This is unbelievable. Leave a dog trapped in a hot car, kick it about or otherwise neglect the poor thing and you will quite rightly find yourself hauled before the magistrate pleading for clemency. And yet you can do this to a dog and be showered with prizes for it, even though it seems like equally mean behaviour and a pretty clear indicator of a psychiatric disorder. Ah well, at least some of the dogs in Groomed, by photographer Paul Nathan, seem pleased with their inventive new looks.

Nathan embarked on a mission to sniff out the most extreme and impressive feats of dog grooming at competitions and exhibitions. Special attention has been given to the work of the “creative” class of dog groomers, whose extreme clipper wielding and fur dying produce the most outlandish results, including a Disney-fied dog following in the paw prints of Pluto, and a poodle who just needs a giant water-squirting flower and a red nose before it can run away and join the circus. Groomed is published by Pelluceo and is available now.