planned her groom around her dog. “I did Dudley as Winnie because he has a real issue with being clipped on his face so he
had to have a fluffy face.” She was excited about the idea of Winnie the Pooh, and fortunately his owner loved it too!
Discovering Creative
This wasn’t the only time Em’s done something creative with Dudley. In fact, her first try at creative was giving him blue
tasseled ears. While some of his grooms have looked great, others were not always so successful. “Poor Dudley has had some
awful creations…” This includes her attempt at a red mohawk for Christmas a few years ago. Unfortunately, the dye did not
cooperate as intended, and Dudley just had a red head instead. “He looked like a turkey, poor boy… but his owner is so great
and without her and Dudley, I wouldn’t be able to do creative.”
“I looked into creative when I first saw pictures on the net and I loved the fact that it was so different.” Like many other
groomers, Emily saw creative as the opportunity to break from the everyday routine. As someone who enjoys trying new things
with dogs, she was immediately drawn to the chance to do something outside the box. “Doing a Westie clip over and over
makes you go mad.”
In addition to her creations with Dudley, Em likes to add
creative touches to her salon grooms as well. Some of
those touches include client-requested green bangs on
a Yorkie and a red mini poodle whose owner loves some
color on his pom poms, tail, and/or ears. She even has
a Scottie that likes to leave with some gems or glitter to
add a bit of sparkle.
As for most of her other clients, Em thinks they are
interested in looking at creative grooms but wouldn’t
necessarily want it for their own dog. “…but I hope it
makes them smile and at least they won’t forget me – the
crazy groomer who dyes her dogs lol.”
Bonding with Todd
Dudley, as Winnie the Pooh.
Emily is also creative with her four-legged son, Todd.
Todd, a mini parti poodle, is the “apple of my eye.” She
admits that he does find himself in trouble quite regularly,
“…but I love him so much.” “I haven’t competed with
Todd yet. I will in the future, but right now his coat is so,
so soft that I really struggle to scissor him as well as I
would like for comps.”
Todd does more than look handsome in his mom’s grooms; “We started agility training about 2 months ago, and he loves it!
He is so good, better than I ever imagined.” Em admits that Todd is a fast learner. Too fast, perhaps, for her to keep up with
him. “I can’t run as fast as he can!”
Plans for the Future
Emily hopes to continue competing in both creative and breed profile classes. Even though she didn’t place at EGC this year,
she has big plans to compete with Todd. “I have already decided what I’m doing next year!” She hopes the creative class will
be around for years to come.
Emily also wants to become the first groomer in England to be certified through the NAPCG. Once certified, as an ambassador,
she will be able to offer other groomers in her area the opportunity to become certified as well. She is working, too, towards
earning her advanced diploma in dog grooming. Both an advanced diploma and creative certification are her way of showing
other groomers and clients that she takes her career and education very seriously.
When she isn’t grooming or coloring, Em writes for CGQ and Grooming Matters, the official magazine of the English Groomers’
Group. “I know a lot about breeds, as I have spent hours researching my breeds of dogs.” Because of this, all of her articles to
date have been related to different breeds.
“I quite like doing articles like that; it’s something I know about.” Be sure to catch her “Creative Buddies” series in
CGQ, in which she discusses different breeds popular for creative grooming!