Another Grooming Podcast
Step into the world of dog grooming with "Another Grooming Podcast," the podcast that combines education and entertainment in a fur-tastic way! Join our team of four certified master groomers, Nathan and Kathlena Austin, Juan Rivera, and Kat Greaney, each with over 16 years of experience, as they share their expertise, trade funny stories, and take you on a journey through the dog grooming world.
Whether you're a seasoned pro looking to deepen your knowledge or a pet lover curious about the groomer's life, our podcast has something for everyone. Discover grooming tips, breed-specific insights, and customer service secrets, all delivered with a dash of humor and a lot of heart.
Tune in, laugh along, and unleash your grooming potential with "Another Grooming Podcast"!
Another Grooming Podcast
Allison Alexander
Use Left/Right to seek, Home/End to jump to start or end. Hold shift to jump forward or backward.
We have Allison Alexander with us ALLLLLL the way from Canada! Showing dogs since the age of SEVEN, Allison has gone on to accomplish some pretty amazing things. She’s been a professional handler, owned a grooming salon for 25 years, and now owns Leading Edge Grooming Academy, an online educational platform offering professional pet grooming and handling instruction for both pet parents and salon professionals. And as if that wasn’t enough, she recently launched her own podcast, Examined and Excused: The Dog Show Podcast. We could listen to Allison talk for hours…
Leading Edge Grooming Academy
https://leadingedgegroomingacademy.com
Examined and Excused: The Dog Show Podcast
Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/examined-and-excused-the-dog-show-podcast/id6799213983
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/0342IGuVcSewdEtA59bCaZ?si=df2f938961b7435e
Check out our amazing sponsors!
Alpha Grooming Products - https://alphagroomingproducts.com
Visit booth GL17 at Groom Expo in Hershey!
Hydra - www.hydrabypetsociety.com
Cuddles - www.cuddlesapp.com
Use code “AGP30” for your first month free!
Save the dates!
Groom’d: March 12-14, 2007 - www.groomd.org
SuperZoo: August 10-13, 2027 - www.superzoo.org
https://linktr.ee/anothergroomingpodcast
Are you heading to Groom Expo in Hershey? Be sure to stop by Alpha Grooming Products at booth GL17, right by the main entrance to the show floor. They'll have amazing show specials on all your favorite Alpha products, plus the brand new Fat Mat and Barclay Honor's new product of the year nominee, the Alpha Loop Extender. Check out their live demos and special guests all weekend long. So make sure you stop by the Alpha Grooming Products booth GL17 at Groom Expo and see what they have in store.
SPEAKER_00Hello and welcome to your favorite podcast. I'm Nathan Austin.
SPEAKER_02I'm Ellison Alexander.
SPEAKER_04I'm Katie Austin.
SPEAKER_00I'm Juan Rivera.
SPEAKER_02And I'm Kat Grainy.
SPEAKER_01And Nathan messed up the intro.
SPEAKER_04Well, what did I do? You just said welcome to your favorite podcast. Another podcast. What podcast are we? Nathan hasn't had it. He hasn't had enough.
SPEAKER_00I partied pretty hard last night. I mean, when in Vegas, you know? Yeah.
SPEAKER_04That's okay. That's okay. Welcome to another grooming podcast, guys. In case you didn't know. So in case you haven't noticed, we have a special guest here today, Allison Alexander.
SPEAKER_01Welcome.
SPEAKER_04Yay! We didn't know you were gonna be here actually at the show. And then when we saw you yesterday, we were like, we have to have you on. And so I'm really glad that you had time for us. So you're all the way at the Nexus booth. It's all the way in the middle of the show.
SPEAKER_05Yeah. I mean, it's just so weird to be like out in the annex with like all the public and like not here with like all our friends. But you know, the format this year changed without the grooming competition. Right. And so we kind of had to pivot with it.
SPEAKER_04Yeah. No, it's it's smart for sure, but it's a really nice setup you guys have over there. Very beautiful.
SPEAKER_00It's probably like a quarter mile away.
SPEAKER_05Well, yeah, I came to say hello yesterday, and at least there were people in the booth that thought, you know, I could talk to the rest of you guys. But I mean, it you two had disappeared and you were working away.
SPEAKER_04Yeah, we were teaching a class. We were teaching a class. Yeah, they have a four-hour one today. Yeah, we have a four-hour class.
SPEAKER_05Yeah, there are big classes here sometimes. Yes.
SPEAKER_00The format for this four-hour one is pretty cool though, because you get to work on a dog from the very beginning to the end. So you're bathing, drying, you're doing the whole thing with people there.
SPEAKER_05Well, spoiler alert, they asked me to do that. And uh uh in like I don't know, nine months ago. And I've just had really bad experience with the dogs that are provided here for demos, and so I was a little nervous of doing it. Yeah, you never know what you're gonna get. I know you never know. You never know, and and honestly, I don't want to work that hard anymore. So that's how that goes. You put in your time, yeah. Very nice. Four hours is a long one. Yeah, especially with people looking at you, right?
SPEAKER_04Like, you know, it's a lot. Well, it's nice with two of us, right? Because if somebody gets tired or if somebody needs a little bit of a break, one of us can step back and let the other one do for a little bit. So by yourself, I definitely feel like it's extra, extra. Yeah. So yeah, that's a good idea, tag teaming it for sure. Yeah. So you are from Canada, right?
SPEAKER_05Correct.
SPEAKER_04So a question that we all had was we know you show we you show dogs. So do you only show dogs or are you a groomer as well?
SPEAKER_05So um I started in the world of show dogs. So I started when I was seven. Oh wow. And yeah, I started started. My parents wanted a guard dog because my dad was a warden at a prison. And so they wanted a Doberman Pincer. Yeah. So a Doberman surprise. So of course they bought an Afghan hound because that makes perfect sense.
SPEAKER_01Makes sense to me. Yeah.
SPEAKER_05And uh so, like I said, I was seven, and the people that we bought it from, their kids, their daughters were like 18, 19, 20, and they had just aged out of junior handling. And so I was their pet project. Of course. Right. So they were like, oh, like let's get her into junior handling. They also had miniature poodles, so they would make me show miniature poodles, and you know how you hear those people and they're like, you know, I did that the first time and I won the gold medal. Right. I had the fastest time ever. Yeah, I went fifth out of five and I cried. And then yeah, I just kept at it. I started working uh for a professional handler when I was 12, like just cleaning out water buckets and things like that. Then I worked for a very top professional handler when I was old enough to skip school as it goes. And eventually had my own business. So, of course, I had a show dog business, but I was really poor. And uh, so I had I groomed show dogs and I had my own salon. So I had my own salon for about 25 years. Oh wow. And but I showed dogs all over the world. Like that was my my thing that I really wanted to do, right? But I no longer show dogs professionally, I just show my own, um, which is amazing, but a little scary. And uh yeah, that's just how it went. So kind of I've done all of it, which I think we've all done all, you know. I think as a groomer, we have many different hats. Yes, and that was just my journey.
SPEAKER_04That's so cool.
SPEAKER_00It's nice to like just dive headfirst into the world of dogs and so young.
SPEAKER_05Yeah, so young. Yeah, it was crazy. And also my mom eventually bred Afghan hounds and uh she had a lot that had questionable temperaments at the time. And so in junior handling, I was only allowed to show the ones that weren't showy, like as soon as I they were trained and let judges touch them. Like my mom was like, You can't show that one anymore, show this one. So I actually think it made me a better, like dog handler in the ring, but a better groomer because when you, you know, I had to train all those Afghan puppies to let me touch their feet and like all those things, right? So it was kind of like trial by fire.
SPEAKER_04Yes. Well, that's I feel like an Afghan is a tougher brain to train.
SPEAKER_05Oh, absolutely, right? And especially like I'm really old. So especially uh when you think about it, like in you know, in the 80s and 90s, um, Afghans, you know, they were at their heyday, like there was 40 to 60 Afghans at every dog show, but there there was a lot of questionable temperaments. Right, right.
SPEAKER_00So is that just like um the norm, right? When a dog is at its peak in popularity, oftentimes temperaments go the way.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, it goes out the window first.
SPEAKER_00The dogs I remember having uh being weird uh when I was getting in the dogs was um Dalmatians.
SPEAKER_05Yeah, they're still weird.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, I remember the first time I worked on one as just like a bather and like how much it was shedding. I was like, I don't think I've ever seen a dog shed this much. It was like this well, I'm sure you know.
SPEAKER_04Never endless.
SPEAKER_00Yeah.
SPEAKER_04So you mentioned yesterday that you just started your own new podcast.
SPEAKER_05I did. So um I have Leading Edge Dog Show Academy. Right. We're all subscribed. Yeah, I was like, I feel like that was on my card thing.
SPEAKER_04So if you haven't subscribed, definitely we'll link it for you guys because it's amazing.
SPEAKER_05Check it out. So uh my son's a filmmaker, and what happened was at the time I was showing poodles, and you know, I would tell people this is how much hair they need till to come to me. And so they would always come with, you know, half the hair that they needed. And then people would be grumpy because I'd say, like, it has to stay here for three months and grow hair before I can show it. Right. So I said to my son, who he was in film school, I said, Hey, how about we do some videos so I can video like the like all the areas, this is how much hair, all the things. And he's like, I don't have time for that one. So then eventually we did he needed it for his resume, like you need videos, and so he did some dog. Yeah, exactly, right where I want to go. So he did some um some video for me, and then somebody saw it and they said, Oh, you like you should have an online school. And I'm like, Yeah, I don't want to do that. And so eventually we had an online school, and we just thought, oh, like, you know, five people will do this. Right. But then, you know, especially living in Canada, it's such a remote spread out area. Yes, that if you're like a groomer or somebody that wants to learn how to dog shows, like, where are you gonna go to do that? Right.
SPEAKER_04It's much harder to find, yeah.
SPEAKER_05Yeah, and so that's how Leading Oach was born. My son and I still co-own it, and he was like, you know, mom, I really think you should you talk a lot. So you should really have you should really have a podcast. But meanwhile, um, somebody that is newer in dogs, who is a stand-up comedian and he's an actor, and he was actually a radio host, he was like, Yeah, I'd like to he came at the same time as my son and said, like, I'd like to do a podcast with you, which is kind of great because um you guys are fantastic, like really, like I you the way your conversation flows, how you take care of your podcast, the questions that you ask, the guests that you get, like you do a lot of great things. And I was like, I don't know that I could do that. But with Ian, I can. And because you know, I'm the wise woman and he's like the young man, it's like it's a good juxtaposition of like questions, and in so we focus most mostly on confirmation, dog show type content. Yeah, but a lot of it is um, we just want to have a lot of them are like personal stories when it comes to dog show podcasts, or they are very, very technical. Right. And we just wanted conversations, right? Yeah, right? Kind of like you. That's kind of like you, right? Like you want to just have a conversation. What's happening now? What do we think about it? I think we need more people in the dog industry, whether you're a groomer, um, you show dogs, you're a breeder. I think we need more people that are opinionated personally. I don't think we need to make other people agree with us, but I think we need to state our opinion. Oh, yeah. And I think that that's missing in the industry because we need to talk about it. Yeah, like we need to stop being afraid to talk about it. And I don't care if you come at me, right? I'd rather you come at me. We had a conversation. I'm not gonna make you believe what I believe. I might not necessarily, but I want to at least hear your point of view.
SPEAKER_04Right. And I think that's really important. Yeah, and I think that's what you do here. Like I think it's good. Thanks. Well, I'm excited to listen to the podcast.
SPEAKER_05So you said it's on everything, right? It's on everything. It's called Examine and Excuse to the Dog Show Podcast with Allison and Ian. Such a big name that flows off your tongue. The link will be below.
SPEAKER_01The link will be below. There you go. Thanks, guys. Thanks, guys.
SPEAKER_05And I think it either came out yesterday or comes out tomorrow.
SPEAKER_02I'm very excited to listen to it. So I love your leading edge dog academy. So I show uh Bachon Fraser's and I I got my first show dog five years ago. And uh at Nationals this year, I watched right before How to Stand Out at your national specialty. Oh, great. And we got Select Dog.
SPEAKER_05Oh, oh my god, that's amazing. You need to send that to us so we can have a testimonial.
SPEAKER_02But uh yeah, so I was like, I, you know, from the moment I got him, and I'm already four Bishon's deep, so you know I'm addicted. Um, but since I got him, and you know, I watched your videos on the city.
SPEAKER_01Oh, well, thanks so much for saying that and they cover all it's like owner handler, like property. How do you love it?
SPEAKER_04And I love all the quick tips that you put on your Instagram and like I'll get sucked in. I'm normally like a quick scroller, and then I'll be like, oh, I guess I'm sitting here for as long as this is.
SPEAKER_01You know, and there's one video that stood out to me that I didn't think would be as informative. You were just going through the different brushes. And you think you know what each brush does and like how to use it properly, but the way you explained each one, and you know, I was like, oh, that makes sense. How did I not think of this before?
SPEAKER_02Well, even like um, my obviously I have bichons, but like in the shop, you're like I feel like my feet are better because I watch like the shelter, you know, prepping their feet and they're gonna golden, you know, everything. Just there's so much over there.
SPEAKER_04So I highly recommend everybody follow. Yes.
SPEAKER_01Well, thanks.
SPEAKER_05I mean, that means a lot coming from this group for sure, because you guys are great.
SPEAKER_04So yeah.
SPEAKER_01You educational video last Barkley, right? Last year or the year before? Yeah, the year before. Yeah, it was two years ago.
SPEAKER_04Yeah, because they stopped doing two categories. Exactly, of course. Evan.
SPEAKER_00Evan. We're always like that. They need to bring they need to bring that back.
SPEAKER_04I like having them separate, education and entertainment. Yeah because they are disseparate. They are very separate, yeah.
SPEAKER_00It's gonna be like just yeah, never mind. Yeah, we we all know. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_04Um so you also work with Chris Christensen. I do. So we obviously love that. We love that company. We we've talked about the brushes before. Um, how long have you worked with them?
SPEAKER_05Um about 10 years. Okay. So yeah, like Chris, when Chris was alive, um he kind of recruited me at a dog show. And uh, so I would do, I would go to shows and like do show support, like the dog shows, right? So I go to prefs and the world dog show and things like that. And that was great. And Chris was like such a character. And yeah, like he's and uh he had visions, but he would like consult with me like about like different hairsprays and different products and different brushes, which was super cool. And uh then during COVID, I started doing webinars, which to your point about leading it to like I had no idea how to do a webinar, right? Right. So we decided we would do a web. I think it was like the success starts in the bath or something like that. Was our web. And we basically were thinking, okay, two weeks to flatten the curve, right? Let's have a webinar and just bring the dog show community, the dog people together. And so we had a Zoom account, and so it was like, you know, you could have 10 people, I think, on your webinar. And I thought, well, that's enough, right? Yeah. And so like three days before the webinar, we had like 787. And I remember looking at the thing and it was 787. I'm like, uh trial by fire. So we started doing webinars, and then of course it wasn't two weeks to flatten the curve. And yeah, so um Chris saw me, I started doing it about products. I I reserved the right to be authentic. I reserved the right to say, I like this, I like that. You know, people come to me and they say, Oh, you know, blah, blah, blah. And I, you know, I like this, but should I try that? And I've said, Well, what are you using right now? And I'll say, Well, that should work for you. So how are you using it? Right. Right. And I'm, you know, not and I always tell people, like, if you look in my Tack box, my grooming salon, there's never one brand in there. We all know that. Right. Right. We all know that. And so I reserve that right. And then it just kind of like turned into its own thing. They asked me um to do education like for the entire company, and that was right up my alley at the time. Also, I wanted to retire from showing dogs and just show my own. Um, and then they didn't have a brand manager, and I was like, there was a few issues I knew that I could fix, like just like, oh, like we need to get these projects moving forward. Right. And so then, then like here I am.
SPEAKER_04One thing led to another. Yeah, exactly. That's very cool. No, that's awesome. And you've had several brushes you've put out since, and we love them. The big A. The big A. We're always recommending it.
SPEAKER_05Which I actually wanted to call the big soft because I think it's softer. And then everybody was like, uh-uh. It's gonna be the big A. Because also there was a story, like when I was eight, and my birthday cake said happy birthday, big Al, and I cried.
SPEAKER_04So that's cute.
SPEAKER_00Um, I don't think there's I think the um the Chris Christensen brush is probably like one of the most like copied brushes. Oh, yeah. Absolutely. Yeah, you know, um but never duplicated. I've tried a couple other brands and um there's yeah, it's that's the one for us.
SPEAKER_05Yeah. And I mean, you know, we do have a warranty with it, which I always tell people, you know, I'm gonna fix you up, right? If something happens.
SPEAKER_00Okay, so tell me about this warranty because I got like I didn't I never knew that. I always when I break something or something like with they don't break that often, but over my years it's happened, and I always just go, but a new one. Yeah, well, I might have a couple in a drawer somewhere.
SPEAKER_04No, you know who has one is Kat. I still use it, even though Kat has one from like forever ago. This brush has gotta be old. It was my first Chris uh it's gotta be forever old. I don't need to get the one that you stepped on? Yeah, and cracked it, and then I just glued it back together. Yeah, glued it back together. It still works. She still uses it.
SPEAKER_01That quality, huh? Yeah, you go. Even from it's perfect.
SPEAKER_05Yeah, yeah, I mean, I I have I have others too. She does have others. So I like I will just like we have a brush warranty, right? We have a tool warranty, and basically take a picture of it and email it to me, and I'll help you out or meet me at a trade show, right? And and there are things like there are manufactured defects, like there are things that are going to go wrong and you just stand behind it.
SPEAKER_04Yeah, right?
SPEAKER_05You know, that's all.
SPEAKER_04I love that. Things happen for sure.
SPEAKER_02Yeah. The difference between a good groom and a great one, it starts in the bath.
SPEAKER_00Hydro bathing products cleanse with intention, treat with purpose, and deliver results you can see and feel.
SPEAKER_01No generic formulas, no harsh ingredients, pH balanced, performance-driven.
SPEAKER_03Made for real groomers doing real work. Because iconic grooms don't happen by accident, they're built from the bathtub.
SPEAKER_01Learn more about the brand trusted by groomers in over 70 countries at hydropypetsociety.com.
SPEAKER_04So I saw that you're on the docket this year for Groomania.
SPEAKER_05I know.
SPEAKER_04Are you so are you just judging? Are you teaching there as well? I have no idea.
SPEAKER_05You know how kitty is like kitty and kitty, like they're like, are you doing this, this, that, that? And I'm and I'm just showing up and do what they say. Yeah. Exactly. Exactly. I think I'm teaching a couple classes and that's exciting. I'm doing poodles at the world, and that's really what I'm excited about. So that's really, really exciting. That'll be great.
SPEAKER_04Do you judge a lot of grooming competitions?
SPEAKER_05Um, I do. I try um, I really like judging like the beginner and like intermediate classes. Like that's kind of yeah, that's where I really like exciting.
SPEAKER_00People don't get mad at you.
SPEAKER_05Well, first of all, I don't care if they get mad at me. But I have very, very concrete ideas of of how what a trim should look like. Right. I'm I'm outline before finish. Right.
SPEAKER_04I you know, um I think that comes from dog showing. Yeah, because I agree with you. If the profile is not right, who cares? Who cares about the finish? You could practice scissor work all day, every day. That's okay. We can work on that. But if you don't have the eye to look at the dog, understand the structure of that dog and fix it, well, what are we doing? Yeah, yeah. You're speaking to the choir, right?
SPEAKER_05I completely agree. They need to look like the breed for me first. Um, and that's where I think I can really help beginner and intermediate people to just like help them get the balance on the trim. Because once you have balance on a trim and figure, you know, with that breed specific outline, you're good to go. Everything else you will figure out to the degree of your ability. Right. Right. But let's start with the basics.
SPEAKER_04Yeah. I agree with you. And I feel like you can really ignite a passion in those people that are starting, and you can really like uplift them. And they're so happy to like get that information and to grow and learn. Yeah.
SPEAKER_05And it I think that's so important, right? Like we have to we have to uplift those people. Uh, I think that's our job.
SPEAKER_02Yes. Have you ever competed in a grooming competition?
SPEAKER_05Yeah. Uh I competed once, I went best into own, never went back. Because I was just like, There you go. And like, here's a blast from the past, but it was Shauna Bernardin that actually taught me into it. Her and I were really good friends back in like the dog show days. And shout out to her. She like came out of I don't know where she'd retired from showing dogs for like 15 years and is currently number one all breeds in Canada with wire haired pointing griffon. Wow. Where did that go? That's wild.
SPEAKER_00Do you ever like coming from the dog show world, do you ever find it like difficult you're looking at a dog and it's just like a beautiful dog? But maybe the maybe the the profile or the the trim it isn't as good, but like it just keeps pulling your eye because it's so pretty, you know?
SPEAKER_04Yes. That I yeah, we have a hard time with that sometimes.
SPEAKER_00Where I'm like, I'm just looking at this dog, I'm like, oh, we're like, do we just like the dog or do we like the trim?
SPEAKER_05Like and for me, like you know, especially the poodle class, but any of the purebred classes, when you're I like you know, you go watch when they walk in the ring, like into the grooming competition, and they're getting prejudged, and you're like, that's a beautiful dog. And then you watch it trimmed and it's less beautiful when it's trimmed, and you're just like, dang it, that was your fault. Right. Like that was a really nice dog. That was a really nice dog. And it's for me, it's people that like try to build things that aren't there. Yeah.
SPEAKER_04Yes, I I yes, I agree with you. Well, I think what in the beginning that's what you think, right? Like, oh, I I need to, you know, I need to add hair. But really, if you have a beautiful dog, you're taking it away. Right. You don't need to cover anything up.
SPEAKER_05Yeah, exactly.
SPEAKER_00I'm gonna be competing at uh um not at worlds, but at the uh individuals with a pool. I'm gonna be doing my um my uh my modified continental. So for anyone listening that may be competing there, do you have any like I got obviously I don't want to ask anything too direct, but do you have any like advice for anybody that um is competing? Never competed in Europe, perhaps?
SPEAKER_05Yes. So I think in Europe they are even more aware of us building angles into our dogs, right? So, you know, everybody loves to like build this big shelf behind their poodle and they think it looks really fancy, which uh if you want to think that that looks fancy, that's great. Like I understand that, and I think that that's what a lot like to your point, I think that that's what a lot of people have learned, right? I need to build this big tail set into my dog. Um but I think once you do that, you've lost all balance to your trim. Like that's where everything else starts to suffer. And I think that they're way European judging, I think they're way more aware of that. Um, I think a balance on a head trim, right? Making sure that the head trim is coming into the rest of the competition. I think that typically the dogs in Europe, um, especially at Groomania, they're just in, they start out in. Such beautiful condition. Yeah. They look a lot at how much hair is on the floor. Right. Like when I was like I judged poodles at Crufts at the Grooming Competition at Crufts. Oh, exciting. And yeah, and it was like when you got to the open class, um, it was a lot of hair in those dogs. Yeah. Right. Like they took they took them pretty hair. They are. They are. Uh they don't always have Sally breaks.
unknownOh.
SPEAKER_05Interesting. Which really ticks me off.
SPEAKER_04Well, it's it's surprising too because they really I do feel like um they talk about like the dog, you know.
SPEAKER_05Animal welfare. Like they say, you know, like they don't do anything creative there or anything like that because it's like but yet there's no Sally break. Um, I think that that's something Groomania is working on changing.
SPEAKER_00I think Kitty uh working on it. We were at um Master Groom. At Master Groom and they did a with Kitty.
SPEAKER_04And she was yeah, she was in charge of like timing.
SPEAKER_05And and I think like shout out to Barb, like I think Barb Hukel, like she was one of the ones that kind of like said to Kitty, hey, like let's make this kind of snack, right? So yeah, I think that's great. No, Barb's amazing.
SPEAKER_04Yeah, we love her so we love her. Yeah.
SPEAKER_00I just love Canada. Every time I go to Canada, it's so much fun. I know we love it there. We went up to Banff and like went fishing and the and it was just it was like the bees' knees.
SPEAKER_05Yeah. I live on Vancouver Island. Right. So I live like where there's orcas and humpbacks. I know I want to come and visit you. I remember you mentioned it.
SPEAKER_04I was like, okay, I'm gonna make Nathan come out and practice spray-ups. That's his um, that's his Achilles heel is spray-ups. I you just have to do it a lot. Well, no more. I think he cut it, yeah. He cut his uh well uh we had our mini in a full continental and he was practicing, but not enough.
SPEAKER_00So I could I could do it, right? I I'm not gonna say I'm I'm terrible at it, but I'm not like great at it. But I'm I'm competent enough competent enough to do a spray up. But to me, it's it like it's it'll be coming out great, and then all of a sudden something happens, and then the whole thing just meh, you know? So yeah, I need more.
SPEAKER_04He does need to just practice. We we may be getting another standard poodle sometime in our near future that will be a show dog, so you'll have to learn how to.
SPEAKER_00Buckle up, I guess.
SPEAKER_04Because that's the poodle is his is his, he loves hand scissoring. I do enjoy scissoring, but I love stripping. So the Scotties are my babies. So he's the poodle and carry guy, and I do the the stripping.
SPEAKER_05Well, there you go.
SPEAKER_04I mean, that's that's why it works. Yeah, right.
SPEAKER_05And then everybody has their niche.
SPEAKER_04I try to I try to get him to show them with me. He'll go in the ring if I force him to.
SPEAKER_00I'd rather my son go in. My son he started showing when he was uh nine and he'd have a little paper boy hat on, you know, and he had our big black standard poodle. He'll have a big one. I feel like when he would step into the ring with it, the handlers would be like, oh, damn it. You know, they'd see him factor to him how cute he is with his little vest on and stuff, and they were like, shit, they know the hitting the dog was is big, so it just looks striking with him running around. Yeah, he gave him his girl, he got his grand on him, my son dude. That's amazing. Yeah, yeah, yeah. In a in a modified content.
SPEAKER_04In a modified too, which I feel like is not always that easy to do. Yeah. So we're very proud of him.
SPEAKER_00They're like, we gotta get this kid out of here.
SPEAKER_05Put him up so we never have to see him again. You need the cute factor.
SPEAKER_02You have Ellie, she's cute. Yeah, she can't handle them sometimes. Um the Bachon's Owen's pretty good. She's too soft. She's like not good with like disappointing them, and they like run out, you know, they just know they can take advantage of her.
SPEAKER_05Bishons know they can take advantage of anybody that they run their mind to for sure.
SPEAKER_04Well, our son is really good, like he's just I think he's got the natural like ability with it, and he's good with dogs. Obviously, he's grown up with them. Our daughter is really good with dogs, but she doesn't handle losing well.
SPEAKER_02Which I feel like I feel like I think Ellie's that way too.
SPEAKER_04I feel like uh, you know, she could be really, really good if she could just like not become emotional about not winning, you know? Because it happens. We all lose sometimes. I mean, I cried. It's a good lesson. It's a yeah, she she lost her first couple juniors matches and she she cried, yeah.
SPEAKER_00So she was like, What am I doing that they're not doing? I'm like, you just started. This girl's been doing it.
SPEAKER_04So well, and we have some people that are handlers and then their kids are in the ring, so they have much more experience.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, building Fadden's granddaughters in the ring. Yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_04Yeah, we have a lot of heavy hitters in our area. Yes, yes, we live.
SPEAKER_02But Ellie, one of her first times out, I had her show their dog, and um, she took best opposite over a champion bit from the classes, so that kind of got her a little excited. But then uh I had her try to take Maddie in the ring, and he's just he's just really crazy. So she's like, I'm done with this. Never again. She's only eight, so that's how it is though.
SPEAKER_00I sometimes winning in the beginning, I think, is not good for a kid because like I took my um the first time I took my son fishing, literally on the first cast, he starts reeling and he catches a fish. And um, so now like anytime we go fishing, he's like he makes a couple casts and he's like, Where the hell are the fish at? This is not fun. So I think that every time you go fishing.
SPEAKER_04Yeah, exactly. And it's a good lesson. I think you learn more from losing than you do from winning, you know. So it sucks. Yeah, we don't always want to learn. We don't always want to learn.
SPEAKER_02Sometimes I'd rather just win, but I tell you, you're more likely to lose than you are to win, you know. But you know, just you gotta do it. So we try and take her to classes, and she's yeah, she gets bored easy and classes, you know.
SPEAKER_05I think yeah, I think classes, yeah. I think handling classes are hard for people and dogs personally, yeah, right? Just because you're never in the ring for an hour. No kind of handling classes an hour, so that's yeah, we're teaching we're teaching our kids and our dogs how to be bored, right?
SPEAKER_04Like that's exactly so far. I don't usually take my Scotties to handling classes because I don't need them bored. I want them feisty. Yeah. So I don't even, you know, I'm like, Well, you know, we'll figure it out, trial by fire, you know?
SPEAKER_00Yeah. We were when we first got into when Katie first got in the showing, um, we were like really into the the handling classes with the Scotties.
SPEAKER_04No, it wasn't the Scotty, it was the English conqueror.
SPEAKER_00And I remember um being like, Oh, he's gotta be so good. And then we'd go to our look to a show, and then there'd be puppies just acting crazy and they would win.
SPEAKER_04And I'm like And I'd be like, I try, I practice so hard, my dog was perfect, you know.
SPEAKER_00Standing and they're like, the pup they want to see the dogs having fun, you know.
SPEAKER_04They don't want so yeah, it was definitely a learning line. I was like, Oh, they don't actually care if the dogs are perfect in the ring for especially for class dogs. Like, obviously, special is a different story, but they need to see what they need to see, right?
SPEAKER_05But especially in Scotty's, they need to see that temperament as well. Yeah, right. Especially where you live. I think that you probably run into more good terrier judges because that's a big terrier, you know. California is a big terrier area. Yeah. So I think that you have more people that are aware of what terrier temperament should be. Yeah, yeah, right.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, it's it's fun, it's always fun when we get to see like a some dog sparring or something, you know, and like I want Sean's to spar. I know some people are like, oh, I don't think sparring's right, but what do you what do you think?
SPEAKER_05Do you I think it's absolutely right. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, I think it needs to be done properly. Safely. Right. And I think that that people need how to learn, but also some judges are just like, right? They don't like give clear instructions. And especially like if you ever spar a carry, like you spar a carry from 15 feet away from the other carry. Right, yeah, yeah. We're not putting them face to face. You might put two Airedale bitches closer to like you know, nose to nose, because they're just like looking at you with their ears back for food, right? Like it depends on the breed. It depends on the breed. But like when I showed my carry, like, and they'd bring it out and spar, I would just like turn mine into Sand of the Ring. I am right, because like otherwise they're like jumping higher than you.
SPEAKER_00I love I watching some carries spar though, is it I mean, it people describe it as electric, and I that's what it is.
SPEAKER_04You're it's absolutely you're just watching and just waiting.
SPEAKER_05And they're quivering. Yeah, like I took. I took my carry to Montgomery and like he'd won like 80 best in shows at this point. Oh, but I took him to Montgomery. I was terrified, right? I was terrified, and I knew they were gonna spar them, and I was just like, like, I threw up before I went in the room. Right. And like I'm like doing everything, and then they're like spar them. I'm like, oh god, like I bought a new leash and a new collar, and I knew everything everything had to be perfect, and I'm just like, okay, and my dog's and I knew what he would do, and he was the kind that was like a shark, like nothing, nothing, nothing, nothing, nothing. And then boom, right, he would go. So yeah, I was terrified. Well, how'd you do? Well, he was in the classes, okay. Wow, okay, there you go. So um, this carry, did you own it? No, I didn't. He um he was bred in Ireland by the people that bred Mick. Oh, so and then No wonder. We talked about Mick before. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yep.
SPEAKER_00I think everybody knows Mick. Yeah.
SPEAKER_05Like he's iconic. Yeah. He's very iconic. And actually Taffy McFadden and I worked for the same professional handler. Like, she's the one that got me my job when she like stopped working for Susan Hillman, who I like that's who my apprenticed under.
SPEAKER_06Yeah.
SPEAKER_05And um, so then that dog went to Australia and was with a friend of mine in Australia and he was top dog all breeds, and he they didn't expect him to be top dog all breeds like that quickly, so they didn't want to show him the next year and have him lose. So he's like, I have this fantastic dog, and if you have money for him, like to pay for him, you can have them. And I was like, I don't want to show a carry. Like, why would I do that? And then there um I had a standard poodle at the time that just wasn't turning out the way I wanted her to, and that same person, blah di-dee, blah, blah. I flew to Amsterdam, I saw the carry, and I brought him back with me, and there you go, he was top dog all breeds. So, but what I love, so I even if a standard poodle wasn't my top special, I had always had a standard poodle special except for that year. So, you know, every year or every single dog show for like 130 dog shows a year, I would show my standard poodle, win, lose, or draw. I would be the last one to leave the building because I'm washing the hairspray out of it every single night and I'm doing like all those things. And that was just my life, right? Like everybody else is like, oh, we're going to dinner here. And I've said, well, if I'm done in time, like if the power doesn't blow or like any of these 800 things, I'll meet you guys there for dinner. So I won my first Bush and Show with the carry, and I got my picture taken and I walked back to my setup, and I was like, Huh. What do I do? I just put a rubber band in his beard and let him pee, and I'm done. I can go for dinner. Like it was so exciting. It was a whole year of that. And halfway through the year, somebody's like, Do you want my standards pool? No. Yeah, I do not. I'm actually okay. I'm okay.
SPEAKER_00How many best then shows uh did he end up with?
SPEAKER_04104.
SPEAKER_00Wow. Wow.
SPEAKER_02That's so cool. That was really cool. Oh my goodness. So we if you're a grooming salon juggling bookings, reminders, payments, and nonstop client communication, Cuddles was built specifically for you.
SPEAKER_04We groomers are busy. And the last thing you need is admin headaches.
SPEAKER_01Cuddles is an all-in-one software designed for grooming businesses that want fewer no-shows and happier pets and clients.
SPEAKER_04From online booking and automated reminders to integrated payments and built-in marketing tools.
SPEAKER_01Cuddle saves you time on admin so you can spend more time grooming dogs.
SPEAKER_03Join today at Cuddlesapp.com and use code AGP30 for your first month free.
SPEAKER_00Cuddles, your new grooming software. We recently, I don't think we've actually said it. People are picking up on it. Is that okay? Yeah. We just acquired a carry. Oh, nice. A baby. She is just so sweet. He's in we're both in love with her. Right now, her temperament is like really sweet, and she's very young, so I mean, you know, you never know. You never know. Uh of course we want a little fire in her, but we're hoping that she'll be like bittable in the house with the other dogs, so we'll see, you know.
SPEAKER_05Yeah, when uh when I had Jack, um, because he was going back to Australia when he was done and because of his pedigree, I actually leased a carry bitch because I was just like, there needs to be puppies out of this dog in Canada and North America. And I bred a litter of carries. Oh wow. And I I actually had a litter of standard poodles around the same age, and I used to run the carries with my standard poodles, and I used to actually run Jack with my standard poodle bitch, and they were fine, right? I think that like I would never do it with a stranger's dog. Right. You know, I think that yeah, I think that when you know what you're doing and you kind of raise them with expectations, yeah, it can happen.
SPEAKER_00Exactly. So we're gonna do that. I think it's it's it's kind of unfair sometimes when people put expectations on dogs that are unrealistic. Not necessarily yeah, unrealistic, and also just like, you know, you you don't want to put them in a position where you're setting them up to fail, you know?
SPEAKER_05I say that a lot, right? You know, like a lot of people do set themselves or their dogs up to fail. And yeah, you know, you need to like kind of keep control of all of those things, and you need to be the pack leader.
SPEAKER_04And a terrier is a terrier. We're not gonna expect them to be anything but a terrier.
SPEAKER_00My uh my favorite, my heart dog was a pit bull, and and um he's been passed away for a long time, but I uh I still still tell people like, yeah, get a pit bull, but I I I consider them like a race car more. Like if you're learning how to drive, this is your first dog, I would learn with the Honda Civic, you know, or maybe not a uh a Corvette, you know. Just get something a little bit more um you gotta practice, yes, yeah.
SPEAKER_04Something well, and I teach people that about grooming because terriers are my passion. If you get a terrier in the salon and you expect it to act like a golden retriever, you're gonna be upset. Yes. But if you expect it to act like a terrier, you're gonna be fine because you're not mad anymore.
SPEAKER_05It's being what it is. Exactly. And so my son, he had English cockers growing up and you know, lived with me, had poodles, had Slukies, had Shelties, like we had pugs, right? We had a lot of different breeds, and he was around all the show dogs. He really actually loved wirehead pointing griffons when I showed them. He would always like, Mom, can I take like flash to bed? Yeah, go ahead. Um, but as an adult, he bought uh an Australian cattle dog. Oh my gosh.
SPEAKER_00I thought you were gonna say Australian labradoodles. No, no, he knows he knows.
SPEAKER_05You're like here, Brenton. You're like, I'm not trying to get disowned. Yeah, exactly. And uh it against my better judgment, clearly, right? And uh, but shout out to Ripley. But um he but he did all of his research and he goes, Mom, he's gonna be a velociraptor till he's two years of age, and he did and they did, they worked really, really hard with him. But there was a time he was like 18 months old and he was just really reactive to dogs on the street and things like that. And he hired a dog trainer to come and literally she spent like half an hour with them, like walking on the street and taught them different things to do, and then he would go, he saw her like three more times, and and it just really taught them a lot. But yeah, I'm a grandmother to an Australian cattle dog. And actually in Leading Edge, we have a webinar called Um Unruly Show Dogs, like how to train your own and yeah, Ripley is the poster child. Oh my gosh, that's a good one.
SPEAKER_00That's uh I should watch that for Maddie. Is she a shark still?
SPEAKER_05No, he's he's pretty good now. He um, but you know, he is an Australian cattle dog. Like every once in a while he just looks at you and just like, yeah, whatever, I'm not doing that.
SPEAKER_04Well, it's just you know, all the corgi people that come in the salon, right? And they go, like, I don't understand why this dog's always biting my ankles. And you're like, Yeah, they're cattle herders. They're more than just butt. Yeah, and they're like, What? And I'm like, Yeah, they were bred to like herd cattle by biting them.
SPEAKER_05Like, what do you mean? I just ex had that exact conversation with my stepdaughter. My stepdaughter has two little girls, three and like 16 months. And so she sent me a picture of like a Corgi cross, and she's like, We really want to get a dog, what do you think? And I said, Absolutely not. It is going to it is going to bite the ankles of those girls for the next eight years. Yeah, because they are going to run and they are going to it's gonna hurt them, and they're not gonna be old enough to correct it. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And I just said, like, dog dough. No, don't you? They need to do their job, they need somebody to do that. That's what they're gonna do. Like, it's absolutely natural.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, we had a client who he's like, don't put a bandana on my corgi because I can't get it off. It'll bite me on my cork. Oh poor guy.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, he literally like one time I did put it on and he's twitching like to grab it off of him.
SPEAKER_02Or like, dude. You gotta stop. That guy ran that man's life though, because he wasn't really a problem for us that much.
SPEAKER_00No, he was actually very good for him.
SPEAKER_02He was just naughty for his nails.
SPEAKER_04So you are still showing and um breeding poodles, right? Yeah. Do you do all the sizes, one of the sizes?
SPEAKER_05Um so standards have always so I started with miniatures. Um and but standards are my love, right? Standards are my love. Understand. Um basically because toy poodles are really like little jerks. Um, but a couple years ago, um, my good friends Afterglow poodles in England that I co-breed poodles with, um, they had a little dog, and his name was Okie Doki. Oh, and um, yeah, he came to me. Um he came to me, he was owned by somebody else, and they just said, Hey, can you like get his Canadian championship? And I loved that dog because, and like he lived with me for like three months, and at this point I wasn't handling dogs professionally, but I took it like as a favor to my friends. Right. And he was a little tiny standard poodle, right? Because that's what everybody wants toy poodles to be, and that's what they're not. Right, yeah, but temperament-wise, they're not. And he was like, and I loved that thing, right? I was like, oh my god. And so we actually have a niece of his, her name's Audrey. No, afterglow little black dress, right? And so I only wear a little black dress when I show her. And of course, and um, so I actually co-own her with um my assistant who's been with me since she was 12. She started out as my dog show assistant. Now she's the manager of Leading Edge Dog Show Academy. And yeah, so I just get to like show up at fancy dog shows and show her if I want to, or I'm actually Katie's been doing really well showing her, and I'm really just trying to make that Katie's job, right? Um, but I've enjoyed the one I enjoy toy poodles that are little standard poodles, but you just have to really parse that out.
SPEAKER_02So yeah, my my daughter, that's one she's been asking for for years, and I was like, no, first of all, you're gonna break it, or the bichons will break it. And but I was like, yeah, they're little personalities. I was like, I don't think I can do it.
SPEAKER_05Well, I'll actually tell you the so about five years ago, I decided I need a toy poodle. Like I love standard poodles. I need a toy poodle because we go to all these screaming competitions. I want a demo dog, I want my own demo dog, right? So I'm gonna get a toy poodle because then it can just be in a sherpa, it can go to these shows, it can do all the things, then I don't have to worry about my demo dog.
SPEAKER_02Prep so much less.
SPEAKER_05So I like I have a yeah, exactly, exactly. And uh so I have a friend of mine who's a breeder, and he had, and I I had always really liked silvers. And of course, silvers in toys are to me much cuter than minis and standards. Sorry, everybody with silver minis and standards, and but like I really like the color that his dogs cleared out to. So he had two boys that he was running on, and then he goes, Okay, you can I want you to have this one. And I said, Okay, so I showed up at the dog show to pick him up, and uh within an hour he had bit three people, including me. So I called him Little Bastard. And two doing the good names, yeah, yeah, today to this day, his name is LB for Little Bastard. And uh my mom has to sometimes babysit him like it when I went away. Well, I actually gave him to a friend because I'm not a very good friend. And um, and she's actually one of best and like I think three best and shows on him, right? But he hated her husband, right? Like continued beat so his registered name was parfait profanity. Um but but that's but and that turned completely it just made everything I thought about toy poodles come true, right? He was like, he was a little bastard in every way. He wanted to pee in my house, he just wanted to do all those things, and so then like now that I have a different toy poodle, I'm like, okay, they're you know they're not that bad. They're not that bad.
SPEAKER_02Maybe someday when she's a teenager.
SPEAKER_05Yeah, yeah. But talk to me.
SPEAKER_00I'll help you get one of the ones that we got uh we got a mini, and now I I really like minis.
SPEAKER_04I do, I think if they have the right temperament, I agree same thing, right? Same thing. To be fair, when we got him, I had he was eight weeks old and I had a litter of Scotties at home. And I didn't I tried to keep them separate, actually. I was like, Oh, I'm gonna keep them separate because they were only a couple weeks apart, but I was like, these guys are gonna tear him apart, right? No, he would jump up onto the couch and throw himself into their pen and steal their food. So he's tough as nails. They were like, who is this guy? What's he doing in here?
SPEAKER_00And he he's like dominant over the oh over all the Scotties. Like, I don't know what it is about raising him with it.
SPEAKER_04Maybe it's just the the mini poodles to me are pretty much they're so smart and they're you know bravado, so he's so maybe having that that Scotty, you know, like the the bitch is definitely he's not dominant over her, but like if we have sweet, soft Scotty boys and they're like ooh, you know.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, or we we have a Wheaton bitch that runs the house that runs the city.
SPEAKER_05She really runs the house, the Wheaton bitch, the Scotty. So you have Scottties and a Wheaton and a standard poodle and a miniature poodle.
SPEAKER_00A Wheaton Scotty, a Wheaton colored Scotty. Oh, okay. We have Scotty, not a soft coat of Wheaton. No, no, yeah. We have three Scottys. I think we have eight dogs.
SPEAKER_04Yeah, three Scotties, three poodles. Thank you. Thank you. And the carry.
SPEAKER_05And the English cocker. Yeah. I had, I think, in my heyday, I think I had three Salukies. I loved Salukies. Because my was brought up with Afghans and I just think that they're like intelligent Afghans. Yeah. So I had like I had like three Salukies, a couple Shelties, a pug, uh, Blue Ron and Tan English cocker, which was my son's, and a couple standard poodles, right? And it was just like, okay, on my day off, this is what I'm doing. Yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_02A lot of hair, a lot of big dogs. That's a lot. Um, I I like Shelties too a lot. Yeah.
SPEAKER_00Okay, question about um Afghan hounds. Somebody asked me something. A client came in and she asked if she wanted Turkish pants on her Afghan hand, and I was I and I did not know what that meant to her. So Okay.
SPEAKER_05So um Afghans can be very, very patterned. They call it patterning, right? So some Afghans will have like a little tiny woolier coated ones tend to have like a little tiny strip down their back. So think of Afghanistan, right? So Afghanistan is desert and mountain. And so we would refer to it as desert type or mountain type, Turkish type, or like different things. So big, heavily coated Afghans often have very little patterning. Often you have to work on, you know, like they have monkey whiskers when they're puppies. Often you have to work at getting the monkey whiskers out. You have to work on the saddle, you have to work on all those things. So Turkish ones were patterned. Um, often they have zero or very little monkey, like just kind of fake monkey whiskers. Often they don't have mandarins and they'll have like the fronts of their front feet will be make naked. The backs of their back legs from the like the pinbone, like almost down to the hawk, like just to above the hawk, will be patterned like the saddle. It'll have that same coat. And often the front of the stifle from right below, kind of like the apex of the stifle, down to the top of the foot will also be patterned. So that same short, you know, like if you think of it on like a red Afghan, that he'll be that dark, very dark red, short, like a short coat dog almost, right? And you almost have to do like nothing to them.
SPEAKER_00Okay, so this client was telling me because she's like, Oh, do Turkish pants, and I was like, I don't know what that is. And I'm looking, I'm trying to research it and figure it out. And I got some conflicting information, and uh, I did see that it was uh a pattern thing too, but it's not something like because now I have to obviously have to tell this lady like well she took it somewhere else and they gave it poodle feet.
SPEAKER_04Yeah, can you imagine giving an app that hair foot a poodle foot? Stop. Yeah, and we were like left everything else fuzzy. I understand not knowing what Turkish pants are because we didn't know, but don't give it poodle feet. Exactly. Oh my god.
SPEAKER_05So, first of all, look up heavily patterned Afghan or patterned Afghan. Actually, Leading Edge Dog Show Academy has an Afghan course, and we did one. Oh, perfect. Well, it's not out yet. We're editing the film, but it has a very um it we did it on a hairy one and then we had a very patterned one come in because we wanted to show it can be both, right? Because like, you know, same thing show people get one, and to often the breeder can predict like how patterned or not, but not always, right? Especially some of the bitches just like, oh guess what? I'm gonna be super patterned, like after my first season. Yeah, but it would also to me be something that would be hard to groom in because you're gonna you're you can't strip it because it's not gonna have hair under like you know, we if you strip out a saddle, the the saddle hair is there. If the hair isn't there, it's not there. You're gonna get down to skin, so you're gonna have to shave it, right? Which it or scissor itch very, very short, which isn't gonna give the same look because it's not gonna have that darkness. So you're gonna have to like kind of explain that to her. Like I could you could definitely like take a 7F or something and like shave that the pattern in, but it'll just look weird. It'll look weird, it'll look like you made a mistake. Yeah, that's what I think.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, and they'll be happy.
SPEAKER_04Well, good to know because that's something that he can communicate now and go over that with them and then see where they want to move on from there.
SPEAKER_05And I think if you like, I'll send you some pictures of heavily patterned what color is it?
SPEAKER_00It is um it's like the blonde with the black mask. With a uh with a it's it's a little bit lighter, maybe uh it's a black mask. Yeah.
SPEAKER_05So I'll send you pictures of ones that are heavily patterned so that she can see, like, because it looks kind of like I can understand why people think it looks cool. It looks kind of like genie in a bottle, right? But it's partly because of the juxtaposition of that darker coat, right? Like think of the saddle being dark, like that's how it would be on the back of the leg, the front of the leg, the front of the front legs, right? It's gonna be that darker, shorter coat. And you just can't you can't recreate that because it's not there. Um but if you show her that and say, I could shave this pattern, but the hair underneath won't be the same quality.
SPEAKER_00Right. No, that'll be great.
SPEAKER_04Okay, perfect, no problem. All right, well, I think we're gonna wrap up so you can head to your booth. Excellent. Thank you so much for joining us today. Yeah, I feel like we could have talked to you for forever.
SPEAKER_01And I want to say, you always look fabulous. Your hair is always so great, and your outfits are always amazing.
SPEAKER_05Oh my god, you guys are so nice. And I really enjoy your podcast. I really enjoy what you're doing in the industry, all of you. Like, I think it's amazing. And I was just tickled pink that Yes would be here.
SPEAKER_02And I am so excited for your podcast. I only listen to one podcast ours. Uh you know listen to two. Now I listen. Now we'll listen to two. Yeah. Because I love the show world. Right. Thanks so much. Thank you. Thanks. We'll catch you next time.
SPEAKER_01Superzoo came and went, but mark your calendars for WPA's first show of 2027. Groomed is happening March 12th through 14th in Atlanta, Georgia. Join more than 4,000 pet professionals for three days packed with education, networking, shopping, and grooming competitions. Explore the trade show floor, learn from industry experts, or compete for your share of more than $29,000 in cash and prizes. Whether you're looking to sharpen your skills, discover new products, connect with your community, or test your talent in the grooming competitions, Groomed has something for every pet professional. Groomed, March 12th through 14th, 2027.