‘Have you been good?’ Santa asks our animal friends
Santa Tim protects his hands from nips with two pairs of gloves, but not leather ones, which can be mistaken for a chew toy. Santa Rick might drape a crimson blanket across his lap, with a nappy underneath to capture piddle. Santa Patrick has replaced candy canes with dog treats.
All say an extra Santa suit is required for a service that is in growing demand: Christmas photos with pets.
‘‘The number one thing we teach the Santas in our school is the owners are the parents, and the pets are the children,’’ says Tim Connaghan, aka Santa Tim, who lives on New York City’s Long Island and trains fellow St Nicks on the tricks of the trade when not doing gigs himself.
More than ever, Santas long accustomed to soothing crying children must also know how to handle wriggling critters – at animal shelter fundraisers, at mall photo sessions, and at office parties that allow family members of all sorts, including the fourlegged kind.
Not that Santas are ho-ho-hoing only to quadrupeds. Rick Rosenthal, owner of Northern Lights Santa Academy in Atlanta, once sat for a portrait with a hissing cockroach.
He also recalls a photo shoot with five birds – two on each arm, and one sitting on his head. ‘‘And when I got done, I had five nice white, wet goo spots on my suit.’’
Santa Curtis, at a mall in suburban Washington, DC, said the most unusual animal ever to perch on his ample lap was a house-trained duck. ‘‘But every Santa’s had a python or two.’’
On this night, the last of the mall’s ‘‘pet pictures with Santa’’ events this season, he was posing only with dogs and cats, as per mall rules.
Marina Cosmas waited in line
Washington, DC
carrying Dulce, a chihuahuadachshund mix, and Godiva, a chihuahua. She said she had taken her 5-year-old son for photos with Santa at the mall across the road.
‘‘I bring the dogs to this Santa because he does well with animals, and the other Santa does well with children,’’ she said. Both photos would go on her Christmas cards.
Encounters with animals – other than reindeer, of course – are now so common that Susen Mesco teaches a workshop on the topic at her Professional Santa Claus School in Denver.
Among her tips for Santas: decide whether to appoint someone to manage the line, making sure all animals keep their paws to themselves. Let the host know which species are permitted, or you might confront a menagerie.
‘‘At that point, you really need a Santa that loves, loves, loves pets. And that when you hand him an armadillo, he goes, ‘Oh, this is so cute!’,’’ Mesco said.
Connaghan recommends placing hard-to-hold animals in a box, or on a table or bird stand. Even then, ‘‘sometimes it’s better to let the parent hold it. For example, a boa constrictor’’.
Rosenthal, who began performing as Santa 50 years ago, says gigs with pets demand a less valuable suit and immediate drycleaning – to remove dander and fur that might affect children with allergies, and to sanitise it.
‘‘Lapdogs will regularly urinate on you because they’re excited.’’
Patrick Adkins, a Colorado resident who has portrayed Santa since 2013, says posing with pets is little different from posing with children. He welcomes them warmly. He gives them personal space. But for dogs, he also offers a tummy rub.
‘‘I have an extreme fear of snakes and lizards and those things. But for a photo, I will do it,’’ Adkins says. ‘‘As long as [the owners] tell me it won’t bite, it won’t hurt you, I’ll do it.
‘‘This is for these people. This is their family.’’