Costume Ideas for Your Pet

Even pets can be part of Halloween. Costumes for pets are big business but you can make your own. Depending on the size of your pet, his ability to co operate and whether or not you're going to include him in a theme you can make some really easy yet prize winning costues without much effort.

Great Dane: You can take fabric and create what would look like a saddle using screening lined with a soft towel or baby blanket. You attach web belts that are adjustable to go under his chest and mid section. Attached to the saddle you take a child's umbrella. Spray paint this in mottled grey. You are going to create an octopus. Hang strips of grey cotton material sewn into tube shapes and stuffed with fiber fill. These will hang from the umbrella. This is your Octopus. With several yards of gold felt and medium gauge wire shape a fish the length of the dogs body. This is Nemo. You can sequin this , use buttons for eyes. It's as fancy or simple as you want. Fins can be sheer material or more cotton. Glue gun the cotton fish shape to the wire fish shape and hang this on either side of the dog from the saddle base. You can add more fish here and there . If you have shells lying around glue these to the umbrella and fish shape. YOucan also be part of this by carrying the Octopus umbrella and just having the dog be Nemo. If you carry the umbrella then you should be dressed in something gauzy with shells glues to it. Think ghost but make this out of sheer fabric. Glue shells, dollar store plastic fish, and lots of blue green glitter on the sheer material so you look like ocean.

Doberman. Get several yards of yellow felt. Using a dog coat in his size make a pattern to fit his/her body. Buy a bag of yellow feathers at any crafat store and glue these all over. Cut a "snood", just a dog hat shape with ear holes and glue feathers to this. You have a Chicken. It's a cute contrast of breed and bird. My Dobie entered a contest dressed like this.He was spectacular until the judges came around and that's when he decided he needed to shake. All the feathers went flying.

Any size dog can be a bride and groom, a Hot Dog and Hamburger, or dress your dog as a fireman and use a wagon painted red with little bird ladders on the sides as a fire truck. If you have several dogs you can easily make them a bunch of ghosts, simple sheets with holes cut out for eyes and ears. It's a pretty funny sight if you have more than two or three together dressed this way.

Any size: A Spider. Half a styrofoam ball spray painted black . Make spider legs out of old black stocking stuffed or by fake fur in black anda cut it into eight strips. Attach with glue gun to Styrofoam ball. Use cotton material to make bands to close this across the chest front and underbody. You can make these fromold belts as well. Take two small styrofoam balls spray painted red and glue them on as Spider eyes. This is easy and comfortable and works on most dog. It's a bit more difficult on dogs with short legs for obvious reasons. For a short dog you can make a fly. Leave off the long legs. Make short legs, wired to sit properly and add wings. You can purchase kids Angel wings in a dollar store or use white sheer material and hangers to form the wing shapes.

My Chihuahuas have been Pumpkins, Vampires, Bumblebees, Flowers and Skunks. They also were in a wedding in a tux style collar and bow ties. They haven't won any contests but they've come close. The Skunks were almost a winner at Petco last Halloween. They lost out to the Nemo idea.I may just use those again this season.

The Skunk is another one size fits any dog depending on how much material you get. You need black felt cut to size with velcro closings at the chest and undercarraige. By sewing two semi circles or gluing them together and cutting out ear holes you have a "snood" again. Attach a length of white boa to both the snood along the top line and along the back with extra hanging off for the skunk tail. Cute and easy as well as fairly cheap.

A great, inexpensive collar and tie can be made out of a child's shirt with a child's tie glued in place. Cut the collar area off the shirt and glue in the tie. Cut an opening in the back of the collar to attach two segments of velcro so you can fit it to the dog's neck. The tie and shirt can be found at resale shops and garage sales.

You can make a dog into a planter with several flowers. Cut heavy orange colored posterboard into 2 planter shapes, like the terra cotta colored planters. You need one for each side of the dog. These can be attached to one another with a couple of 3 inch bands of fabric, elastic, ribbon or whatever you can find at a craft store. Glue these into place. Make a band for across the front of the chest and one for under the chest in the abdomen area. Go to a dollar store and get a few daisies or sunflowers, whatever you choose and wire these to the planter.

You can also make a car shape out of poster board for any size dog, something simple, a V W for instance would work. again you need to do it in duplicate.

A Dinosaur can be made of green felt. Cut triangles for the length of the back and tail. Make that snood again and add points to the top.You can bedazzle it with glitter.

Felt costumes are fairly comfortable for the dogs to wear.Some of these are extremely simple and it's fun to get the kids involved. There are also tons of costumes in stores but home made is worth the effort. Those are the things that really create memories and some hilarious photo ops as well. I have an album full of these crazy dogs dressed up.