Three's a Crowd

Episode 11 recap: “Down to Business”

Jorge and Jonathan wait back at the Dog House to find out who was sent home. Both think it will likely be Kathleen because of the issue with forgetting the Kwik Stop, and when Artist is the one to reappear, their suspicions are confirmed. Artist says what put Kathleen and him in the bottom was not just about the nail powder, but also about the customer not being satisfied overall and all it takes is one complaint to ruin any word of mouth for your business. Lessons learned – now, as Jorge points out, “It’s all up to the boys.”

The next morning, Nemo delivers a message about the forthcoming Quick Sniff challenge, which suggests that it’s, “Time to get down to business.” The groomers are instructed to get their grooming kits and meet Jai at a local dog park, where they discover just exactly what business is at hand. Each groomer will have to set up a grooming lemonade stand of sorts in one of three locations in the park: near the entrance, dead center, and near the end. They will have 30 minutes to decorate their stands, including setting prices as they see fit, and then three hours to drum up as much business as possible.

Jonathan gets first dibs on location as his reward for winning last week’s Grooming Challenge, and he opts for the center square under the assumption everyone will have to pass his station at some point in the day. Jorge is positioned near the entrance and Artist brings up the rear.

The groomers get to work on setting up their stands. Jorge’s strategy is to try and grab as many people as possible when they first arrive, and he also in the only one to implement a “suggested donation” policy versus set prices. Jonathan decides to go for “New York” prices, with everything falling in the $5 to $10 range. Artist thinks his stand is in the worst position possible and opts for luring clients with discount prices. He ponders, “How much should I charge for cleaning the anal glands… squeezing a dog’s butt…smells like rancid poop… three dollars!” Quite frankly, I don’t know that you could pay me enough to do that, though then again, I also have a really difficult time just changing my niece’s diaper.

All three groomers remain busy throughout the three hour session. Jorge’s donation strategy seems to be lucrative at first with many $20 bills filling the bowl, but then people start nickel and diming him (literally). Jonathan has a line of clients, including one who stiffs him with the old “I left my money in my car, I’ll be right back” trick, despite the fact that he threw in training tips for free. Artist deals with a few biters but plays up his personality while working the crowd.

Jai calls time and tallies the money, and the totals are very close: Artist nets $200, Jorge earns $186.40, but Jonathan takes home the top prize with $230. All of the money earned will be donated to the dog park, and of course Jonathan will get the leg up in tomorrow’s Grooming Challenge.

The groomers gather early the next morning at an agility course on a farm, where they watch Flynn, a Border Terrier, demonstrate how it’s done. The Grooming Challenge this week is not to run the Terriers through the course, but instead cleaning and grooming them after they’ve finished their runs. This not only leaves the Border Terriers quite dirty, but on top of that this breed must also be hand stripped to keep their wire coat intact. Jonathan gets to choose his dog first, thought Artist thinks he picked the easiest one to work with from the bunch. Artist is also the only one of the three who has never hand stripped before, but he vows to give it everything he’s got.

Back in the salon, the groomers get to work on the dogs, which sport a short, dense undercoat covered by short, wiry guard hairs. Hand stripping is essentially a process where the hair of the dog is pulled out without breaking too many of the guard hairs, and the action doesn’t hurt the dog because it’s not in the skin like human hair.

It takes Artist some time to find his groove and then his hand cramps up. Jorge’s dog is on the younger side and whining a bit for cookies. Jonathan says the dogs were absolutely filthy after being on the course but they shouldn’t be washed until after the stripping is complete.

Xavier swings by as the groomers are finishing up their work to assess their progress. He stops by Jorge’s table, grilling him about whether or not it’s right to hand strip while the dog is wet. With Jonathan, Xavier does his best spin on Dirty Harry, asking him, “Are you feeling pretty confident right now?” (though he should have added the “punk” for effect). Artist is his last stop, and of course for this groomer, hand stripping is an entirely new playing field. Xavier warns him to pay attention to his technique so he doesn’t break the coat.

Time is called and the groomers head to the judging arena to show their work. Jonathan is up first and he’s adamant that he deserves to make it to the top two. Dr. Halligan wonders if there are some broken hairs on his dog, and Xavier notes the dog’s head is a bit sparse. Joey asks why Jonathan picked that particular dog and whether or not he had the easiest dog. Jonathan argues that he actually had the most difficult dog because it had the thickest coat.

Jorge is next with his dog Marley. Dr. Halligan asks how he feels he did while pointing out some bald spots. Joey says there’s still a lot of undercoat and asks Jorge if he feels there’s anything he could have done better. When Jorge notes he could have used more time, especially when dealing with what essentially is a puppy, the judges beg to differ.

Artist is the last one to go before the judges and is hoping it’s not terribly obvious that this was his first time hand stripping. He admits that he could have improved on his technique but feels like he did well for his first time.

The judges deliberate, noting that Jonathan had the easiest dog to make pretty, but the most difficult coat. Jorge is criticized for not managing his time as well as he could have and using it as an excuse for some of the questions behind his work. Artist is given kudos around the board for learning quickly and while Joey doesn’t particularly care for his method, he does praise him for giving the dog a good shape, particularly considering this was his first time out of the gate. And so it is the hand stripping novice Artist that takes top prize this week, earning his way to the Groomer Has It finals. Upon hearing the decision, Artist channels Kayne West, exclaiming, “I touch the sky!”

Either Jonathan or Jorge will be joining him, and the judges have deemed that it will be Jonathan who moves forward. Jonathan and Artist say their goodbyes to Jorge, and then punch it in to celebrate their win. Jai reminds them that the next time they stand before the judges, one will be declared the winner, and it’s imperative they bring all their skills to the table in order to nab the prize of Groomer of the Year.

Though he’s clearly disappointed to leave, Jorge says that the competition has been the greatest experience of his life. He seems excited to get back to his work in New York, and who can blame him? In the Big Apple, he’s a rock star – I mean, come on, he’s Jorge after all!

What did you think of tonight’s episode? Who would you have sent home, and who are rooting for between the final two? It’s all come down to this – let me know your thoughts before the big finale next week!

Comments

[koree]

I don't think that Artist dislikes the dogs (animals in general) at all. I believe that he cares more about them than people probably give him credit for. Different people just have different techniques when it comes to handling animals, but what I think is important is that Artist has already recognized once that he has to be more considerate of the dogs and is willing and trying to improve with the criticism he's been given (See the Pet-Psychic episode). Look at how well he handled Teddy with all of the sores and tangles that poor dog had!

I disliked a lot of the groomers for their attitudes (We had a lot of Divas, both male and female), and I even disliked Artist for a while, but if you're paying attention it's always Artist that's looking to actually -learn- from these experiences. It's always Artist that's taking on the CHALLENGES instead of doing the easy-out (*cough Jonathan cough*). Artist is the only one out of the final four that was selfless and willing to risk being eliminated in the adoption challenge (even Jonathan seemed to be disgusted by the idea of Artist going home. He earned some respect back from me for -that- one bit. It was one of the only times, in my opinion, that he really seemed to show concern for ANYONE other than himself.). He's a hard worker. He takes every bit of critisism with no argument and usually he takes it HARD, but instead of letting it beat him down and defeat his spirit he comes back twice and thrice as determined the next week.

Speaking strictly and completely from a biased -opinion- now: I think Artist is doing this for all the right reasons. He's coming up from a bad living situation and wants to make his life better, and life for those close to him. He wants to go down the RIGHT path instead of the one others around him have chosen, the "easy-out" path, and he's doing all of this with FOUR YEARS of experience! That's incredible! He's in the top two! He's beaten out a dozen other experienced groomers with just FOUR YEARS of experience and he's STILL growing! You GO, boy!

Jonathan might be good with the pets and know how to handle them, but I just think it's... well, it's grinding to hear him go on and on. Most of the time it sounds like the -only- thing he cares about is winning. This being a competition, yes, competitive spirit is great and important, and the point, but given what they're competing FOR? (Groomer of the Year) I think he just seems incredibly superficial and self-serving to me. He'll never be happy no matter who wins (unless of course it's himself), he's two faced, and personally I really think that all that contemptuous attitude and backstabbing is going to catch up with him.

The finals have come down to the Prince versus the Pauper, and personally I'm rooting wholeheartedly for Artist to win.

[stacy]

I think artist should win. Johnathan is very stuck up and hello he always chooses the easiest dog. If he grooms celeb's dogs what the heck does he need with the money or the fame why not have his celeb's brag about him being so great.I really think the artist haters are on here because there mad that there snobbish Johnathan will never be a fan favorite. Artist will always be our families groomer of the yr no matter who wins.

[BeekmanguyLarry]

IMPORTANT PRE-FINALE POSTING
I have been in the pet grooming industry for nearly 17 years. During that time I have had the privilege of working side by side with Jonathan on and off for over 12 years. During that time I have personally witnessed him groom thousands of dogs and in all that time he has not ever treated a dog in a harsh, rough or cruel manner. Even when working on a "difficult" dog, Jonathan has shown kindness, a strength of grooming knowledge and compassion and guided the dog through the grooming experience.
If he comes off as arogant on television, it is only because that is the way the reality show producers and director edit the finished product. He is a warm and loving person. Professionally, he is giving of his time to shelter dogs. I personally worked with him, without pay, at a charity event where we personally prepped dozens of dogs for a runway fashion show where we helped to raise one million dollars for the Animal Medical Center in NYC.
Jonathan is confident in his grooming capabilities which should NOT ever be confused with arrogance. He has a room full of gold medals from competitions all across the country and yet is kind and helpful to the younger more inexperienced groomers who are coming up through the ranks. He constantly helps them improve their technique and hence their confidence level. He knows what he's doing but is NOT full of himself.
Good luck to whichever gentleman wins tonight, but I felt the record needed to be set straight regarding some of the comments I havce read here about Jonathan. Best of luck to all!

[Kaye Eginton]

Nina, are we supposed to "enjoy the show" or feel like "puppets" for watching the show? You keep it in perspective if that is what you do for a living, etc. one would think you'd be a little more prone to encouraging us all to get into the show. I'm done, and for the record, I hope I never watch any show you've "worked" on!

[Nina from Las Angeles]

I hate to shatter the magical illusion, but having worked on plenty of "reality" shows in Hollywood, I have to remind you that this is TELEVISION folks!! To take anything--and I mean ANYTHING--you see on this show to heart is no different from running out to buy "Fat Blocker" pills because some two-bit, second rate actor on a late night commercial told you how well they work!! Seriously, do you not understand about the wonderful world of entertainment? Just because they call it a reality show doesn't make it reality! I know that one can be a shocker. But you need to understand that television isn't here for YOU--it's a business. And just like any other business, it does whatever it needs to succeed and make money (i.e. attract viewers.) Please remember that when you take your ideas about anything you saw on television into real life, you have turned into the perfect mindless consumer puppet. Even the judges didn't know what was really going on behind the scenes. Enjoy the show, but seriously, keep it in perspective...

[Kaye Eginton]

I agree with you. I'd love for Artist to win, he's so happy and genuine and I'd much prefer someone with a personality to win it that smug Jonathan. I always wanted Jorge to win but if not him then Artist.

[Meerkat]

Lulubell: They didn't just suddenly decide, for the next challenge HAD to have FOUR groomers. They had the challenges all planned out before the show was filmed.

Go Artist! I've loved him from the beginning [actually ever since I first saw him on the commercials, lol]. Some of my pals on the MM forums love him, too. He IS Groomer of the year.

Upset Owner and Poodle Owner are THE SAME PERSON. I don't think Artist ever worked at Petco. And I don't believe that you knew that person. You're just a disgruntled Jonathan fan.

In responce to one person's question, the reason they're so tough on Jonathan is because he has a ton of experience, and when experienced people make mistakes they're going to get some harsh criticism.

[Kaye Eginton]

I've read the other comments about Artist and Jonathan here and hands down, Jonathan has more practical experience and is a more professional groomer. Having said that, is this a competition or not? Shouldn't each episode be judged on it's on merit and not by who has the most experience? If it's simply a matter of the most experienced then why have a competition at all? I can't wait to see who wins, also, for those of you who are claiming the show is rigged then Jonathan should win because he's the best groomer and has been from the first episode.

[Zipzip]

I'm really routing for Artist! Johnathan is too money-money pride-pride. Artist is just himself. Plus, Artist cares for the dogs. He's not got much experience, but he really is a great groomer. With a few more years of experience, He'd be the BEST groomer, if he isn't already. If you read theis Artist YOU ROCK!! Peace out.

[lulubell]

I think they decided long ago to give the win to Artist. Thats why he didn't get eliminated in the shelter episode. They suddenly decide no one is going home after the challenge leaves him last!? Sorry, but I think they fixed this long ago. Animal Planet, wonder if you could be charged with fraud?

[dogtirednj]

The purpose of the show is which "Groomer Has It" not which "Groomer Has Potential" It is not a personality contest. Artist may well be learning from each challenge, but he is obviously learning it from Jonathan since he watches and copies what Jonathan does in each challenge. If he wins, it will mean Animal Planet has reached an all new low. Not what I expect from a Discovery Network channel!

[apple]

Artist's gotta be the luckiest @#$% there is, if this show is not fixed. Take a look at the history of each week's contest:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Groomer_Has_It

Artist has landed on the bottom 4 times, and he's still not eliminated! Show me another person who's achieved that? Tell me he's not getting preferential treatment?

[AussieBCGirl]

It is absolutely amazing to me how many fans there are of Artist. Can you guys not see how inappropriate and rough he is with animals? That is why he is regularly bitten. Animals do not bite because they are mean- animals bite when stressed by unfair treatment. And- they are the best judge of character. His westie bit him right away! He got bitten by the cat, the westie and a cocker spaniel (multiple times) in the latest episode. And- he constantly whines about it after bringing it on himself. I have no idea how a no talent hack got placed in front of Jorge and Kathleen. Although he turned on her pretty quickly when the chips were down for sure. There is no doubt he is entertaining- but he should put down the scissors and pick up a microphone- because he is not a groomer.
Jonathan has always acted in a professional manner with the animals. I would trust him with my dogs any day. He volunteers at the humane society- I don't hear anything about Artist doing that. There is no way I would leave one with Artist. He seems like a total fake and the show will be a joke in my eyes if he wins. So- GO JONATHAN- the only groomer left!

[Kaye Eginton]

Hey Epicsmom --- I don't care one way or the other but my guess would be overwhelmingly YES, he is, without a doubt in my mind.

[joe]

epicsmom - can't say that I am. I'm just wondering ;)

[Kaye Eginton]

I think that Artist has proven himself and risen among the ranks, he beat the others with his ability whether he learned it on the show or acquired it on his job. He demonstrates a genuine personality and cares about the animals as well as the people around him. Jonathan has so many personality disorders that I'm certain the only job he can get is working with animals and sometimes he's not even good at that. I hope which ever groomer wins shows some appreciation for the other one and uses the money and prestige to further his skills. Somehow I don't see Jonathan doing anything but a "I knew I'd win" kind of thing but if he's who the judges pick then they have no souls or caring for the animals. I will not watch this show next season because it's infantile but I did get hooked one night when they were showing a marathon of early episodes and I couldn't sleep.

[maryrose]

This show is so mixed up. The final has a real professional groomer competing against someone who doesn't know most breed standards, whose dogs bite him regularly because he is rough, to whom everything seems to be a first, and who probably works at the Humane Society because they do pay groomers. They are not all volunteers, though Jonathan is one. And humane societies just groom to clean up the rescues that are brought in, not breed grooming. My question is, "How did Artist ever end up in the final over Kathleen and Jorge and all the real groomers?" Is the criterion, "Who needs it the most?" or "Who deserves it because he is the best groomer?" If poor old clueless Artist wins this, it is a farce, no matter how many friends he has made and how much he could use the money and the van.

[Epicsmom]

Why Joe, interested?

[joe]

I'm just wondering if Jonathan is g-a-y?

[OJ]

I'll miss Jorge, his humor just made the show! Artist is inexperienced but seems very kind. Jonathan may be good, but he's just too full of himself -- sickening.

So it comes down to the "best" versus the "worst"?? Entirely too suspicious. This show is fixed, solely for entertainment, no doubt about it. The best groomer was Kathleen.

Will I watch the last episode? Absolutely. Will I watch next season? Probably not...

[go Jonathan go!]

GO JONATHAN GO!!!!!

Jonathan is HOT!!!!!!!!!!

[Lori]

I personally like overall, Artist. I feel he shows signs of caring and doesn't give up. I appreciate Jonathons skill but feel that he lacks in caring more for others than himself that kind of personality can't be penetrated. I am looking forward to the next television episode here in ST Croix, United States Virgin Islands. God Bless !

[Lori]

I personally like overall, Artist. I feel he shows signs of caring and doesn't give up. I appreciate Jonathons skill but feel that he lacks in caring more for others than himself that kind of personality can't be penetrated. I am looking forward to the next television episode here in ST Croix, United States Virgin Islands. God Bless !

[Bee]

What the heck are you talking about, Lara? There were two seperate posts about two distinct complaints. One complaint was Artist injuring a dog at his job at Petco and one was a complaint of Artist injuring a dog because of rough handling on a previous episode of this show. I understand why you are so blind when it comes to any criticism of your Artist.. You "love" him. Just please turn off your TV and get outside.

[Lara]

For some people that are putting down Artist

What kind of competitive groomer has never hand-stripped before?

Jonathan said that a lot of groomers don't know how to hand-strip because its a special skill so Artist did the best he could doing something he was never taught.

As for him being rough with the dogs I have only seen him do that once and he didn't realize he was doing it til it was pointed out and afterwards he felt terrible and did you see when he was hand stripping the dog how he said he the blade slipped and cut him so he was worried about cutting the dog so he went at a slower pace then the others.

He HAS handled them roughly before because he was thinking about time but hes also calmed down a lot as well...in the dog park he handled the dogs very well he was gentle with them.

He is a good person and has a big heart and I hope he wins.

I normally don't go out of my way to defend a person but I just love him and for the person saying he hurt their dog please come up with a better name you posted the same thing twice but under a different name but you weren't creative enough to try and come up with a better name.

Just my thoughts.