HONG KONG GROOMING CONTEST WINNERS

Here are pictures of the first grooming contest produced by the Hong Kong Professional Groomers Association and sponsored by Show Season Animal Products. This ground breaking event, on July 30, 2008, was perhaps the first professional grooming contest judged by webcam from a distant location.

Eleven contestants were judged for awards of Most Professional, Best Technical Skills, Best Profile, Most Difficult and Best Groomer.

Sweeping the contest, and winning three of the five awards, was Ngai Shuet Mei, and her dog, "Kuma", groomed in an exotic theme heart theme, which utilized sculpting, braiding and accessorizing, as well as excellent grooming technique. Mei took home the MOST DIFFICULT, MOST PROFESSIONAL and BEST GROOMER awards. Here is Kuma.

Here is Mei with her trophies and Vicardo Lau, Contest Producer and Director of the Hong Kong School of Grooming. Mei is a graduate of the school and also has six years of experience as a hair dresser. She came to win and could not be denied!

BEST PROFILE AWARD went to a Poodle in an outstanding teddy bear trim. This is a favorite style in Hong Kong, and six of our eleven dogs were groomed in the "bear bear" trim, as it is called in Chinese. This one called to me!

This groom had it all: great style, extraordinary scissoring, fine balance, and great profile. This was an exceptional groom by Wong Hui Wai on a dog called "Sue B." Congratulations!

Here is a close up of the head: (I lightened the pic to show the face)

This picture of Wai accepting her trophy shows the true chocolate color of the dog.

BEST TECHNICAL AWARD went to Maggie Ng and the dog "Siu Siu".

The excellent scissorwork, clipping skills and setting of the stylish pattern all added up to a big winner on this day. Congratulations on this terrific grooming accomplishment!

Here she is accepting her trophy from Dizzie, Vicardo Lau's teaching partner at the Hong Kong Grooming School.

Dizzie was also my onsite Adjudicator Consultant for the contest. She went examined each dog before the grooming began and assigned points for the preparation of ears, feet, and coat. These scores were transmitted to me through a simple system of flashing one to five fingers for the webcam. Thanks, Dizzie!

I also wish to acknowledge my friend Ellen Meyer of The Grateful Dog in Trinidad, Colorado for being an informal consultant to me for the judging of this contest. Ellen is a competition groomer of accomplishment. By a twist of fate, I was at Ellen's home the day before the event, to adopt a new Bichon that needed a new home, and I stayed there for the contest. Her input and assistance was most valuable.

Thanks also, to SHOW SEASON ANIMAL PRODUCTS for sponsoring this show. Without them, it would not have happened. Buy their shampoo and support global grooming!
Click here to go there. You'll find my aromatherapy products there, too. Hey! They use my aromatherapy (Scented Groomer) in HONG KONG!

Judging this contest by webcam was truly a thrill of a lifetime. I enjoyed every minute of the week of preparation and technical rehearsal. Watching groomers in Hong Kong by webcam across the globe was unbelievably exciting. What a fantastic experience!