What's on Fido's holiday wish list?

Bright red suit. Flowing white beard. Impish smile. Jolly laugh.

No wonder Rusty was creeped out.

The miniature pinscher did a double take on his first encounter with St. Nick at PetSmart in Downers Grove.

Barking shrilly and backing away, he would have none of the ho, ho, hos, squeaky toys or proffered treats.

It wasn't until owner Cheryl Bernard sat next to Santa that the diminutive dog posed for his photo shoot.

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More than 50 dogs and cats plus a rat and a oversize rabbit got their pictures taken with Santa on a recent Saturday. Similar events occurred at other pet stores and malls across the suburbs this month.

As Rusty succumbed to his fate, Cheryl's mother, Janice, encouraged him.

"Rusty look at granny!" she called. "Quick get him, get him, quick! Rusty! Rusty! That's granny's baby, granny won't let anyone hurt you."

As Rusty retreated, Cheryl mused, "I think it must be the beard. He freaked out."

Asked why she underwent the ordeal, Cheryl explained, "We thought it would be a funny thing to do, and it's something to go in our Christmas cards."

Janice added, "He's my only grandchild; he hasn't got married yet."

To the outsider, it seems like the ultimate in pampering, and Melissa Lee, owner of a boxer called Romeo, didn't disagree.

"Every day is Christmas for that spoiled boy," the Glendale Heights resident said.

But some of these pets have gone from rags to riches.

Take Ollie, for example. The well-fed cat showed up wearing a green and red hat. The outfit complemented the red sweaters with poinsettias other members of his family -- two poodles and a feisty Chihuahua called Irene -- were wearing.

Ollie's life of plenty started on the Prairie Path last year, when hikers rescued the forlorn and starving kitten.

"I think they dumped him and hoped the coyotes would eat him," owner Leah Lossin of Elmhurst said.

You'd think most Santas would want human customers.

There's less danger of nipping or accidents on your furry red suit.

But Jim Stevenson of Cicero is proving to be an expert at wheedling recalcitrant pooches onto his knee.

A veteran Santa who's done the office party circuit, he finds animals preferable.

"The pets are easier; they're harder to get into position, but they're great," he said.

Money raised at the photo shoots go to various dog and cat rescue groups who recruit the Santas and take the pictures.

While Stevenson was playing Santa for Chicagoland Animal Rescue in Downers Grove, another St. Nick stood in at the Schaumburg PetSmart to help out Fortunate Pooches and Lab Rescue.

Fortunate Pooches organizers brought two chocolate Labrador retriever puppies to the event to help entice possible parents.

Without the nonprofit group rescuing the pups from a shelter in Indiana, "they would have been euthanized," founder Illeana Pullos said. "They're looking for good homes."

That bittersweet reality wasn't lost on Dawn Speckmann in Downers Grove as she coaxed 1-year-old golden retriever Lexi to stop squirming.

The Glen Ellyn family purchased the lively pup after their last dog, Brandy, died of cancer this year at age 11.

"I couldn't take not having the claw noises on my floor," Speckmann said.

This being Lexi's first Christmas, the photo with Santa is "just for the memories," Speckmann explained. "It's like another child."