Learning the Hard Way: The Essentials of Dog Halloween Costume Design

Many dog ​​clubs and animal organizations sponsor activities throughout the year that you and your dog can join in on. This is especially true on Halloween, when you and your dog will have the opportunity to participate in costume contests, parades, and other events to show off your creativity. Our local Humane Society, for example, has a “Howl Party,” while our dog club has its annual “Fun Fair.” Other organizations organize dog parades. The best part of all these events is that you can show your dog in a costume!

Even if you’re going to stay home this year and wait out trick-or-treating, consider having your costumed dog walk you out the door. Or, if he has trained you to open the door to receive guests, even better! If this is the case, your dog should also be trained not to jump on guests when they arrive. A well-disguised dog greeter could make the neighborhood kids run away before they get their treats if he jumps on them.

Before I became a dog owner, I thought it was silly, unfair, and perhaps a little inhumane to dress up dogs for Halloween. Since those days, I became a dog owner and now realize that dogs love to be involved in all activities (except a visit to the vet). Participating in the Halloween festivities together with your favorite furry friend is another opportunity for you to cherish your time together.

WORDS OF WISDOM ABOUT COSTUMES FOR DOGS:

Over the years, I’ve learned a few lessons about dressing up dogs for Halloween. Every year around Halloween, I worked feverishly trying to create the perfect dog costume. Spending hours sewing parts from vintage mops, I tried to turn my terrier into an instant Komondor (also known as a Hungarian Sheepdog). For one day, I wanted him to feel like one of those awesome dogs with a Rasta haircut. When people saw him, he would exclaim, “Hey, he’s a dog in a dog costume!” But, I really thought, he is a dog disguised as people!

As I proudly walked down the street with him in his Komondor costume, he decided to tremble until his costume fell apart between us. From a distance, I thought he would manage by looking like a street sweeper. But to my despair, he didn’t. As the crowd watched it just looked like a dog dragging a huge mop down the street, shame on you!

That’s when I learned the first two essential rules for dog costumes:

1. Keep the costume light.

2. Keep the costume simple.

The following year, I had a puppy to wear. Building an adorable lightweight costume was my only goal. Since the pup loved to carry objects in her mouth, I covered a stick with leather for her to bite and carry. Then, I tried to put a pair of panties on her. He screamed frantically, bouncing off them and consequently refusing to let me approach her with the underwear in her hand.

That’s when I learned the third essential rule of dog costumes:

3. Always give your dog a trial run before assuming he’ll put on any costume you choose. Or, better yet, have your dog wear the costume around the house before Halloween to get him used to it. Don’t learn the hard way.

The following year, I made plans to take my older dog to the Halloween dog parade again. As I had learned from experience, I chose to design a costume that was simple, easy to make, and lightweight. My dog ​​was going to be “a walking billboard!” I glued two rectangular pieces of foam core material down the center and was going to place it over the top of my dog. This time, however, I was determined to be smart in letting him get used to it beforehand, following my own third rule.

It worked great as I was walking around the house and the billboard costume got big laughs from friends and family. She was happy that things would turn out better than the previous two years. When the parade started, we marched together and suddenly he did the unexpected, like he was planning it all along. He crouched down, and the billboard became an unyielding tent. He was able to walk out, which drew additional laughs from the crowd, but meant an immediate disqualification from the contest.

That’s when I learned the fourth essential rule of dog costumes:

4. Expect the unexpected, even when you think you’ve thought of everything!

The following year, I tied a large helium balloon around the dog’s midsection and put a small, lightweight blanket over it. The blanket had a small box on it with two small stuffed animals. I had ribbons around the bottom of the balloon that I attached to the box. The costume was adorable, or so I thought. It was a balloon ride costume. The floating balloon must have been more exciting to the other dogs because as soon as the other dogs saw it, they started running away from their owners in search of the bright red balloon. Fortunately, I had a pair of scissors and cut the thread. Up, up, up it went. Bailey and I were free, but so was our balloon. And once again, we were disqualified from the parade, as had become the tradition.

That’s when I learned the fifth and sixth essential rules of dog costumes:

5. Be prepared. Before you go to any meeting, think about what to bring in case something needs a quick fix or if something goes wrong.

6. Bring your camera and have plenty of film. I wish I had gotten a photo of my dog ​​in his balloon costume before I cut the rope. Also check your camera batteries. And ask a friend to take some photos of you and your dog together; he will enjoy them later.

Last year, however, I took the easy path. I bought a Superman costume at a costume store. Most costume stores now sell such paraphernalia. The costume was lightweight, which was a plus. I decided that I would just wear the cape and keep the other parts of the costume as backup. So once again we headed to our annual “Fun Fair” kennel club and one of the featured activities was a Halloween Dog Parade with an award for “Best Costume”.

My dog ​​was dressed upon arrival. I tied the cloak under his chin and that was it. The kids yelled, “He’s Super Dog!” The adults responded by yelling “he’s not original!” Someone came up to me and asked, “What happened? We were hoping you would at least be original.” Feeling guilty, I sat there without taking home any awards. But it was the first time that my “Super Dog” participated in his first Halloween parade. To me, it looked great and I was very proud of it. Then, towards the end of the night, we were called in, along with several other “Super Dogs” in the same outfit, for a photo shoot.

Copyright © 2008 Melanie Light