“This costs a lot of money,” a dog handler tells me on the floor of the Javits Center. Nearly 3,000 four-legged competitors, and thousands more spectators, have gathered at the Hell's Kitchen hub for preliminary judging, obedience, and agility competitions at this year’s Westminster Dog Show. Ahead of their turns prancing around the turf-coated rings, the dogs—which include oodles of standard poodles, bichon frisés, pugs, and a couple more exotic breeds like the Mexican Xoloitzcuintli (a hairless thing)—get their locks blown out, straightened, and teased by teams of handlers up to three people deep. (The hairless breeds, meanwhile, get their skin oiled.) Hair ties and Pantene hairspray sit in their single-file booths alongside trunks of collars and itty-bitty tiaras.
Once in front of the judges, the dogs are set against their ideal breed standard. Is the hair perfectly coiffed? The leg and snout pointed just so? The competitors have a level of poise worthy of the red, or in this case purple, carpet. And while many beauty writers might be chasing celebrity stylists down on the award circuit this month, we’re taking you inside the real hair show of the season. Who amongst us wouldn’t want such lusciously flowing locks?
Below, you’ll find a few prize-winning tips for maintaining your own mane, as well as a few other tricks, culled from these expert sources.
Daniel, Standard Poodle, 5.5 years old
CULTURED: How does the dog get his hair into those elaborate styles?
Human spokesperson: Our bubbles [make him look] a little bit sassy. We do put the hair up because they were supposed to be water dogs a long time ago. Now they’re pets, but all the hairs protected their joints and it was easier to swim.
You have to be careful with not pulling the eye shape. We don't want to change their eye shape, we want it to look like an almond. We do usually use combs and ties, so it's more comfy to work with the dogs and there’s no knots on it. I like a pewter comb.
Zilver, Xoloitzcuintli, 3 years old
CULTURED: Does the dog have a moisturizing tip he could share?
Human spokesperson: As far as keeping his skin in condition, sunshine helps. They do get tan and get tan lines, but the sun keeps their skin healthy. I also keep things simple. I use a white vinegar and water wash and vitamin E oil and sometimes the old brown Listerine and water mix, as an antibacterial, but I try to keep not a lot of products on him, to keep things simple and not clog his pores.
CULTURED: Is there a relaxation routine that he likes?
Human spokesperson: Well, he loves to play [with] toys. Give him a toy and he'll destroy it in two seconds. He likes to chase his sister around the yard—not his true sister, but his housemate.
Biscotti Rose, English Sheepdog, 4 years old
CULTURED: What tip can she give us for blown out hair?
Human spokesperson: Most of it is just keeping her very clean and brushing her out a few times a week. When you get to the shows, we usually use hairspray underneath to get the [volume] and then we just tease everything. [We use] Podium.
CULTURED: Does the dog have a favorite relaxation routine?
Human spokesperson: She's pretty relaxed as it is.
Miss Belle, Afghan Hound
CULTURED: Does the dog have a beauty tip she could share?
Human spokesperson: She is perfect. Her coat is very easy to maintain. We condition her once a week. She uses Pantene Repair and Protect. We like that a lot—it just makes her very silky. You want to deep condition it once in a while. Almost like humans!
CULTURED: What's her favorite accessory?
Human spokesperson: A snood. It keeps her ears out of the water or off the ground when you're walking her, out of her food. It’ll help the ears grow very long.
Top Speed Neil, Bichon Frisé, 5 Years Old
CULTURED: Does the dog have a beauty tip he could share?
Human spokesperson: Neil has a pretty extensive routine. He gets a bath every day at the show with special shampoo, no conditioner though. You don't want him too soft. And then once he's wet, we use Barbasol in his legs to help give him body and thickness, and then we move on to drying. He's been in this country now for over a year, but he comes from China.
Nacho, Standard Long-Haired Dachshund, 3 years old, Hound Group Finalist
CULTURED: Does the dog have a beauty tip they could share?
Human spokesperson: You have to make sure that you blow dry the way the hair grows. Don't blow backwards.
Soga, Standard Poodle, Son of Siba: 2020 Westminster Kennel Club Best in Show Winner
CULTURED: Does the dog have a beauty tip he could share?
Human spokesperson: He's getting groomed every week. Using conditioners carefully, you have to brush. When you're brushing, you have to make sure that when you're parting the hair you can see the skin, because too often you think you have it brushed, but it's matted down at the base of the skin or it's starting to matte. A lot of the human products work perfectly on dog coats, but we also have a lot of different brands that we use. Here's one: Caviar. I've used it on my hair, when I had hair.
CULTURED: Does he have a favorite relaxation routine?
Human spokesperson: He's really easygoing. It doesn't take much to keep him happy.
CULTURED: A favorite accessory for him?
Human spokesperson: I would say a squeaky toy—to grab on it and squeak it and chew on it and throw it in the air. He likes to go out and just play. His mother used to play with our kids all the time and even go into the water of the lake like. She had no problem being in full show coat.
Matilda, Australian Shepherd, 5 Years Old
CULTURED: Does the dog have a beauty tip she could share?
Human spokesperson: One of the products that I really, really love is called One Straight Hair because we want to have a beautiful white [coat].
CULTURED: Does she have a favorite relaxation routine?
Human spokesperson: She's addicted to Netflix. It's funny because she's extremely powerful, we play a lot, she loves ball and frisbee. [But] the minute she's in the house, she loves when I [turn on] Netflix. She goes on the couch and watches her little movies.
Tony, Brussels Griffon, 3 Years Old
CULTURED: Does the dog have a beauty tip him could share?
Human spokesperson: I'm blow drying him and notice how I'm bringing the blow dryer up and back rather than blow drying his hair against the grain. If I do that, he's going to get flyaways. If I blow dry it backwards, his coat will stay nice and flat. It's a double-coated breed.
Grant, Giant Schnauzer, 2 Years Old
CULTURED: Does the dog have a beauty tip he could share?
Human spokesperson: Yes, I would say for this specific type of hair, when you're drying it, you want to use a Dyson dryer, commonly what they have in hair salons. It reduces the amount of frizz that a regular hair dryer would produce.
CULTURED: Does he have a favorite relaxation routine?
Human spokesperson: I wouldn't say it’s something that he does consistently, but he loves chewing up his toys and running around the yard.
CULTURED: Does he have a favorite accessory?
Human spokesperson: Yeah, probably his coat. It's a purple one. You put it on and it ensures that the hair lays flat.
Riptide, Portuguese Water Dog, 4 Years Old
CULTURED: Does the dog have a beauty tip he could share?
Human spokesperson: You want to blow them out, have a good body, but then you want to [add] wave and curl back because we have the two different coat textures. This coat's obviously more wavy, then this other one’s the tighter curl, so you actually scissor them differently. After we comb them out and get them all dry, we'll actually add moisture back into it and then that'll make a nice pretty wave finish. I'll even add some of this bodifier stuff to it that works really well. It's like a foam. His daddy was a famous dog from 30 years ago.
CULTURED: Does he have a favorite accessory?
Human spokesperson: Not really an accessory, but he likes to get into things. When he was a puppy, he ate drywall. So we like to learn about barriers. But as far as everything else goes, you can't survive without a comb.
Kilty, Scottish Terrier, 2.5 Years Old
CULTURED: Does the dog have a beauty tip she could share?
Human spokesperson: Well, what she's standing on is something that we use for lots of different reasons, but this helps build the core muscles and the back muscles from standing on things. If I turn this way, it's gonna tense up this side. It helps build her balance and helps keep her strong. The bigger dogs use something called fit paws, and they're balance devices like a pillow with air in it. They put their front feet on the one and then the back feet on the other, and they stand and you throw treats and it helps build up all their strength, so it's like core exercises. We do abdominal exercises and so do they. But they also all run on a treadmill.
CULTURED: Does she have a favorite accessory?
Human spokesperson: She loves little fuzzy mice. She brings it in the ring.
Sandy, Wirehaired Pointing Griffon, 2 Years Old
CULTURED: Does the dog have a beauty tip she could share?
Human spokesperson: Something about the breed, their hair is supposed to be like wire, so it's all about texture. They're shown very rough and the more natural the better, and of course their beard is something that they're known for. [The dog uses TRESemmé hairspray to add texture.]
CULTURED: Does she have a favorite relaxation routine?
Human spokesperson: She's very active because they are in the sporting group, so they like to have something to do. She actually hunts birds when she is at home.
Serena (Timberknoll's Queen of the Court for SeaWorthy), Newfoundland, 2.5 Years Old, Best of Opposite Sex Winner
CULTURED: Does the dog have a favorite accessory?
Human Spokesperson: Serena's parents came to Westminster a couple of years ago and her mother was actually pregnant with Serena at that time—Amelia is the mother's name—and she had these pearls that she wore. So when she found out we were coming here, she sent us her set of pearls for Serena to wear for good luck.
CULTURED: Does she have a beauty tip they could share?
Human Spokesperson: The top tip is don't let it get ahead of you.
Denali, Giant Schnauzer, 3 Years Old
CULTURED: How do you get her eyebrows and facial hair perfectly trimmed?
Human Spokesperson: You go to the corner of the eye to the tip of the nostril, where the muzzle is, and you kind of try to draw a diagonal line. Every dog is different, so you do it in steps where if you make a mistake, it's not, you know, a bad one. And you use a really sharp, straight sheer, and you make sure that the eyebrow is blown out straight. Eyebrows can get cowlicks and stuff in them. Hopefully it comes out and just don't make such a mistake that it's a week-long bald spot. Their skin is white underneath.
CULTURED: And you can cover the bald spot with a Sharpie?
Human Spokesperson: You didn’t hear that.
