Your Dog Can Get A Free Santa Photo At PetSmart This December

The holidays are all about spending time with your loved ones, including the four-legged members of your family — aka your dogs. Some ways that people are including their pups into their seasonal celebrations this year include opening dog treat Advent calendars or dressing them up in adorably festive sweaters. Plus, PetSmart’s free Santa photos for dogs this December will ensure your fur baby gets the perfect howliday card photo.

PetSmart is a great go-to when shopping for presents for your furry bestie. Their Merry & Bright Collection is full of gift ideas for every pet on your shopping list, and includes everything from dog treats for your pup to ugly Christmas sweaters for cats, holiday cacti for reptiles, and even a mini holiday charcuterie board for any guinea pigs you know. Aside from shopping for your pet online, PetSmart is also offering free Santa Photo Days for dogs in stores.

These photos are perfect if you send out holiday cards each year to your friends and family members. Instead of trying to set up the perfect shot at home and wrangling your pets into the frame, PetSmart can take the photo for you. Having Santa there is just a festive bonus! The catch is you have to register for your photoshoot, and here’s how to book a free Santa photo at PetSmart now.

How To Book A Free Photo With Santa At PetSmart

Bookings are available for all PetSmart shops in the U.S. on select dates. When making your reservation, you’ll have to choose between the weekends of Dec. 10 and 11, or Dec. 17 and 18. A reservation is required if you want to take your pic with Santa, so don’t just show up one of those weekends without one.

These special photos with Santa can be taken on your personal camera or PetSmart will snap a photo for you and send it via email. To book your time, just got to PetSmart and search for your local store by entering in your zip code. Once you click “book now,” you’ll see a list of time slots to choose from for all four dates. The time slots are in five minute increments, so these photos will be fairly quick.

After finding a time that works for you, you’ll need to enter your booking information, which is just your name and email address. You can also opt to have your booking confirmation sent to your phone.

How To Get The Best Photo Of Your Dog

Some dogs are naturally photogenic, while others struggle to sit still long enough for one snap. Luckily for the latter, PetSmart has a few tips for how to get the best holiday photo of your pup. Step one, of course, is to dress the part. Make sure your pet is wearing a great holiday dog sweater so they look dapper standing next to Santa.

You may also want to get a squeaker toy or some treats to make sure they know where to look and at the camera. The treats can also be used to reward them after their photoshoot, because you know they deserve it. You might also want to take them around PetSmart before the shoot to not only get all that excited energy out, but to also look for some treats they may be interested in. If you’re a part of PetSmart’s Treats Loyalty Program, you’ll also receive three times the Treats points on purchases you make the day of your appointment. Going off this last tip, be sure to show up for your Santa photo a little before your reservation time.

You’ll also want to make sure to share your Santa photo online afterwards. PetSmart has a #ShareTheJoy contest going on right now until Dec. 18. You just need to post a holiday photo or video of your pet to Insta with the tags #ShareTheJoy and #Contest in the caption and tag @PetSmart as well. The winner will get a four-day, three-night trip to Universal Studios Hollywood for free, which means you can check out the Wizarding World of Harry Potter IRL. You’ll also get 200,000 Treats points, which are equivalent to $500 that you can use at PetSmart.

Five runner-ups will also win 100,000 Treats points — aka $250 — that they can use on things like food and toys at PetSmart, while six other people will be chosen at random to get a month of Hill’s pet food for free. Basically, it pays to book a photo with Santa for your dog this year, so it’s a win-win.