DAN'S PAPERS, August 13, 2010 Page 80 www.danshamptons.com
Strange Ways To Groom Your Pet
Photos of dogs who have been groomed to look like other animals for professional competition. By Jenna Robbins This is one of those times when the photo should come first, because as the old expression goes, “A picture is worth a thousand words.” Take your time, take a good, long look. I found myself staring at this photo as though something was going to either move or change and I didn’t want to miss it. By now, I guess you realize that this is a standard Poodle. The grooming shows incredible talent, so credit where credit due. Groomed by Lori Craig and shot at Groom Expo 2009 in Pennsylvania, it won 1st Place and Peoples Choice Award. When I started planning to tell you about this new craze, I decided I would not offer my opinion, but rather present it to you and give you something to Twitter, Facebook or share over Starbucks with your dog friends. But I do have an opinion, as always, and think that we need to put this into the right perspective. The grooming shown in the photo is done by a professional for professional competition. It’s not much different than the dog shows everyone loves and watches religiously. Those dogs go through hours of training and
grooming, traveling, handling, examining and required competition. What is most important is that the dogs are well cared for and handled with love and kindness and the colorings that are used are safe and non-toxic. You have to ask yourself, are these dogs actually getting more attention from the people who love them than the average family canine companion? Maybe so. It seems that Americans started by simply coloring their poodles, maltese, bishons and the like, in shades of pink, purple or blue at grooming salons. It can also be done with food coloring. But PLEASE–DO NOT make this a boring summer afternoon activity for the kids. Take a really close look…look familiar? Yes, that is a Golden Retreiver. I bet he gets a tremendous amount of attention and loves every minute of it. So how do they do this? From what I can put together, the dogs arrive at the competition with the coloring in place, but a lot of the grooming is done at the event. Some of the dyes or hair coloring products are blown though a strawlike tube (Blo Pens) onto the dogs hair. This gives the pro-
fessional groomer control over the desired patterns. Sidewalk chalk is another product used that gives better control over the color patterns. Food coloring, Kool Aid, Easter egg coloring, Manic Panic, Punky Color, Wilton’s Cake Dyes, seem to be what most people use to change the color of their dogs coat. Non-toxic crayola washable markers and Blo Pens are used on short coated dogs to look like tattoos. Mail order companies like Pet-Edge sell hair Top Performance Hair Dye Gels that are completely non-toxic and semi-permanent. They are relative inexpensive as well. I have NO PERSONAL EXPERIENCE with any other these products. As well I have never had any of my dogs professional colored. Please use the utmost caution before applying any of the colorings. Read the labels. Make sure they are non toxic. Products used on human may not be safe for your dog. Do not use them near your dogs eyes. Test a small area on your dogs skin much the way you would if you were dying your own hair for the first time. Consult your veterinarian and your groomer.
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