Santaphobia is a cross-species phenomenon

Everybody’s seen the Christmas photos in the paper of the screaming kid in Santa’s lap, scared witless by that strange, bearded fellow in the funny red suit. It is a cuteness cliché, but it never fails to make you go … aaaawwwww.

As a holiday show of appreciation to all their loyal customers, our vet decided to offer free photos of pets with Santa. No need to try to build any suspense here, right?

You guessed it. We took our two chocolate labs in for the free sitting. Both our older girl Guinness and younger guy Gulliver were quite familiar with the vet’s office and all the staffers and friendly docs. Everything was tail wagging and sniffing and exploring … until they opened the door into the small room where the lights were set up and the decorations hung with care. That’s when Guinness put on the brakes and tucked tail.

We suspected that might be her reaction, since the time she spotted me in the backyard wearing a stocking cap for the first time and went into a barking frenzy at this intruder.

Likewise, she wanted nothing to do with this other unfamiliar ball of fur. No way. She jumped up on a bench and hid behind an office worker.

After considerable coaxing and several treats, we managed to get her and her brother (they have the same parents from two litters apart) to obey the “stay” command just long enough to snap a picture.

Aaaaawwwwww.