Spreading joy at the Canberra Hospital with labradors Ralph and Barry made working Christmas Day less "ruff" for Australian Federal Police kennel manager Emily O'Donohue and assistant Rebecca Hughes.
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The pair led the tinselled six-month-old puppies through the hospital's wards to visit children and the elderly on Sunday.
Dickson eight-year-old Tia Al Murabet was one patient to delight in the dogs' presence.
"The kids don't get to see their own pets, so we can bring them in here," Ms Hughes said.
"It just lights up their faces when you walk into the room.
"We were saying as we were walking around because they've had a visit from Santa they were saying the reindeers are here."
Ms O'Donohue and Ms Hughes spent much of their day caring for more than 30 dogs at the AFP kennel.
Visits to places like the Canberra Hospital were an important part of a dog's training, Ms O'Donohue said.
Ralph and Barry will likely end up at an airport in another part of Australia. Their training started at eight weeks old and they will soon move on to detection exercises.
"This is all part of their learning, being in buildings and wearing shoes and meeting different people and not being freaked out so they can work with distractions," Ms O'Donohue said.
"It's exposure to different areas as well and different smells and different people. It teaches them a bit of patience as well - they need to have that, it's not always go all the time."
