Colorful Pooches

In my daily life career, I am a groomer. I keep dogs looking and smelling their best. I love my job. But it can be a very stressful place. We are working with living animals that may not enjoy or be happy about the grooming process and then we have to deal with the pet parents that generally really have no idea about how difficult our job can be. They think “oh we just play with puppies all day.” Which couldn’t be further from the truth. We deal with dogs that may only get groomed once a year. They may be terrified of the grooming process and they may lash out. We get bit, we get peed and pooped on, we get injured, battered and bruised. Some days are good, we get our favorite regular every four week clients that know and love us and that are used to the grooming process. Those dogs make our day and heartens us to continue on in our chosen career. For many though the days are filled with more of the former than the latter and it takes its toll. We burn out and then, creative grooming became a common practice, and for many of us brought us a breath of fresh air, a renewal that made us passionate and excited about our job again.

Creative grooming is where a dog’s coat is cut or carved into various shapes and then colored to form a complete picture. Some people think this is a horrible practice but again it is something they do not truly understand. They think it is abuse. Go into your nearest shelter and look at the matted to the skin pets that are there, nails so overgrown they curl into paw pads, that is abuse. The pet that’s so overweight it can’t even walk around the block, that is abuse. Clipping a dog’s fur into fun and different patterns, using pet friendly colorants on dogs that enjoy the grooming process and adores all of the attention, that is not abuse. And it is also where I find my happy place.

There are even competitions held now for this creative practice. Groomers throughout the world will spend months coming up with a design and then more months working with a dog to start shaping it’s coat into the designs they have come up with. The dogs are not forced to remain on a grooming table for hours despite how intricate and elaborate a design may appear at the finish, they get breaks during the process and some of the coloring may be spread out over weeks.

There is something so soothing about preparing a coat. The stroke of the brush and comb through the fur, watching that curly poodle coat get straightened with a proper brush and drying technique. Grooming is an art form. Getting to do a creative groom just elevates it even more. The excitement of sorting through so many colors to pick just the right shade of green that will make the stem of the flower stand out, that right shade for the petals to make it really pop. Looking at that silky white fur and that first stroke of color, it’s a rush. Every brush stroke is interspersed with kisses from the sweet soul you get to work with, the soulful eyes of the dog that follows your movements around the table, that trustingly stands there and lets you work. It is immensely satisfying to take a blank living canvas and turn it into something unexpected, for example: A standard poodle becomes a flower garden or a polar bear or even a zebra or giraffe. The beauty is that it can be as simple or as elaborate as you want it to be. It doesn’t even all have to make sense or be a complete design. It can simply be adding a color to ears or a tail, just that little pop of color that can make a person smile.

It sparks joy for me and others and that makes any difficult day better. Does every person have to accept and enjoy seeing a colored pooch, of course not but perhaps they can be a little more understanding that it brings enjoyment to someone else and the pet, when done by a professional and proper tools and techniques are used, the pet is not harmed or abused in any way, the world can be a brighter and happier place. I love that when it comes to creative grooming only your imagination is what can limit you. There is a lot of thought that goes into the process from the very beginning of picking the right canvas, the dog. The dog needs to be outgoing and loves attention, because if you take a colored pup out you will get a lot of attention, this would be devastating for a shy dog. The dog must also tolerate the grooming process. You even have to consider the pet parent. Will they be willing to bring the dog in as often as you need them to to maintain the coat and to apply the coloring over weeks at a time. Then you sketch out your design, decide on your colors and begin the process of transferring your sketch and fitting it to a living breathing moving animal.

It doesn’t always go to plan either so you have to be able to think on your feet and be creative enough to change a design in a moment. It’s challenging and a rush and so immensely satisfying when you can step back and see your creation come to life. It’s so much fun and freeing that I can just lose myself in the process of it all, and then on top of that I get to engage with some of the sweetest most adorable little souls put on this earth. I feel fortunate my creative love and my employment are one and the same. I can crank up my playlist of big hair 80’s band music, step up to my grooming table armed with my comb and a brush full of colorful dye and go to work and lose myself into my happy place.