The game is ON! Season 2 of Groomer Has It has started, and the judges are convinced that we’ve got a really diverse group of competitors and that it’s going to be a dog-eat-dog competition! Here’s a brief look at this seasons’ groomers:
Bill- 16 years experience- says he brings “flair, pazazz and flamboyancy”; he sees himself as the “Poodle Guru” with lots of secrets up his sleeve. He breeds and shows miniature poodles.
Cassandra-5 years experience- She’s never been involved in any type of grooming competition before, but says she’s “quietly competitive”.
Chicken Joe – 52 years experience- Regards himself as the “local color”on the island where he lives, surrounded by all his animals, including 20 or so AKC Champion Pomeranians.
Danielle~ 11 years experience- A New Yorker in Beverly Hills, she says she never needed too much training, she picked grooming up naturally. She’s ready to “kick butt”.
Huber- 33 years experience- He’s a self-taught perfectionist, used to be a show groomer but now concentrates on his high-end clientele.
Jessica-4 years experience- She’s young, but she picks up techniques very quickly. She says she can see it and she can do it and works best under pressure.
Krista- 2 years experience- She “holds herself to a higher standard. She’s got a grooming school and isn’t a bit intimidated by the others who have more time under their belt!
Lisa~ 33 years of experience- Lisa’s a 3rd generation groomer with a wall full of awards and has competed with Groom Team USA in two countries.
Marco- 3 years experience- He owns 2 businesses and his primary goal is to become the premier pet bathing facility. His philosophy about people who fail in business is that they can’t communicate and ‘are just weird”.
Micheal-5 years experience- Has owned his own grooming salon in Chicago for a year and says that nobody can groom a dog like he can~ and of the dogs he grooms: ‘That dog belongs in the Louvre because it’s a work of art”.
Sherri~ 8 years experience- Small-town mom, is out to do it to show her boys that no matter where you’re from, you can go anywhere! Her forte is grooming and massage.
Vanessa- 10 years experience- Has been grooming for some time, and just last year realized she had the gift of being able to communicate with animals telepathically. She owns a pet spa in Illinois.
After the messenger dog Nemo met the groomers and guided them to the next street where host Jai Rodriguez was awaiting their arrival, they were surprised by being divided into teams of 3 groomers each and presented with their first “Quick-Sniff” challenge; a neighborhood scavenger hunt to gather 5 household items in order to groom their St. Bernards! They had 30 minutes to scour the neighborhood and get back and then an hour to groom their matted, slobbery dogs.
Experience and organization were the keys to this challenge! The teams who requested and got, cornstarch and baby powder were heads and tails ahead of the ones who didn’t because they were able to much more easily remove the matted fur. The red team, comprised of Lisa, Huber and Vanessa won this challenge, because they produced the most transformed dog, yet maintained the “fluff factor”.
As a reward for their win, the Red Team was treated to a luxurious gourmet meal back at the newly appointed and sumptuous Dog House; while the remaining teams go to go back and eat leftovers from Doggy Bags!
The teams then went on to the Grooming Challenge, and it looked like everyone was reticent about it! Standard Poodles were brought out and teams were challenged to do a creative cut and color on them.
The Red Team, having won the challenge the day before also got a “Leg Up” advantage by being able to consult with an expert creative colorist before getting started.
The real issue during this challenge aside from creativity, seemed to be Teamwork!
Most of the groomers have never worked with color or blowpens, but the winning team was the team who had a real vision for what they wanted to accomplish and spoke to the hearts of the judges as well as being a memorial to lost loved ones. Wow…all that in a cut and color! The Red Team won this challenge too, doing a pink Breast Cancer ribbon on one side of the poodle and a red AIDS ribbon on the other. The judges’ decision for the winner was unanimous.
The “Back of the Pack” team was the Blue Team; comprised of Micheal, Jessica and Krista. Each contestant had chosen a specific duty for the challenge; creativity, cleanliness, and cut. Micheal was heading up the cleanliness and a lack of communication was the team’s downfall. Their dog had very sensitive skin, which was identified by Jessica, who was shampooing him; Micheal observed that Jessica wasn’t being gentle enough with the dog while washing him; Jessica didn’t apprise her team members about the sensitive skin, and when one of them went to brush the dog, the poor dog sustained a brush burn to one of his lower legs.
To add insult to injury, the team never informed the judges about the irritated leg and nobody would accept the responsibility for it.
The judges were divided on which groomer should be held accountable for it between Micheal and Jessica, but ultimately, 2 judges felt that as head of the cleanliness segment of the challenge, Micheal was the groomer who should be “clipped”.
So, we’re down to 11 groomers~ Saturday, April 18, will bring new challenges!
Next episode will have the groomers scrambling to uncover safety hazards in the salon. Tensions flare at the Dog House. The Grooming Challenge will ask the groomers to fix some hideous grooming jobs!
