Bark Avenue

Maybe it’s because of The A-Team movie. We’re not sure. But Mohawks are apparently a popular request for local pet groomers. No less than seven local places have done them, the strangest of which are NorthSide Pet Hospital, which has done them for cats; Grooming Hut, which shaved a dog entirely except for the Mohawk; and Bark Avenue Grooming Salon, which has a regular poodle customer that gets a Mohawk every time and dyes it purple.

    This same place also has a guinea pig customer that they regularly dye rainbow colors, and a cat that they dye blue. (Always with pet-safe dyes, of course.)

Several places in town have experience giving cats the “lion cut,” but only emBARK has made a golden doodle (that’s a golden retriever-poodle mix) look like a llama.

Strange as it may be, this follows a national grooming contest trend in which people sculpt poodles to look like crazy animals such as a rooster, dragon, peacock, camel, horse, and (amazingly) a Teenage Mutant Ninja Poodle. Just Google them. It’s crazy.

Apparently they have regular grooming fun over at emBARK, because they’ve also braided the eyebrows of an Irish Wolfhound and send their regular customers home with similar easy-to-adjust surprises. Along with Paws & Claws, emBARK was also proud to admit that they occasionally paint pets’ toenails.

When we called these places asking what they have done, maybe we should have asked what won’t they do?