Best & Easiest Halloween Costume Ideas for Your Dog or Cat

Halloween is an exciting time of year and dressing in costume makes it all that much more fun. And when you have pets that you love, then you are naturally going to want them to share in the Halloween fun. I know there are people who object to dressing pets in costumes but it's only one day a year and if you're careful your pets will be safe and hopefully you'll have some great pictures to show off.

The most important thing to keep in mind when you are thinking of dressing your dog or cat in a Halloween costume is safety. You need to carefully consider the fabrics and accessories you use and make sure they are non-toxic in case your pet chews on it. Anything that ties around your pet's neck shouldn't be too tight so it won't pose a choking hazard. In fact, Velcro may be a better choice as a fastener than actually tying something around your pet's neck. I think the number one thing to keep in mind though is to never leave your dog or cat unattended when they are dressed in a costume. Since they don't really understand about costumes, they aren't going to understand that they can really hurt themselves if they aren't careful.

When it comes to pet costumes for your dog or cat, there are a lot of choices out there. You can buy some great costumes from any one of the many pet costume websites that you can find online easily. One website with a large selection of pet costumes is HalloweenStreet.com. Some of the costume choices for your dog or cat that you will find at HalloweenStreet.com are Spiderman, skeleton, cowgirl, cowboy, rag doll, tuxedo, school girl, cheerleader, ladybug, racecar dog, witch, vampire, princess, King, Queen, bat, lion, cow, Queen of Hearts, Elvis Presley, waitress, angel, devil, court jester, Santa Claus, reindeer, snowman, elf, Snow White, Mickey Mouse, doctor, nurse, fairy, pumpkin, scarecrow, football player, ghost, Uncle Sam, Rambo (Rambark), policeman, party animal, biker dog, 50's poodle skirt, flower, bumble bee, butterfly, pirate, nun, priest, clown, Superman, and Batman. And that's not even all that are available! Costumes start at around $15.00 and go up depending on the complexity of it. Most of the costume choices do seem to be for dogs but there are cat costumes available as well.

Several costume ideas that are fairly easy to make yourself and are adaptable for either dogs or cats are pirate, Superman, Pokey (Gumby's horse), shark, skunk, cow, ladybug, angel, Zorro dog, or watch dog. I like these Halloween ideas for pets because they are some of the easiest and least complicated to make. I also hope that they are the least stressful and safest to dress up your pet in.

Make a simple pirate Halloween costume for your cat or dog: You will need one pirate-themed bandanna to fasten around your pet's neck. You will need one eye patch, either homemade out of string and black cardboard or one purchased from your local Dollar Store. You will need one black hat with a skull and crossbones on it, either purchased or you can make one by taking two squares of black felt, measure against your dog or cats head to see what size will fit, sew the two pieces of felt together is a sort of half circle type shape, fold inside out, roll up the bottom to make a hat brim, attach string, yarn or Velcro fasteners on each side so you can attach it to your pet's head. Take one white square of felt and cut out the shape of a skull and crossbones and sew it to the front of your hat and your pirate hat is done. When dressing your dog as a pirate, I recommend having the eye patch to one side NEAR the animal's eye and NOT on the actual eye itself.

Make a simple Superman Halloween costume for your cat or dog: You will need one blue doggy shirt (or a small children's t-shirt cut open and then with Velcro tabs added to the edges to hold it closed) and a small red cape. You will need one square of yellow felt, red paint or a red paint marker pen to make the big "S" emblem. Cut the felt into the Superman triangle and paint the "S" on it. After the "S" emblem dries, sew it to the blue shirt on the chest area.

Make a Pokey (Gumby's horse) Halloween costume for your cat or dog: Take one orange doggy shirt (or a small children's t-shirt cut open and then with Velcro tabs added to the edges to hold it closed), take some black yarn and attach it to the shirt at the top where it is near the dog's head and down the middle from the front to the back to look like a horse's mane, attach a longer bunch of black yarn at the back of the middle of the shirt to look like a horse's tail. You may need to look up a picture of Pokey on the Internet for inspiration. This pet costume would be even more fun it you dressed in a Gumby costume.

Make a skunk Halloween costume for your cat or dog: All you need is a black doggy shirt or children's t-shirt and about one quarter of a yard of both white felt and black felt. Cut a long stripe of white felt and sew it to the shirt along the middle of the back from the front to the back. Take one piece of black felt AND white felt that are the same size (for your pet skunk's tail), sew them together, flip them inside out and attach at the back end of the shirt with the white side up.

Make a shark Halloween costume for your cat or dog: Take one gray doggy shirt or children's t-shirt. Take some gray felt and cardboard and cut the cardboard into the shape of your shark fin and cover it with the gray felt. To make the shark fin stand upright on your pets back, you may need to cut a piece of cardboard about three inches wide by about six inches long (this depends on the breed and size of your dog or cat), cover this piece of cardboard with gray felt and attach the shark fin to it so that the strip goes across your pets back with the fin going lengthwise down your pets back. You can either attach the shark fin directly to the shirt of have it fasten on with Velcro around your pet's body.

Make a cow Halloween costume for your cat or dog: Take one white doggy shirt or children's t-shirt and add black felt shapes all over it to look like a Holstein cow (the big black and white milk cows), add a pink felt udder to the underside of the shirt. You can make a cow tail to add to the bottom of the middle back of the shirt with white felt with black felt spots too. If you felt ambitious, you could make cow's ears out of white, black and pink felt to attach around your pet's neck. Then you could dress as a farmer or dairy maid, complete with a milk bucket.

Make a ladybug Halloween costume for your cat or dog: The basic idea for the ladybug costume is the same as the cow costume; you will need a red doggy shirt or children's t-shirt and add black spots all over it. Then you will need two antennas that you can make from long black pipe cleaners and two black cotton balls (or the equivalent) at the tips and attach the antenna to your dog's collar.

Make an angel Halloween costume for your cat or dog: Take a white doggy shirt or children's t-shirt. Spray it with some non-toxic glitter spray. Then either buy small wings or make your own wings from floral wire and white felt. Make a halo from floral wire and cover it with a white sparkly fuzzy boa and attach it to your dog's collar.

Make a simple Zorro Halloween costume for your cat or dog: All you need to make your pet be Zorro is a black doggy shirt or children's t-shirt and a black cape and mask. A small black cowboy hat is optional. You can either buy the cape or make one out of a piece of black fabric that you attach around your pets neck. Add a big white "Z" to the back of the cape with white felt or fabric paint. The black mask can be cut out from a piece of black felt.

Make a simple Lone Ranger Halloween costume for your cat or dog: You can adapt the Zorro costume idea to the Lone Ranger except use all white and leave off the cape. Add a few fake silver bullets and a tiny plastic gun to a belt or piece of fabric and attach it around your pet's body. Make a Texas Ranger badge and add it to the shirt. A small white cowboy hat can top it all off.

Make a simple and funny Watch Dog Halloween costume for your dog: Buy a piece of felt (about one quarter of a yard, depends on your dog's size) in the color of your choice to act as a watch band and to attach around your dog. Get about half a yard of white felt (more or less depending on the size of your dog) and cut it in a big circle. Attach the white felt circle to a circle of cardboard for stability. Take black paint and paint clock numbers and hands to look like the face of a watch. Attach your clock face to your felt band so it looks like a giant wrist watch and put it around your dog's middle. Now you have a Watch Dog!

There are other simple costume ideas that take very little time, effort or money. All you need to do is let your imagination run wild. You can recycle old children's Halloween costumes and adapt them or use pieces from them to make a costume for your dog or cat. I put a black Power Ranger cape that belongs to my grandsons on our family dog for a quick and easy Halloween costume idea. Just remember that there are no rights or wrongs to putting together a Halloween costume. Having fun is the whole reason for the Halloween holiday season.

Once you have your pet dressed up, keep them with you at all times and take plenty of pictures. Think of your pet's safety and comfort first and foremost. Now good luck, I hope you win first prize at your Halloween costume party for pets!