At This Pet Shop, Dog Baths Come with Belly Rubs, Laughter, and Love

Perhaps the favorite activity of many dogs in Sorocaba, São Paulo (Brazil), is to go for a bath at the Rock Pet pet Salon. That’s because Hallen Almodovar, groomer and pet shop owner, treats his furry clients with special care.

In several Instagram videos, Hallen, 37, can be seen playing and rolling around with the dogs—even during baths.

In an interview with Amo Meu Pet (our Brazilian pet news website), he revealed that the videos convey exactly what everyday life is like at the pet shop.

Hallen has been in the pet business for 7 years. From the beginning, he always had in mind that putting a muzzle on a pet and forcing it to do something it didn’t want to do was out of thequestion.

And that was one of the reasons that led him to enter the profession.

One day, Hallen decided to take his dogs for a bath and grooming.

But when they returned home, in addition to being very scared, they also had some injuries.

According to him, the injuries weren’t due to mistreatment, but rather the groomers’ lack of experience handling the dogs.

“Today I understand: it’s as if the dog didn’t want to be groomed and yet people forced him to do it,” he told Amo Meu Pet.

After that, Hallen decided to take a grooming course—not to work in the field, but to better care for his own dogs.

After training a few times, the groomer managed to get great results. He says he was so happy that he decided to try his hand at this field.

“I was enchanted by this field,” he said.

From then on, Hallen began working as a freelancer in bathing and grooming. Passionate about the routine, he opened his own pet shop, Rock Pet, about three years ago.

His approach has always matched what’s seen in the videos: lots of fun, no forcing pets to do anything they don’t want to.

“It’s what I like to do. It’s the profession I want to have for the rest of my life,” he explains.

Hallen says he’s always worked with integrity—making sure to securely record all procedures at the pet shop.

Once, a dog owner asked to see the footage due to a delay in pickup.

When Hallen reviewed the footage, he found several fun moments and decided to post them on Instagram to show how his team works.

The videos went viral, and people were thrilled—leaving tons of positive comments.

“Guys, he deserves the Nobel Prize. What love, what joy, what sweetness.”

“This guy must be the dog’s favorite ‘pet shop uncle’”

“I wish our entire professional class worked like this, in a good mood and with love for what they do.”

You can follow the pet shop’s routine on Instagram by clicking here.