Santa Claus greets very special 15-year-old (8 photos)

Santa Claus made an early-December visit to Sault Ste. Marie on Saturday to greet smiling children and their parents as Christmas approaches.

Children had their photos taken with the special guest, several of them trying out miniature electric Lexus LX570s while at Northside Toyota.

But Santa had an extra special canine visitor in Lululemon, a Cockapoo who is almost 15 years old.

A Cockapoo is a dog crossbreed bred from a Cocker Spaniel and a Poodle.

“We’re very attached to her,” said Maria Foglia, Lululemon’s owner.

“She’s the core of our family. She’s everything to us. She waits for us, she’s obedient, she’s a good girl. She’s just wonderful.”

“It’s important for her to be here because we call her our geriatric dog. She’s the equivalent of 90 years old for a human. We just wanted her to have fun in her old age because we don’t take her out very much. She’s doing very well and we’re hoping we can have some more Christmases with her,” Foglia told SooToday.

As for Santa himself?

“I drove a Toyota here,” he said.

“It’s red, with red winter rims and studded tires. I have a special Santa license, you know,” he chuckled merrily.

Santa had left his sleigh at home for Saturday’s visit.

“My reindeer are eating and relaxing because they need all their strength to fly on Christmas Eve and my sleigh is being detailed. It’s being polished and everything’s being checked twice,” he said with a smile.