Miracle Pet Makeover: PetGroomer.com

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What Makes a Winning Set of Pictures and Short Story?

First you should examine the photographs on the main page of this contest. As you can see it is quite likely you won't be able to save all or most of the coat due to the extremely poor condition of the pet. Do your best, especially what is best for the pet. Don't risk the health and comfort of the pet by trying to save the coat that should be removed. Consider grooming the pet over a period of time, such such as 2 or 3 grooming sessions. Many pets whose grooming has been neglected for some time can develop reactions, especially skin reactions, after major coat removals and dematting. If the pet needs medical attention, please find a way to arrange for that if you can. Often pets in extreme condition need a medical check before grooming, especially if you notice foul odors, signs of discharge from sores or openings, swelling, cuts, bruises or behavior that indicates illness. Please use common sense and get a veterinarian clearance before grooming pets in extremely poor conditions, and remember they can develop reactions after grooming. If you are not an experienced qualified to groom neglected pets, please do not enter this contest.

  1. The quality of the grooming is important, but we are not solely judging grooming. In fact, only 25% of the overall score shall be applied to quality of grooming. We allow entries for cats, but dogs are certainly more appropriate and likely to show the wonders of grooming. Experience has shown that cats are not as likely to pose for the camera, but maybe you can find the exception.

  2. Your choice of subject shall be valued at 50% of your overall score. Select a pet that really needs grooming badly as we are looking for miraculous recreations. The pet should look very happy after grooming. We are likely to favor the voting toward those groomers that go the extra mile to find pets that have little hope of being groomed. Remember you must have the permission of the pet owner or guardian to groom the pet, photograph the pet and enter the photographs in the contest.

  3. Your short story should communicate how you became the groomer of the pet, a description of its condition and any special pre-grooming procedures such as your observation of its condition and appropriateness to be groomed. How did the pet come to be in such poor condition? Did you require a vet to check the pet before or after grooming? You can include some additional information about your career too, just stay within the 250 word maximum. Please avoid criticism of the pet owner for allowing the pet to become neglected for grooming and focus on the cure of the neglect.

  4. The quality of your photos and their composition is rated with 25% of your overall score. Background: Hang a clean plain colored sheet to cover "busy" grooming room backgrounds which distract from your art - the grooming! Pose: It is most effective to pose the identically pose the pet in the SAME position for both the before and after shot. Try to duplicate the pet's position identically! Take both shots from the exact same distance! Pets usually look better posed on tables rather than the floor. Black dogs need lots of light, lots! Otherwise the black areas lack definition and may come out looking like a pen and ink silhouette drawing. Pictures of poor quality including blurry, fuzzy, marked, overly low resolution, off color, etc. will be scored low for photo quality and composition.

Find A Groomer, Inc.
Attn: Customer Service
P.O. Box 2489
Yelm, WA 98597
Email Address: findagroomer@earthlink.net

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