liar pants on fire…Truth be told the judges probably can’t tell if she’s lying or not since she is such and airhead.  Artist needs to dig deep and gather more confidence especially when he is in front of the judges.  When dealing with clients it is essential to exude confidence and control, without it how can a pet parent feel comfortable leaving their fur-baby with him?  Kathleen was Best in Show this week for her grooming and understanding of the cat’s mindset.  Malissa and Artist were at the bottom of the pack this week.  Malissa’s grooming skills were brought into question while Artist was scolded for his lack of confidence.  In the end Malissa was sent home and Artist promised to dig deep and muster his confidence.  With Malissa gone who will bring the drama now…I just know there is another drama queen waiting to break out…Guess we’ll just have to wait and see next week!!

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Groomers Show Passion for Fashion

This week on Groomer Has It…The Groomers visited my friends Sandy and Sharon of I See Spot tonight to create their own apparel collection.  The designs needed to fit all three classes of Poodles that would be groomed later in the episode.  As the winner from last week’s challenge Will divided the groomers into three teams selecting Amber and Jessica as his team members with the hopes that Amber’s creativity would reign supreme. However, team Jorge, Jasper, and Artist who were expected to “dog” the challenge used their masculinity and simplistic designs to create one cohesive collection that “wowed” Sandy and Sharon. 

Jorge was right!!  (I love the inside tip, Jorge please give us more!!) Obviously Jonathan has been sharpening his claws during his downtime.  He has been scrapping at Malissa every chance he gets while Malissa reminds us that she is not only beautiful but also wildly intelligent.  She has got to be kidding me!!  Things have been going so sour for her that Kathleen actually took the dog she was grooming during the challenge right off the table from her to finish the groom.  Malissa was left to paint the poodles nails…Way to contribute girlfriend!!

During the fashion show Will turned on his team declaring to the judges his team selection was “the biggest mistake of his life” and clearly he should have selected Jonathan as a team member.  Further, when questioned about his team’s designs by Melissa Rivers he said in his world of glitz and glamour you can never have too much icing on the cake.  Will seems to be the king of putting his foot in his mouth.

The judges selected team Jorge, Jasper, and Artist as “Best in Show” this week and I was thrilled for them. They were the intentional underdogs and rocked the challenge as a team!!  Malissa was torn apart by the judges for her poor grooming where she explained to the judges hair grows back.  She must be joking, the whole reason why pet parents use a professional groomers is because they don’t want to wait for the “hair to grow back” after a bad clip.  Not exactly the answer I was expecting from someone hoping to be crowned Groomer of the Year.  Will’s team was at the back of the pack and had to vote off one of their own.  Will and Jessica turned on Amber and voted her off.  Big mistake…She has a wonderful talent and we’ll miss her on the show.  Will should have been forced to leave the doghouse simply for turning on his team.  Best of luck Amber…Will I hope karma bites you in the tush!!

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Dogs Walk for Cancer Reminder

Just a quick reminder to all of our NYC and Upstate NY dog lovers…This weekend is the American Cancer Society Dogs Walk Against Cancer Event on Sunday May 4th.  The event is held in two locations – Riverside Park in NYC and Bear Mountain State Park.  The weather forecast looks like the weather will be a tad crisp but sunny so get out there and stretch your paws for a great cause.  Please visit the Dogswalk for Cancer website Riverside Park or Bear Mountain State Park for all of the details!!  See you there!!

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