Halloween is Fun Again for the Family Dog

On Halloween night when you venture out for Trick-or-Treating, costume galas or other festivities, why not bring the family dog along with you? Below, I've put together five easy and homemade dog costumes. So, find the dog, gather the materials, and get to work!

Basketball Player
Spot and his puppy pals can scrimmage together a mock basketball game Halloween night with this costume. Note: I'm using a basketball-theme for this costume, but any sport will do.

Materials
-Basketball jersey
-Toy basketball

1. Fit the jersey over your dog's head, pulling his or her front legs through the arm holes. The back legs should be unhindered.

2. Let your dog tote around the toy basketball to finish off the costume.

Ballerina
A frilly tutu, pretty leg ribbons, and a festive bandana finish off this adorable dog costume, a perfect companion for a little, human ballerina.

Materials
-A tutu without the leotard (A child's tutu will work well for this. If it comes with a leotard attached, carefully cut off the leotard, leaving the tutu intact.)
-4 12" lengths of pink ribbon (Depending on the size of your dog, you might need more ribbon.)
-Pink bandana

1. Slip the tutu over your dog's head and guide his/her front legs through the opening, rearranging the tutu so it sits around your dog's hips.

2. Using the ribbon, wind it up each of your dog's legs. Start at where the paws join at the legs and criss-cross the ribbon upwards, tying it off in a neat bow. Try to tie off the ribbon so the bow sits on the outside of your dog's leg so the bow is nicely visible.

3. Lastly, fold the bandana in half, so it forms a triangle, and tie it around your dog's neck.

Hula Dog
A Halloween luau is never complete without a Hula Dog costume for the family dog.

Materials
-Grass skirt
-Lei
-Fake Hawaiian-type flowers

1. Tie the grass skirt around your dog's middle, trimming the length of the skirt and the length of the grass to fit the size of your dog.

2. Slip the lei over your dog's head. If it's too loose, double loop it. However, be extra careful that it's not too tight.

3. Tuck the fake flower behind your dog's ear. This works best if your dog has longer fur for the flower to be tucked into.

Dr. Fido
Paging Dr. Fido to exam room one...Fido will be on call all night dressed as Dr. Fido. Note: This costume will take a little bit of advanced preparation and craftiness with a needle and thread.

Materials
-Child-sized doctor coat with pockets
-Scissors
-Needle and thread
-Toy stethoscope
-Other toy doctor tools such as a thermometer, syringe, etc.
-Dog bone-shaped dog biscuits

1. Using scissors, carefully remove the pockets from the doctor coat. Reattach them so they sit horizontally rather than vertically. In other words, when the coat is worn on a standing dog, the pockets are facing upwards.

2. Fit the doctor coat on your dog, slipping his or her front paws into the coat's arms.

3. Drape the stethoscope across your dog's neck.

4. To finish off the costume, stick a few toy doctor tools into the pockets, including some dog biscuits for the brave little pups.

Harry Potter
Abracadabra and hocus pocus! Include your pooch in Halloween-time magic with a Harry Potter costume.

Materials
-Black child-sized cape
-Black witch's hat with elastic strap
-Gryffindor, Slytherin, Ravenclaw, or Hufflepuff themed scarf
-Thin stick about 12" long with the bark stripped off (This gives the stick a smoother look, making it look more like a wand.)

1. Tie the cap around your dog's neck, arranging the fabric to lay over his or her back.

2. Affix the witch's hat to your dog's head using the elastic strap to help keep the hat on.

3. Wrap the scarf around the dog's neck.

4. Finally, let your dog carry around the stick as his or her wand!

Happy Halloween!