05/18/2026
Hot Dog’s Pet Salon took on Intergroom in Secaucus, New Jersey this weekend… and wow, what a ride. 😂🐩
What started as an exciting competition weekend quickly turned into a reality show nobody asked for.
Friday night around 10pm, we nearly accepted our fate after hearing someone stomping around the “upstairs” of our VRBO… despite the listing saying “entire home.” Turns out there was a live-in maintenance guy in an upstairs apartment that absolutely nobody warned us about. So that was comforting. 😅
Saturday we hit the trade show, said hi to familiar faces, then headed back to bathe and prep Wager & Etta for competition day. Holly worked hard getting Wager runway-ready, but sometimes hair has its own opinions. Then came traffic, getting slightly lost in a new city, AND a groundhog launching itself in front of the car like it had a personal vendetta against groomers. We rolled into competition barely hanging onto our sanity and almost missing the whole thing entirely. 🚗💨🦫
By Sunday morning, Danielle woke up battling sciatica pain and could barely stand, let alone compete. But the team pushed through! Holly, Danielle, and Tina entered the tag team competition with Etta — who was competing for the VERY first time! And this was also Tina’s first grooming competition ever. No pressure or anything. 😂
Despite all the chaos, nerves, stress, traffic, haunted-VRBO vibes, and rogue wildlife… we had FUN. We received wonderful feedback from the judges and left feeling excited to keep learning and growing as a team.
Most importantly, Wager & Etta were absolute stars the entire weekend and were spoiled like the royalty they are. 👑🐩
Intergroom may not have gone exactly as planned… but it definitely gave us a weekend we’ll never forget.
