Condo Blues: 10 Halloween Costumes for Dogs Who Hate Costumes

Sunday, October 3, 2010

10 Halloween Costumes for Dogs Who Hate Costumes

I love dressing up for Halloween. Now that I have a dog I want him to love dressing up for Halloween too.

But he doesn’t.

You wear a double coat of fur all the time. You won’t want to
put on extra clothes, either.

We like to go to dog charity events to support the rescue organizations that have helped us rehabilitate Blitzkrieg and tell his story. Some of these events are Halloween events.

Blitzkrieg quickly learned the cuter the costume, the more treats humans give you. Blitzkrieg learned to tolerate several types of sorta dog costumes in order to swindle as many treats as possible celebrate Halloween.




Safety Tip: Never leave your dog unattended while wearing a costume, especially if it includes something around his or her neck like a bandanna or they make choke or worse.  If your pet isn’t into dressing up don’t push it. Remember pets weren’t born to wear clothes anyway, that’s something we humans thrust upon them.

  • Use Bandannas. I’ve made bandannas that tie, that Velcro around the his neck, and bought a few that slip over Blitzkrieg's collar.

Pirate, Irish, and Ramones dog bandannas

1.Pirate. Since we love history and pirates, I bought Blitzkrieg a human pirate banana and cut it down to Pekingese size. I had enough left over to make Blitzkrieg’s Scottie dog friend Max a pirate bandanna too. If you have a bigger dog, you can just use a human size bandanna just as it is.

2. Irish – I bought this bandanna for Blitzkrieg from a local crafter. It slips over his collar and is an option for dogs who take off regular bandannas.

3. The Ramones/Punk Rocker – I made this bandanna for Blitzkrieg’s first Halloween. I bought the patch for myself but once Blitzkrieg entered my life I had to give to him. For those of you who were wondering, yes, Blitzkrieg knows the words, “Ramones” recognizes his namesake song “Blitzkrieg Bop,” and comes running to the door for a walk when I say, “Hey ho let’s go!”

  • Use what you have. The greenest and cheapest thing is use or reuse something you already own!

Chili dog scarf
4. Chili Dog – This tie came with a fajita pan and is just the right size to tie this as a scarf around Blitzkrieg’s neck.
  • Use something that clips or slips onto the collar or use a fancy dress collar.
Collar bow tie and jester collar

5. James Bond – This bow tie Velcro’s around his collar so Blitzkrieg can be James Bond. We are in heavy negotiations for me to build Blitzkrieg a rocket car to go with his super secret agent persona. I told him I’d do it but only if he can find a bio diesel powered jet engine. Trying to keep it green here, folks!

6. Jester – I bought the jester collar at Christmas for a family photo with Santa. I was a professional jester and it’s only fitting that Blitzkrieg follow in my footsteps whether he wants to or not. (Actually, he really does like to wear the collar.)

  • Use something from dog sports.
7. Hiker/happy camper. One of Blitzkrieg’s favorite sports is backpacking. Most small dog backpacks are decorative or carry the weight in the wrong place for a dog. That is why I ponied up the bucks and bought Blitzkrieg a Ruff Wear dog backpack. It is Blitzkrieg’s favorite “costume” because people think it is cute to put extra treats directly in his doggie backpack. Blitzkrieg lets them because he is nice like that.

Photobucket
Let's test how many treats my pack will hold. I know you wanna!

8. Lifeguard/boater I bought a dog life jacket and taught teach Blitzkrieg how to swim. It’s a little bulky but Blitzkrieg could wear his puppy life jacket as lifeguard costume.

Photobucket
For the record I like my water muddy and smelling like dead fish or duck poo.

  • Dress the dog’s crate or a wagon.

9. Balloon Boy I made my dog balloon boy costume with recycled materials and around Blitzkrieg’s wheeled dog carrier last Halloween. Blitzkrieg prefers to walk at events because he can floor surfing for dropped noms. However, we made up for that by buying his favor with carrots (one of his favorite treats) and his Balloon Boy costume was such a hit it meant he got his picture taken a lot, which he likes even more.

Photobucket
We lost the costume contest to someone who put a human sweater vest on a big dog and called him Jim Tressel, the Ohio State football coach who has an affinity for sweater vests. (Not that Lisa's bitter or anything)
10. Bow Wow WOW!: Fetching Costumes for Your Fabulous Dog I had this book on my To Read list for quite awhile so I was very happy when I won this book from Cathie Filian's blog giveaway. I think she’s creative and fun and her dog costumes are too. She has several decorative collar and cuff options for dogs who don’t like costumes. I’m not sure what Blitzkrieg will be this year for Halloween but I’m sure this book will influence it
.Bow Wow WOW!: Fetching Costumes for Your Fabulous Dog


Do you dress your pet up for Halloween? What will they be? Do you have an idea what Blitzkrieg should be for Halloween?


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14 comments :

Robj98168 said...

Looking good Blitzy! Romeo wears t-Shirts and such so halloween isn't so hard to find him something. He really wants to be a doggy Intellectual and sit at a table at the coffee shop, reading a mag and and eating pastry!

Rachel (Hounds in the Kitchen) said...

I bought a hot dog costume for our little dog last year. It's especially fitting for her because she was named 'hot dog' at the animal shelter before we adopted her.

Here's my post from last year with the costumes: http://houndsinthekitchen.com/2009/10/31/happy-halloween/

The year before that, the little one was a punk rock dock, which only involved spraying her natural mohawk with green temporary dye.

Melissa said...

How cute! I bought a tutu for my golden retriever. She loves it. She jumps up and looks like she wants to dance with it on.

DeeAnna said...

The Balloon Boy/Dog Kills Me!!!! We live in Denver and my husband is in the news business so no one around here is doing any balloon boy costumes I can tell you that. Denver is still a little sensitive about it, BUT for everyone else...hook your doggie to a mylar balloon...sssssooooo funny!

Life in Rehab said...

We play up Arwen's skin condition and dress her up as a zombie. She's such a sweet, good natured doggie she's up for anything.

That pup of yours has the best smile! Good boy, Blitzkrieg!

san said...

too cute...i have a perfect peke too Mine HATES water, i could not believe yours went in..

Thans for sharing.

Rebecca said...

I've got three dogs and only one likes to dress up-at least I've got one!

Entertaining Women said...

Oh my, I lost it when I got to Balloon Boy...that's the funniest thing that I've EVER seen! I make costumes for Little Charlie Dickens. Dickens is my 4 lb. Yorkie. He's my Yorkshire Terrorist. Thank you for sharing your wonderful ideas. Cherry Kay

Katie said...

Hey I read Cathie's blog too, love her! Tried so hard to win one of her new books on onesies but no luck. Glad you won one of her books:) You have so many suggestions for dog costumes, very creative. Thanks for sharing with us at A Crafty Soiree! Please join us next time too!

Lori@Paisley Passions said...

Darling ideas!!! TFS them on Thrilling Thursday @ Paisley Passions.

Shanna said...

Hello there. I am a new follower via Blog Hopping.Please visit @ http://www.mommiesandbeyond.com
Have a great weekend!

malia said...

This made me smile! Thanks for joining us at A Crafty Soiree... hope to see you again tomorrow (-:

Liz @ the Brambleberry Cottage said...

What a totally cool name for a dog...Blitzkrieg. Does he have a nickname? He's really adorable, Lisa.

Thanks for linking to my party. I look forward to seeing what you link up each week.

Liz @ the Brambleberry Cottage
http://thebrambleberrycottage.blogspot.com

Dog Crate End Table said...

Well for this year, a simple head light made my dog look like an alien. Lol

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