Before and After Japanese Grooming Makeovers on Adorable Dog Portraits

Hairy, a delightful dog haircut portrait series by animal photographer Grace Chon, was first released two years ago. In charming before-and-after images, the collection shows cute dogs evolve from scrawny puppies to flawless pooches. Chon has now expanded the collection, documenting over 30 canines and their transformations.

The Hairy series focuses on a style that prefers unconventional cuts and forms above traditional trimmings. “The dogs have been groomed in a Japanese Grooming Style,” Chon explains to My Modern Met, “which does not follow the standards of traditional, breed-standard grooming.” “In truth, it just has one goal: to make dogs as cute as possible!” Each doggie makeover flawlessly showcases the particular charming traits of each dog, from teddy-bear faces to groomed fluffy paws. “I was immediately attracted by Japanese dog grooming when I got the idea of capturing a before-and-after series of dog haircuts,” Chon says, “since my objective is to convey the dog’s personality in my work.”

Chon collaborated on the project with a variety of professional groomers from Healthy Spot, LA, all of whom exhibited exceptional ability and aptitude. Each look took about two hours to produce due to the majority of the style being done by hand scissoring. The scruffy puppies can hardly see out from behind their enormous fur in several of the before images. The same pups are virtually unrecognizable in the after images, posing proudly as freshly pampered pets. “With so much craziness going on in the world,” Chon adds, “I love sharing cheerful material that gives people a moment to pause and smile.”

Puppy Styled: Japanese Dog Grooming: Before & After is the title of a book based on this beautiful series, and it’s now available on Amazon. Visit Chon’s website for additional work from the photographer.

Hairy, a series by animal photographer Grace Chon, depicts dogs before and after they get Japanese-style haircuts.