Those canine champions you see parading around the show ring on television are the superstars of the canine world. They are as highly trained and physically conditioned as professional human athletes, meticulously preparing for this role every day of their life. As they progress through the different levels of competition, they are judged by how close they come to their breed standard, the ideal of perfection written by the national breed club and accepted by the AKC. This standard defines a particular breed's coat quality and color, teeth, gait, temperament, and even its jaw or the color of its nose. Many show dogs live in kennels, and even when they are beloved family pets, they spend much of the year on the show circuit with professional handlers. In other words, while they are competing in conformation — being judged for their physical structure and beauty — show dogs and pet dogs live in two different worlds, and they are groomed differently as well.

Show coats on most breeds are treated with a vast array of products, including hot oil treatments and conditioners, to keep them in tip-top shape. The coats of Yorkshire terrier and shih tzu champions are wrapped in rice paper with elastic bands to keep the hair from breaking and tangling between shows, while the coarse coats of some terrier-breed show dogs are hardened with chalk as they are prepared for competition.

Like those who groom for show, pet groomers also work hard to make dogs look their best, but their goal is to please the pet owner, not the show judge. The groomer's expertise stems from a wide-ranging knowledge of dog breeds and their standards and the skill level to interpret these styles on individual pet dogs. The velvety smooth perfection they achieve with their scissors on a poodle or bichon coat takes years of practice, as does the dashing sharply styled precision you see on a well-groomed terrier. Like show groomers, pet groomers sometimes use their grooming skills to camouflage a particular dog's faults — for example, taking a dog that is too long in the body or short in the leg and making it appear well-proportioned.

Can you groom your own dog yourself? Yes and no. You can certainly keep its coat mat-free. If it is a coated breed that calls for very little in the way of trimming, you can learn to do it yourself. A set of electric clippers will be needed for ear-shaving on the Yorkie and silky terriers and should be used to clean out the feet on breeds that grow copious hair between their pads. For sanitary reasons, clippers may also be used to keep the area around the anus and genitals neat and tidy.

If you learn how and when to hand-strip, you can groom your Border, Australian, Norwich or Norfolk terrier as well as your Brussels griffon or affenpinscher. If you keep its hair long and brush religiously, you can also groom your Lhasa apso, Pekingese, Coton de Tulear, Havanese, and Bolognese. The same holds true for the shih tzu and Maltese, but you will need to learn how to tie up their topknots. For long-coated breeds, a good set of grooming shears, preferably with curved blades, will be needed to trim the feet round but never short enough to see the toenails. A good set of thinning shears will help you keep hair out of the eye corners and thin out excess feathering on many breeds. You'll need time, knowledge of the proper styling, and skill to properly groom a long-coated dog.

Most people can learn to shave a dog down with clippers, a style that groomers call a strip, but fuller scissored haircuts on any breed are best left to the professional groomer. It's not that different from getting your own hair-cut. You could do it yourself, but it looks far more attractive when done by a trained professional.

Breeds that require the expert touch of a professional groomer are the poodle, bichon, West Highland white, Scottish terrier, Sealyham terrier, wire fox terrier, Lakeland terrier, Welsh terrier, Dandie Dinmont terrier, and miniature schnauzer. Short and smooth-coated small dogs are the easy keepers in the bunch. If you bathe and brush them regularly and master the job of cutting their nails, you'll have yourself a do-it-yourself pet.