Ah, the "home show" for us New England groomers. We really are lucky to have such a dedicated club that offers so wonderful an event each year. Great atmosphere & people, awesome competitions, and even better prizes than some of the bigger shows, excellent seminars, and considering it's "just a small regional show" there's a decent turnout of vendors. Being that it's currently in RI, it can be a bit of a trip for those members residing in the northern states, but unless they live on the border and want to attend a Canadian event, NEPGP is also the closest trade show/competition... and well worth the drive, too! :-)
This year was new for me traveling with two dogs. Made life interesting trying to keep the puppy off the clean contest Poodle for two days! LOL But tagging along was a good experience for Tripp, since he'll be up on that table one of these years! Chaz, as always, was a good sport, and his incredible coat held up all that time with barely a touchup before competing. Next year perhaps I'll work up the nerve to add another dog to the mix and enter more than one class?? Gotta do it one of these years, I suppose!
We drove down Saturday morning, and made it in time to catch a seminar, do a little shopping, and watch a bit of the contests. Sunday of course I rose early for ring time at 7:30. This was going to be the official debut of my original Poodle design! I came up with "the Bandu" several years ago. The basic trim is a "Banded Dutch" (hence the name) - pajama/sweetheart style body, with deep crest on the neck to promote balance, and English Saddle style legs, with bands on the front to match. I decided long ago that if I were to ever compete with this trim, I needed to add a little flair to it with a fancy body pattern, just to make it a little more special. After many tweaks on paper, I finally came up with the perfect design just last year. Of course putting it on a dog is a totally different thing than drawing a 2-D picture! And then there is the whole part of waiting for just the right dog to try it on. Any style of Dutch clip can be tricky to make balanced, so the dog must have rather good conformation to pull it off. Chaz, being a UKC CH and AKC pointed, with that to-die-for coat, is an excellent choice for any style trim. Still, it was a process getting it just right. My first attempt over the summer at setting the body pattern fell a little short. But after one or two touchups I managed to get it the way I wanted. I double checked with NEPGP that it wasn't against the rules (or just plain ridiculous) to enter something this creative in a regular competition, and was encouraged by both the club and fellow groomers & Poodle friends to go for it. I'm glad they talked me into it, as I've been saying for years that I'd like to see and do something different in the ring, rather than the same old trims. As absolutely beautiful as those are, we groomers are generally an artistic bunch, and most would appreciate a little variety in grooming styles. And what better venue to display new trims than at a grooming show? I must say, I did see a couple rather creative trims in the mixed breed ring this year. Very nice. :-) There was gorgeous grooming being done across the board in all classes. Excellent turnout in every division.
Oh, before I forget again, I also wanted to thank whoever left their hydraulic table in the ring and offered it's use to whoever wanted it for the Poodle class. It was in my assigned spot, so our "pit boss" said to go ahead. Must say it was a great help during grooming, though did make me want one of my own all the more. LOL Anyway, thank you so much for your generosity!
So the competition begins, and I get to work on my Bandu trim. Setting the pattern took up half the allotted time. I knew I was probably shooting myself in the foot entering such a complicated design, but what did I have to lose? As long as it turned out presentable. I did get nervous when they called 45 minutes remaining and I hadn't even scissored the legs - yikes! Luckily he wasn't terribly overgrown in that area, so could get by with just a quick tipping of the hair. Still, the finish was a lot rougher than I'd hoped, plus the topknot needed tons more work to be correct. And somehow I managed to miss several spots on his face - usually my clipper work is much better than that! But at least I was quite happy with how the body turned out. Overall it was pretty well put together, so I'm glad it had a decent unveiling.
I'm told that there were several positive remarks made by spectators, who, no doubt, were impressed to see something different being presented. And I was pleasantly surprised to be given very positive feedback from several top competitors and judges! That alone made it worth the entry. Alas, I did not win anything, but hey, at least they didn't laugh me out of the ring! LOL I was also up against some stiff competition with seemingly flawless grooms, so it was no surprise, either! My photos don't really show all the imperfections of my groom. Of course, I'm never really happy with my work at first, anyway. ;-)
The critiques I received were very consistent, yet rather ironic... Everyone agreed that the body pattern was very cool and well done, but the banded legs were distracting - taking away from the Celtic knot design, as well as making it hard to judge balance/profile. But as previously described, the legs are what make the Bandu special, and the knotwork was thrown in more as an afterthought! Therein lies the irony. LOL I do understand their point, though, and looking from their viewpoint I kind of agree. But it's still really funny! hehehe Many encouraged me to try again, keeping the body pattern and just doing regular Poodle puppy-style legs. Whether or not I do so remains undecided. Part of me is tempted, hoping to do better and perhaps earn an award (wow, when did I get so competitive?), but the other part wants to move on and try something else. I have a year to decide and play around with Chazie's hair, so we'll see...
I can't wait to find out what next year's 30th anniversary show brings! :-)
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