Bunbury poodle sets the standard at show

Bunbury dog groomer and breeder Jacqui Ainsworth and her 10-year-old standard poodle Flynn dominated the Perth Royal Dog Show last month, walking away from the ring with the titles of Best in Show, Best of Breed, Best Open in Show and Breeder of Best Exhibit in Show.

Ms Ainsworth, owner of the House of Artizan grooming salon, said it was unheard of for a 10-year-old to do so well.

“It’s kind of like having a supermodel who is 70 and still doing catwalks – the dogs are usually retired at about four,” she said.

Ms Ainsworth said the international judges who were flown in from Columbia and Portugal claimed Flynn, who was born and bred in Bunbury, was “perfect”.

She spent nine painstaking hours preparing three dogs for the show, which includes shaving down to the skin with a surgical blade on the day.

“With this amount of coat the scissoring has to be perfect and everything has to be perfect,” Ms Ainsworth said.

“We were up by 3.30am for our breed and group judging on the Friday and then we did it all again the next day.”

Flynn celebrated his win with an ice-cream and a trip to PETstock to choose new toys.