Little smooching, but lots of love for shelter

The photo shoot wasn’t going well. The star had grown restless in the red velvet booth where she was supposed to sit, and the photographer’s assistants did what they could to keep her attention focused — waving, promising lunch, even reprimanding her gently. A few times, the subject jumped completely out of the booth and the attendants had to wrestle her back inside.

It took a morsel of pepperoni — or Pupparoni — to get Princess to sit still and beam for the camera. Afterward, her owner, Holly Cookerley of Huntington Beach, nuzzled her in return for a job well done.

“She had agility training when she was a puppy, so she knows how to jump,” Cookerley explained.

Princess was among a number of dogs passing through the Muttropolis store Saturday at Fashion Island, where owners could bring their pets for a free photo shoot. The event, titled Smooch-A-Pooch, had a charitable cause as well — the store’s managers requested a $5 donation to the Irvine Animal Care Center for each picture.

The center, which the city of Irvine has run for 25 years, offers a home to dogs, cats and rabbits and does not euthanize animals except in cases of illness. As dog owners set up their furry friends at the booth inside, center volunteer Nita Powers stood outside the shop with a dog available for adoption: Kobe, an 8-year-old, black chow chow mix.

“People are here to have their dogs’ pictures taken, so we’re introducing him here,” Powers said. “He’s ready to move to a new home.”

Muttropolis — a pet specialty retailer with five locations in California, Arizona and Colorado — has partnered with the Irvine Animal Care Center for events before. Manager Kathy Jones said she came up with Smooch-A-Pooch because she wanted to support a shelter that treated animals humanely.

For four hours Saturday, Muttropolis employees stood by the velvet booth and snapped pictures of dogs, some of them dressed specially for the occasion. Although the booth prominently featured the words “Kisses Only 25 Cents,” Jones said no owner had opted to pose kissing his or her pet.

“That was one of our ideas, but so far, no one has taken us up on that,” she said.