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

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

Many dog clubs and animal organizations sponsor activities
throughout the year where you and your pooch can bond. This
is especially true at Halloween, when you and your dog will
have an opportunity to take part in costume contests,
parades, and other events to show off your creativity. Our
local Humane Society, for example, has a "Howling Party,"
while our dog club has its annual "Fun Fair." Other
organizations put on dog parades. The best part about all
of these events is that you are able to show your dog off
in costume!

Even if you are staying home this year and waiting on trick
or treaters to come by, consider having your costumed dog
go with you to the door. Or, if you have trained him to
open the door to greet guests – even better! If this is the
case, your dog should also be trained not to jump on guests
when they arrive. A well-costumed dog greeter might have
neighborhood children running away before they get their
candy should he jump upon them.

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

WORDS OF WISDOM ABOUT DOG COSTUMES:

Over the years, I have learned a few lessons about dressing
dogs up for Halloween. Every year when Halloween
approached, I would work feverishly trying to create the
perfect dog costume. Spending hours sewing together parts
of old-fashioned mops, I attempted to make my terrier into
an instant Komondor (a.k.a. Hungarian Sheepdog). For a day,
I wanted him to feel like one of those amazing dogs with a
Rasta-style hairdo. When people spotted him, they would
exclaim, "Hey it's a dog in a dog costume!" But, I really
thought, It's a dog in a people costume!

As I walked proudly down the street with him in his
Komondor costume, he decided to shake until his costume des
mops dragged along between us. From a distance, I thought
he might get by looking like a street cleaner. But to my
despair, he didn't. As crowds watched, he simply looked
like a dog dragging a huge mop down the street – how
embarrassing!

This is when I learned the first two essential rules for
dog costumes:

1) Keep the costume light.

2) Keep the costume simple.

The next year, I had a puppy to dress up. Constructing an
adorable lightweight costume was my only goal. Since the
puppy loved carrying objects in her mouth, I covered a
stick in leather for her to bite and carry. Then, I
attempted to put a pair of panties on her. She frantically
yelped, bounced, and wiggled them off, and consequently
refused to let me near her with the undergarments in hand.

This is when I learned the third essential rule of dog
costumes:

3) Always give your dog a trial run before assuming she
will wear any costume you muster. Or, better yet, have your
dog wear the costume around the house before Halloween so
that she will get 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. Since I had learned from
experience, I chose to fashion 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 together with material in the center and was going to
lay it over the top of my dog. This time, however, I was
determined to be smart about it by letting him get used to
it beforehand – following my own third rule.

It worked out great as he paced around the house and the
billboard costume got some great laughs from friends and
family members. I was happy that things would turn out
better than the two years previous. As the parade began, we
marched along together and he suddenly did the unexpected,
as if he were planning it all along. He crouched down and
the billboard became a non-flexible tent. He was able to
walk right out of it, which got additional laughs from the
crowd, but meant an immediate disqualification from the
contest.

This is 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 mid-section and put a small lightweight blanket
over him. The blanket had a little box sitting on it with
two tiny stuffed animals. I had ribbons around the bottom
of the balloon that I attached to the box. The costume was
adorable, or so I believed. It was a balloon-ride costume.
The bobbing balloon must have been more exciting to the
other dogs because as soon as the other dogs got sight of
him, they started pulling away from their owners in hot
pursuit of the shiny red balloon. Fortunately, I had a pair
of scissors and cut the string. 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 a
tradition.

This is when I learned the fifth and sixth essential rules
of dog costumes:

5) Be prepared. Before you go to any gathering, think about
what you should bring along In case something needs a quick
fixing or if something goes wrong.

6) Bring your camera and have plenty of film. I wished I
had gotten a picture of my dog in his balloon costume
before I snipped the string. Check your camera batteries
too. And, have a friend take some photos of you and your
dog together – you'll enjoy them later.

Last year, however, I took the easy way out. I purchased a
Superman costume from a costume shop. Most costume shops
now carry such paraphernalia. The costume was lightweight,
which was a plus. I decided I would just use the cape and
keep the other parts of the costume as back up. So, once
again, we were off to our annual dog club "Fun Fair," 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 cape under his
chin and that was it. Kids shouted, "It's Super Dog!"
Adults responded by shouting "Not original!" Someone walked
up to me and asked, "What happened? We expected you, at
least, to be original." Feeling guilty, I sat there not
taking home any awards. But, it was the first time my
"Super Dog" participated in his very first Halloween
parade. To me, he looked great and I was so proud of him.
Then towards the end of the night, we were called over,
along with several other "Super Dogs" with the same attire,
for a photo shoot.

Submitted 10/26/2006
Copyright (c) 2006 Melanie Light



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Melanie Light is an artist and art educator. She is site
owner of Wheaten Works at http://www.wheatenworks.com ,
ArtZpet at http://www.artzpet.com and Petz Classic Dog Art
at http://www.cafepress.com/petz . Her portfolio site can
be found here: http://mlightart.com . You will find more
artwork, gifts, and information on these sites

The Editor and founder of this blog is Barrie Segal is the founder of the AppealNow.com™ website at http://www.appealnow.com. He is also the founder of http://www.nowdatarescue.com/ , http://www.nowdatarescue.com , http://www.weddinginfoforyou.com/- http://animalsnow.com