From Brazil With Love

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IT’S A DOGS WORLD

The Dog From Ipanema, Four Decades Later

This Year Marks the 40th Anniversary of The Dog From Ipanema, Founded in Coral Gables in 1986. Which Means That Proprietor Jarbas Godoy and His Team Are Now Grooming the Dogs of Their Loyal Customers’ Children, and Maybe Even Grandchildren.

That kind of customer fealty is a long way from the uncertainty that surrounded the shop’s opening 40 years ago. Owner Jarbas Godoy, a Brazilian dog groomer who had previously run a shop in his home country, came to South Florida and took a job at a Coconut Grove grooming salon while still learning English. Four years later, the salon’s owner announced she was closing the business in 30 days. “I had just bought my first home and my first used car,” Godoy says. “Suddenly, I had no job.”

One of the salon’s clients, Julie Fields, noticed that Godoy – normally cheerful and affable – seemed unusually quiet. She asked what was wrong and he explained. Fields left and returned several hours later with a $5,000 check. “This is not a gift. This is a loan,” Godoy recalls her saying. “Go rent a place and open your own spot.”

His first answer was no, but Godoy reconsidered during his hourlong commute home. “I was thinking, ‘Are you crazy? Somebody’s trying to help you, and you just said, ‘No,’” Godoy says. “There were no cellphones in the ’80s, so when I got home, I got on the phone and called Mrs. Fields.

Godoy found an old warehouse in the Gables (back when the city still had a warehouse district) and used nearly the entire check for the security deposit, installing much of the salon himself. The Dog from Ipanema opened in July 1986 and remained in Coral Gables for 22 years before relocating to South Miami, across from the Gables on Red Road.

From the beginning, Godoy wanted the salon to be cleaner and more open than grooming shops he’d encountered. He had scrubbed walls and cages at his former workplace without being asked because he couldn’t stand the idea of placing a freshly washed dog in a dirty space. At The Dog from Ipanema, he kept the work area visible and invited clients to watch. “We’re proud of what we do. There’s nothing to hide here,” he recalls telling them.

The salon offers washing, brushing, de-matting, and breed-specific haircuts, with doodles among its most time-consuming clients. A large doodle can take more than an hour to wash, another hour to dry, and additional time to comb before the haircut begins. Haircuts for smaller dogs start at about $100, and appointments can run three hours. For owners who prefer not to leave, the salon also offers express washing, drying and grooming while they wait.

Godoy says one of his secrets is training staff to speak to the dogs by name throughout their appointment, particularly when they seem anxious or need more time. “For a dog, their name means a lot,” he says. His attention now is on that staff carrying the business forward, including longtime groomers helping train newer employees. No longer at the salon every day, Godoy remains in close contact. “Hopefully, they’ll be able to keep the dream going for a long time,” he says.

The Dog From Ipanema
7230 SW 57th Ave
305.663.1712

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Other Groomers in the Gables: