Elza Maulder and Carter in winning form at the Sulphur City Groomwars.
Nobody was more surprised than CHB dog groomer Elza Maulder when she heard her name called out as the winner of her class at last month's Sulphur City Groomwars.
Especially since she won a class she didn't know she was entered into - and she'd never competed before.
Mauldera, a professional dog groomer from Waipukurau, is studying for her master groomer qualifications, which involve four exams over four years.
Each exam covers both theory and practical stages - the practical involves grooming specific dog breeds to their exacting breed standards, to a time limit.
Maulder decided to enter the grooming competition to test how she performed under pressure.
Grooming competitions are not held very often and Sulphur City Groomwars, in Rotorua, attracted 80 entries with competitors from New Zealand and Australia, to test their skill under the eyes of international judges.
Maulder had entered the novice section of the contest, but the organisers had other ideas. Her work - honed in the tough world of dog showing - was already above novice standard so they told her they would be moving her up in the ranks.
Thinking that meant she was competing in the intermediate class, Maulder was blown away when her name was read out as the winner of the masters section.
She went on to take out Best of Group which meant having to return for Best in Show the next day.
Then, competing against seven other classes, she was named Best in Show.
"I was not expecting to take the whole thing out. I hugged Carter and then the crying started."
Carter is Maulder's American cocker spaniel - known in the dog show world as NZ Ch Ebonn Tiz 'n' All Black - Maulder's model for the Groomwars competition.
He's normally kept in pristine condition and shown by Maulder's children Alexis, 12, and Toby, 9, who are successful at a national level in junior handler classes.
For Groomwars Maulder had to let Carter's coat grow out.
"That was really hard," she said. "It made my scissor fingers itch, seeing him get untidy."
Maulder has always been involved with show dogs and began preparing and presenting her own dog - an English setter - at age 14.
"I've always thought that if you take on a pedigree dog and do conformation showing, you need to know how to present your dog."
Maulder went on to show great Danes, then took a break from her own showing regime while her children were little.
Four years ago Maulder went back to showing, with another great Dane, her children started doing junior handlers and then Carter was added to the family.
"Then my husband took on a dry-stock job and there were no cows for me to milk. I thought 'where do I go from here'?
"Then things fell into place. I started to help local dog groomer Vicky Jaques, then when she moved away I was able to take over her business.
"I have now been operating Stylish Grooming from Coughlan Rd, Waipukurau, for a year."
While becoming a master groomer involves studying the breed standards for four groups of pedigree dogs and learning to groom to those standards, most of Maulder's clients are household pets.
"A full groom includes a bath, blow-dry, nails clipped, ears cleaned and the dog clipped and styled to suit its lifestyle," Maulder says.
"A lot of my clients are rural and it's about the welfare and comfort of their dogs, keeping their coats free of knots, grass seeds, mud and bidibids.
"Even in the winter dogs can get matted, and wet matted coats hold in the cold. They need to be matt free and clean. Education can also be a big part of what I do."
Maulder's scissor fingers are itching once more this week, as Carter's coat has to grow for a grooming workshop coming up later this month.