A LADY who owns a dog grooming parlour in Rhyl recently won a national competition after giving her four-legged friend a safari-inspired makeover.
Micki Morelli, owner of “Tails 'n' Nails” on Aquarium Street, was among the winners at British Creative Dog Grooming Championships at Woolmer Green Village Hall, Hertfordshire on April 10.
Micki won the “extreme creative (novice)” category, after giving her dog, Luna, a standard poodle, a new all-in-one elephant, zebra, leopard and giraffe look.
For Micki, who has run “Tails ‘n’ Nails” for roughly the last four years, it proved third time lucky, with second place her best effort from the previous two competitions she had entered.
Having taken approximately three to four weeks to complete Luna’s look, she was delighted that her hard work paid off.
She said: “It was a full dye job on the dog, finishing off on the day.
“Our theme was safari – she’s currently got an elephant on her bum, with her tail as a trunk, a zebra print on one side and a leopard print on the other, and a giraffe print on the front!
@mickimorelli The british creative dog grooming championship 1st place in novice extreme creative. #creativegrooming #creativegroomingisnotabuse ♬ The Giraffe Song - Zoo Boyz
“I’ve been a dog groomer for a while now and started to get into a little bit of creative colour on the dogs. I did my first grooming competition last year (“salon creative” category) up in Manchester, and just fancied a go at the extreme creative this time.
“I did another salon creative with one of my other dogs, where I turned one of them into a bumblebee; (but) this was the first time I did “extreme creative”.
“I was amazed (to win), because there were some good dogs there – I got a little trophy and a rosette, and then the winners of each class then went into ‘best of show’, which we obviously got into the selection for!”
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There was double cause for celebration for Micki, too, as her four-year-old daughter, Emma, won first prize in a junior competition.
Dressed herself as “Cruella de Vil”, Emma styled her dog to resemble a multi-coloured dalmatian; a nod to the popular Disney film.
Micki was also keen to stress that there is no element of animal cruelty involved in grooming her dog, and would not do the same for, for instance, a customer’s pet.
She added: “The dogs get groomed regularly and enjoy it. They’re never tied on the table; they can jump off at any time they want.
“My dogs love the attention they get, and it’s great bonding time with the dogs.
“If a customer’s dog came in and asked for that (same styling) done, I’d probably say no, because I don’t know their dog, or how they’d cope in a situation with extra attention.
“It’s no added extra time to a normal groom, because I did her colour work over three of four weeks, bit by bit.
“It’s not all in one go, and its all completely safe, non-toxic, vegan materials.”
For more on the British Creative Dog Grooming Championships, go to: www.creativedoggrooming.co.uk.
To find out more about “Tails ‘n’ Nails”, visit: www.facebook.com/TailsnNailsRhyl.
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