Elgin couple come up short on 'Pooch Perfect' finale
While an Elgin couple competing in the finale of the dog grooming competition show “Pooch Perfect” didn't win, they still felt like they came out way ahead.
Alyssa Kasiba and Justin Dorn made it to the final three teams of the ABC network series hosted by Rebel Wilson, which aired Tuesday night. At a watch party with about 50 friends and family at Village Squire in West Dundee, everyone found out what they already knew — they didn't take home the $100,000 grand prize.
“The journey to get there was winning in its own,” said Kasiba, who says she battles anxiety. “I fought against myself the whole entire time, and that was what we went there to do, not beat someone else but just beat myself from the last challenge.”
“I'm so proud of what we accomplished and what we did,” she said.
The Elgin couple also got engaged on the penultimate episode last week, when Dorn surprised Kasiba with a proposal on the “Dog Walk” stage.
“That was win on it's own,” she said. “The fact that I was there with him and that was the start of a new journey for us was just amazing.”
The couple opened their own mobile grooming company, Simply Diffurent, in February of last year before having to quickly shut down due to the pandemic. They started back up in last summer and said the business has gained traction from the publicity of being on the show.
Dorn found another bright side to being on the program.
“This is the first time a lot of Americans are going to see creative grooming, and that's her world and something she just loves to do and there's nobody on this planet who could have showed it the way she did,” he said.
Friends and family at the watch party couldn't believe they didn't win the final challenge, which was to groom a dog to represent who the contestant is. Kasiba and Dorn carved the fur on one side of the dog with the faces of their five dogs at home and the other side had Kasiba's face and imagery representing her life.
“I'm beyond proud of my daughter and Justin,” said Holly Kasiba. “I just cry every time I watch them because she used to be such a shy, introverted child. This has really helped her along the way and I couldn't be prouder.”