Your dogs and cats are ready to get their photos taken with Santa Claus, right?

Are they up to date on shots?

Check.

Groomed?

Check.

Dressed in Christmas finery?

Check.

But are they really ready?

Photographer Connie Turner, who owns Picture Purrfect Petz Inc. knows a few tricks to get the perfect pet picture.

“Basically I ask the owner to step away,” she said.

Doesn’t that cause separation anxiety?

“No, they calm down,” Turner said. “They think, ‘Oh, we’re here to do something.’ We make it fun for them.”

Turner and her assistant, Alaina Culbertson, let the pets walk around the studio and give them treats and water during photo shoots. “We make them feel at home,” Turner said.

They place the pets on a “set” and get them to “pose really pretty.”

They do that by making noises, snapping their fingers and talking to them in high-pitched voices.

“We (she and Culbertson) work together really well,” Turner said.

Advice from Santa

Santa Claus, who worked at Peachtree Mall’s pet holiday photo shoot on Monday, had a slow but fun shift.

“It went very well,” Santa said. “We had seven dogs and one cat. It’s usually slow the first night.”

He asks that people bring just dogs and cats to the mall.

“I myself may be able to handle (snakes, ferrets, birds and other pets), but other people in line may be uncomfortable,” he said.

Cats are usually brought in containers, while dogs usually walk in on leashes.

“I have never been bitten, and I have never had any dog or cat accidentally relieve themselves on me,” he said.

His technique for making sure the pet comfortable?

“As the person brings the pet to me, we look at each other,” Santa said. “Then I slowly reach my hand to hold the pet.”

It helps, he said, that he’s a pet lover.

Besides the reindeer, Santa has “one snow-loving dog.”

In the years he’s been posing with pets, he said the most he’s ever handled has been about 25 pets. “It does take a little time to get them settled down and feel comfortable,” he said. “Then we try to get them to look at the camera. The mall is very active. So there are new sights, new sounds and new smells. It’s sensory overload for pets.”

The photographer will use toys that make sounds to get the pet’s attention.

“As soon as the pet looks, the picture is taken,” Santa said.

“No smiling is necessary. But I have seen a smiling dog. Cats are nonchalant.”