Thoughts from Last Years K9 Expo Grooming Competition from the overall winner

Its just four days away from this years K9 expo Dog Grooming competition. Last year in its first year it was held In Gosford forest park in Armagh. It was definitely a unique location for a grooming competition but I loved it. I found pet friendly accommodation right beside the forest  and made a weekend of it. With an early start I took my own poodle Elmo for a quick forest walk at 4 am before washing and fluffing him.Luckly the sun was shining and the grass was bone dry. ​The venue was in a large marquee outdoors at the forest. All the stall vendors were already setting up as there was a large agricultural show on at the same time. The marquee was brighter than i expected. I had visions of shining my phone on legs to scissor them in a tent with pounding rain. It was basic with boards covering the ground so the surface was even so no rocky tables and a cordened off spectator area. This was my first competition outside of Dublin so I was glad to see some familiar faces from the IPDGA

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Many Thanks to Sabrina Competitors had to choose one class to enter as all classes were on at the same time. The usual times of 2 hours were given but with a 10 minute break inbetween. This was also new to me but it gave me a few minutes to stand back and look at my groom half way through. I spend those 10 minutes staring at my dog figuring out what i needed to do with the time i had left. I'm not sure how well this would have worked if it was raining out but with blazing sunshine it was lovely. The show was busy at this stage with the smell of popcorn and chips starting to waft in. The next hour flew by like it was a couple of minutes. Judging commenced and with two lovely judges the competition kept a relaxed feel to it. We were then given a few minutes to take the dogs out and relax while the marquee was cleared for prize giving. There was a photographer there too for before and after pics. After a few minutes wandering around some stalls we were called back in. Prizes were given for clipped, scissored, handstrip, creative and asian. There were so many amazing grooms I was shocked to win K9 Expo Pet Stylist. I was delighted for Carmel Breen to get reserve.
This year the competition has moved to Eikon exibition center in Balmoral park in Lisburn. It promises to be a bigger and better venue. I'm hoping it will keep its relaxed atmosphere. It's another unique venue to groom in. I find grooming competitions especially at this busy time of year when so many of us spend alot of our time doing shave downs really refreshing. Its so nice to spend two hours concentrating on one dog, no phones ringing and maybe like last years listing to sheep and cows in the distance. Making a weekend of it if you can really breaks up the busy months. Heres hoping for another sunny day for it. 
Many Thanks to Sabrina for sharing -