The door flung open and the siblings froze at the sight: A menacing, towering, green, furry thing.
Willie, a 4-year-old American fox hound mix, and sister, Marley, a 5-year-old lab mix, stared at the Grinch.
Marley growled softly, warily, while Willie wagged his tail and trotted to the green thing, doggy day care manager Sara Eason, who was dressed for the Christmas party last week at The Ruff House Stay & Play kennel in Virginia Beach.
In recent years, businesses and groups have created more options for pets to enjoy holidays whether allowing them to prance in parades, attend dog-friendly brewery parties or get photos with Santa at places such as PetSuites Chesapeake or the Pug Rescue of North Carolina.
Day cares and boarding businesses, however, make the holiday special for pets whose owners are busy during the day or will leave town to visit relatives scattered across the county.
“It’s Christmas for them, too,” Eason said of her charges.
So last Tuesday, she put on her costume featuring green arms and legs, a red Santa Claus coat and a scowling plastic mask. She crouched in an outdoor play area as dogs were led in for pictures, to play, and, occasionally, chew on the Grinch’s plastic face. Next, their paws were dipped in nontoxic finger paint and stamped on pieces of paper, because, as everyone knows, paw prints make excellent holiday presents for doting owners.