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OPAWZ at Spring Pet Expo 2025
April 18-20 • International Centre, Mississauga
- Creative grooming contests
- Expo-only deals
- Product giveaways at the show
Stay tuned for more info!
✱ Please note that at this time, event details may be subject to change.
Contest Prizes & Judging Rubric Coming Soon
Salon Creative Grooming Contest
Contest Judge: Isabella Jane Doblas Jones
Contest MC: Marcia Strong
— Contest Date & Time
Friday, April 18, 2025
- times TBD
— Entry Fee: $80
Sign-up deadline: April 4, 2024
— Equipment provided at contest venue:
- Grooming Tables
- Please contact us ahead of time if you require electricity
— Description:
- Open to contestants who have not placed in a past OPAWZ contest
- Designs should be able to be completed within 1-2 days in a salon setting
- Geared more towards more everyday designs done in salons rather than for extreme creative contests
— Acceptable breeds:
All purebred and mixed breeds of dogs are accepted.
— Rules
Props, accessories, decor objects
- Any additional costumes and/or accessories must not hinder the dog's ease of movement.
- Glues should be water-soluble and non-toxic.
- Use of duct tape, carpet tape or any other substance that pulls on the skin or hair to remove, is prohibited.
- Large or heavy objects placed on the dog are prohibited.
Final Presentation
- Participants will show their work on the stage.
- Tables provided must be protected from glue, glitter, colour, etc.
- Lights cannot be dimmed during performance.
- Smoke, confetti, streamers or explosive items are strictly prohibited.
Competition Conduct
- Only the contestant is permitted in the ring during the competition
- Dogs should not be left unattended
- Dog should be comfortable during the competition: Grooming loop should be comfortably fitted, dog should not be roughly handled.
— Judging Considerations
Entries will be judged on the following:
- Creativity and originality (50%)
- Technical execution and precision (30%)
- Overall visual impact (20%)
Technical Finish
- Correct usage of OPAWZ products: colour result is even and properly saturated
- Overall decorative application
- Quality of scissoring finish
- Clean clip lines
Well-executed design
- Easily recognizable design
- Shows or originality of concept
- Unique use of colour
Difficulty
- Intricacy of design
- Overall amount of work completed during the competition’s allotted time
- Only minimal coloring may be applied during the allotted time frame. Cannot cover more than 40% of the body.
*Some contest criteria may be subject to change. OPAWZ will notify participants ASAP if it happens.
Extreme Creative Grooming Contest
Contest Judge: Kathleen Sepulveda
Contest MC: Marcia Strong
— Contest Date & Time
Saturday, April 19, 2025
- times TBD
— Entry Fee: $125
Sign-up deadline: April 4, 2024
— Equipment provided at contest venue:
- Grooming Tables
- Please contact us ahead of time if you require electricity
— Description:
- Open to all contestants.
- Focused on creative colouring & coat sculpting/trimming.
- Groomers demonstrating quality grooming techniques, utilizing safe application of OPAWZ colors, accessories and contestant costumes and presentations.
- Dogs are to be pre-groomed and finished up at the contest venue with products that the contestants bring.
- Time will be allotted for decoration and application of products prior to presentations at designated time and place.
— Acceptable breeds:
All purebred and mixed breeds of dogs are accepted.
— Rules
Props, accessories, decor objects
- Any additional costumes and/or accessories must not hinder the dog's ease of movement.
- Glues should be water-soluble and non-toxic.
- Use of duct tape, carpet tape or any other substance that pulls on the skin or hair to remove, is prohibited.
- Large or heavy objects placed on the dog are prohibited.
Final Presentation
- Participants will show their work on the stage.
- Tables provided must be protected from glue, glitter, colour, etc.
- Lights cannot be dimmed during performance.
- Smoke, confetti, streamers or explosive items are strictly prohibited.
Competition Conduct
- Only the contestant is permitted in the ring during the competition
- Dogs should not be left unattended
- Dog should be comfortable during the competition: Grooming loop should be comfortably fitted, dog should not be roughly handled.
— Judging Considerations
Technical Finish
- Correct usage of OPAWZ products: colour result is even and properly saturated
- Overall decorative application
- Quality of scissoring finish
- Clean clip lines
Well-executed design
- Easily recognizable design
- Shows or originality of concept
- Unique use of colour
Difficulty
- Intricacy of design
- Overall amount of work completed during the competition’s allotted time
- Only minimal coloring may be applied during the allotted time frame. Cannot cover more than 40% of the body.
*Some contest criteria may be subject to change. OPAWZ will notify participants ASAP if it happens.
Model Dog Contest
Theme: Freestyle
Contest Judge: Nancy Bryson
— Contest Date & Time
Sunday, April 20, 2025
— Entry Fee: $50
Entry fee is per single entry. Multiple entries are allowed.
— Prize Presentation
The model dog award ceremony will be held on Sunday, April 20 at 2:30 pm. All competitors must be present at the contest ring by 2:15 pm.
There will be one Best in Class winner and one Honourable Mention.
— Rules
- This is a pre-groomed contest. You may deliver and set up your model dogs starting Saturday, April 19 at 10 am at the OPAWZ Booth.
- All model dogs must be completed and delivered to the contest stage by the deadline of April 20 at 1 pm. No late entries will be accepted.
- Model dogs must be fully groomed into a Freestyle style and ready to present to the judges by April 20, at 1pm.
- Model dogs must be purchased by competitors before the show. You may enter as many model dogs as you like.
Special Thank you 💖
Canadian Pet Expo
Contest Co-host