Creative dog grooming is especially popular in Asia, but is becoming more and more prevalent in Europe and the States as well. See some pics of Barkleigh's Creative Styling Contest 2009 (Pasedena, CA).

A woman looks at photographs of dogs to choose a pet to rent at Puppy The World on January 24, 2009 in Tokyo, Japan. Rent-a-dog is becoming increasingly popular amongst people who love dogs but are unable to look after a pet full time due to limited living space or long working hours. Customers pay the dog-rental outlet around 2500 yen (32.5 USD) for an hour, and usually take their rented pet for a walk along the nearby beach. (Photo by Junko Kimura/Getty Images)

Anamal photographer Ren Netherland travels thousands of miles across America to creative dog grooming competitions every year. He captures the dogs with their striking designs – which include characters from Disney, Star Wars and Sesame Street.

Photo: A dog with a half tiger and half elephant design at a creative grooming competition in Hershey, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Ren Netherland/Barcroft Media). P.S. To see the first part, use please the “Creative dog grooming” tag.

A police officer jump ropes with a police dog at a police dog training base on July 11, 2011 in Beijing, China. The Police Dog Training Base was opened to a media visit to show the dogs skills to the public. (Photo by ChinaFotoPress/Getty Images)

“Photographer Seth Casteel has definitely taken animal photography to new heights – or depths – with his hilarious photos of dogs chasing balls underwater. Casteel, who, naturally, has two dogs of his own (a mini Labradoodle and a Norwich terrier), said that he's drawn to underwater dog photography because the photos show a side of dogs that people may have never seen before”.

Photo: Seth Casteel Underwater Dog Pictures (Photo by Seth Casteel)