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Festive Event - Santa Paws 2025

Get ready for the ulti-mutt festive event, Santa Paws is coming to town!

From 29 Nov - 24 Dec | £12.50 per dog

Come along to our Santa Paws experience this year, take part in our festive sniff-ari, meet the big man himself and every good pup will recieve a special gift from Santa. 

Plus, if you want the complete family experience you can include a children’s ticket and they can meet Santa along with your pup. The children’s ticket includes the full Grotto or Meet Santa experience and a toy for your child. Find out more about our Grotto experience here or Meet Santa here.  

Event highlights: 

  • Magical experience: Santa and his elves will play with, and entertain your pooch. 
  • Sniff-ari: let your pooch sniff and snuffle around our Grotto or store to find all of Santa’s festive friends.  
  • Obstacle course: try some of our dog obstacles (in grotto stores only). 
  • Photo opportunities: capture the moment with a professional photo with Santa. 
  • Gift from Santa: every pup will receive a special gift.  

Ho ho ho hope to see you there! 

Photography  

To capture the memory of your pooch meeting Santa, you can choose to pre-book one of our special photo options and save 20% compared to on-the-day prices.  Our Grotto sites will offer print photography whereas our Meet Santa sites offer digital photography. 

Please note: 

  • *Not all stores offer an experience on all dates listed. Please select your local store below to see their availability. 
  • Santa has picked a range of toys, suitable for different dog sizes. You can pre-select a size of gift for your dog however the exact item may vary on the day. 
  • Booking is essential and subject to availability. 
  • Please be aware that the Santa experience may be outside, so please dress accordingly.  
  • Our sites running the Meet Santa experience are: Andover, Boston, Cadnam, Derby, Galton, Moreton Park and Swindon. More information on Meet Santa can be found here. 
  • Our sites running Santa’s Grotto are: Aberdeen, Antrim, Ashford, Atherstone, Ayr, Beaconsfield, Birtley, Braehead, Brighton, Bury St Edmunds, Carlisle, Chesterfield, Cirencester, Dundee, Dunfermline, Edinburgh, Gailey, Gillingham, Lisburn, Liverpool, Livingston, Milngavie, Milton Keynes, Perth, Peterborough, Ponteland, Preston, Royston, Sandyholm, Shenstone, Shepton Mallet, Shrewsbury, Southport, Stirling, Stockton, Swansea, Telford, Tewkesbury, Thornbury, Woodbridge, Woodcote Green and York. More information on Santa’s Grotto can be found here. 
  • Please refer to our event FAQs which provide lots more detail on common questions.  
  • To give you peace of mind when booking, we have a Book with Confidence policy. Find out more here

What is a sniff-ari? We caught up with Dog's Trust to learn all about it  

In a nutshell, a sniff-ari is a walk where your dog is permitted – and encouraged – to explore his environment with his nose. It’s an on-lead exploration. 

You let your dog set the pace and the direction. We encourage you to allow them to explore their environment and what interests them. We’ve then dropped our scented festive friends along the way for them to sniff out. 

Benefits of a sniff-ari: 

  • Helps a dog decompress. 
  • Helps them make their own decisions. 
  • Helps relieve boredom. 
  • Builds confidence. 
  • Uses their natural abilities to make sense of their world through scent. 
  • Leads to a more optimistic and content dog. 
  • Helps them be calmer and tires them out. 
  • And last, but certainly not least, dogs love the walk! 

Pup-fection! 

Dogs Trust  

For this event, we are delighted to be working with Dogs Trust! We love dogs and want to make a better future for them, and their owners, everywhere.

Dogs Trust is the largest dog welfare charity in the UK who believe all dogs deserve to live life to the full. Every year, Dogs Trust care for over 14,000 dogs – from rehoming to rehabilitation. The charity also helps owners with training and behaviour support and your support makes it paw-sible to keep families and communities together. You can suppawt our friends by adding a donation while booking this event  

You can find out more about the work Dogs Trust do here

Attendance Instructions

Further detail: 

  • Please refer to our event FAQs which provide lots more detail on common questions. 
  • Please arrive no more than 5 minutes before the start of your event. 
  • No entrance will be granted if you arrive earlier than your allotted time. 
  • Dogs should be accompanied by a maximum of 2 adults due to space restrictions in and around the area. 
  • Should you wish any additional assistance, please speak to a store colleague. 
  • To ensure all our customers have a magical experience please take time to read Dobbies dog policy. This is available here
  • Please ensure any accidents are highlighted to our Grotto colleagues or cleaned up as children may also be in attendance.