Tokyo has gone to the dogs.

In addition to seeing cherry trees in full bloom, the chief reason we visited Tokyo this month was to watch my son’s girlfriend, Maki, from Vancouver, compete in the World Olympics of Dog Grooming.

It’s not really called this, but that’s basically what it is. Professional groomers come from all over the world to groom dogs in order to garner prestige and walk away with a tall statue.

Maki is a groomer specializing in rescue dogs. She has a fondness for them and is, IMHO, a Dog Whisperer. She can chill a dog out just with her soothing voice.

Maki decided to compete in this year’s Fido Grooming Olympics, held today in Tokyo. Her first competition.

There were 44 dogs in today’s rescue grooming competition; each groomer was given one dog.

What dog you get is the luck of the draw. You may get a highly nervous, or highly neurotic dog, making the act of grooming significantly more difficult.

Maki was given a shivering Toy Poodle.

I won’t tell you how Maki fared until later in this story…. so keep reading.

In addition to groomers competing in five different grooming classifications this weekend, 950 vendors filled several halls of the Tokyo Convention Center with dog-related products.

Things like toothpaste for dogs, toothbrushes for dogs, leashes, dresses, kilts, perfumes, boots, bathing suits… You name it, somebody was here to sell it.

Thousands of Tokyo residents filled the Hall, pushing their pets in baby buggies. In fact, there were so many buggies that there were traffic jams in many aisles.

Back to the competition…..

Competitors were given three hours in which to wash their rescue pet, dry it thoroughly, and then groom the squirming, whining, shivering pooch.

Jason, my son, and Maki have a Lagotto Romagnolo, the Italian, truffle-hunting breed. His name is Archer.

To give Maki moral support at the Tokyo grooming competition, we created Team Archer…

We all wore Team Archer regalia…

Meanwhile, back in Aisle 6… in the commercial stalls…

And after three hours, the winners were announced….

Maki did not secure Gold, Silver or Bronze … but she got something more valuable. A sense of accomplishment.

Maki has such a strong social sense that she says that she was happy to compete and to be able to make one small rescue dog, a Toy Poodle named Butter, feel wanted for three hours of his life.

More tomorrow when it happens.

Jim