Mention “extreme grooming” and “Poodle” in the same sentence, and you might conjure up images of Poodles dyed in multiple colors, or even groomed to look like a different species.

Today’s groomer has nothing on his or her predecessors. In Louis XVI’s time, French dog barbers cut a variety of shapes into the coats of their clients’ Poodles, and they did it without a shaver, let alone electricity. From lovers’ knots and coats of arms, to monograms and a stylized lily with three petals  (the fleurs-de-lis), the art of trimming Poodles became extremely decorative. The dogs were even given mustaches, imperials (small pointed beards), or high pompadours that resembled the hairstyles worn by ladies of the royal court.

The trend may have had its height of popularity during Louis’ reign, but it didn’t completely vanish.  Rachel Sassoon Beer, the first woman to edit a national newspaper in Britain at a time when women didn’t even have the right to vote, had the family’s French Poodle, “Zulu,” groomed to display the family crest in his coat.  Authors, Eilat Negev and Yehuda Koren write in their book, “The First Lady of Fleet Street: The Life of Rachel Beer: Crusading Heiress and Newspaper Pioneer, “After shaving a large patch on the dog’s back, the premier London dog clipper, Mr. W. R. Brown of Regent Street, used his battery of machine clippers, razors and scissors of every shape and size to clip into Zulu’s fur the pelican‘s upright wings, hovering over four open-beaked nestlings. It is difficult to imagine the intricacy of the work, especially when it came to adding in the motto, “Rien suns Peine.”  Zulu was driven in a carriage to Mr. Brown once a month so that the crest could be renewed, and the price for the com-
plex pattern was equivalent to two weeks’ salary for a copying clerk or a general laborer.”

Over a hundred years later, and we’re still doing it.

Sometimes called a “pet tattoo” or a pet patch, groomers now have marvelous tools with which to do the job.  Whether the resurrection of the craft started with Taiwanese pet groomers who can trim a teddy bear into a dog’s coat, or competitive groomers on this side of the ocean, we don’t know. What we do suspect is that whatever else anyone thinks about it, it’s an art that takes skill.

Image: Pink Poodle Car image found on Pinterest and happily credited upon receipt of information