Haircut for a star

Mama Bear is now a little more bare.

The 2-year-old Dutch sheepdog, a resident at the Nebraska Humane Society, was the beneficiary of a gratis grooming Monday by Jorge Bendersky, a former contestant on Animal Planet's first season of “Groomer Has It.”

Bendersky was in town for a seminar this week, and the grooming session, in front of a small crowd of mostly media, was held to raise awareness of the importance of regular grooming for pets.

Bendersky, who started showing dogs at 11 and has been grooming professionally for 16 years, spent about two and a half hours helping bathe Mama Bear and getting mats out of her fur before the grooming session commenced. Sheepdogs are prone to matting, said Humane Society spokeswoman Pam Wiese, and must be regularly groomed.

Through the snipping and buzzing, Mama Bear took everything in stride.

“Good girl,” Bendersky crooned as he brushed, and the dog wagged her tail.

She didn't even flinch when Bendersky started grooming her face.

“I know there's a face underneath,” he said. “Everyone has one.”

A clean dog is a healthy dog, Bendersky said.

“Every pet owner should know the basics and importance of good grooming,” he said.

Bendersky was brought to Omaha by Jeanne Caples, co-owner of Forever Stainless Steel and Jeanneworks.

Caples's Omaha-based company supplied the grooming bathtubs and tables for the “Groomer Has It” series, which is how Caples and Bendersky met.

Once the grooming session was over and a yellow bandanna had been tied around her neck for a finishing touch, a considerably less-fuzzy Mama Bear gamboled happily.

“I think she needs a more glamorous name now,” Bendersky said. “But we'll leave that for her ‘forever' owner.”