If you’re still looking for costume ideas for your dog, this Halloween avoid harsh dyes that can hurt your pet and ruin your furniture. Above all else, you want to keep your dog healthy, happy and  comfortable in its Halloween costume.

Princess and pirate costumes are outdated. I want my dog to stand out in a crowd. I don’t want to spend as much on my dog costume as I do on my own.

Personally, I’d deck my dog out to match what I was going to be for Halloween. Maybe my favorite type of food like tacos?!

Dorothy and Toto are overdone. I might dress as a librarian and my dog can be a book. I would get a box and cut out the top, bottom and one side. I want the box large enough so it can just slide over my dog without encumbering him. Then I would paint the box to look like a book.

A  iPod would work in a similar way, I’d just paint the box to look like one. Magicians could dress their pooch up as a magicians assistant. Gadget geeks can be the ones doing the big unveiling by outfitting their pet as an iPod or latest smartphone. You could even dress your dog up as your favorite vacationing uncle, complete with Hawaiian lei.

Halloween costumes are supposed to be fun. We shouldn’t get stressed and doubt whether we really should include our pet on a family night or not. Keep things simple. Even mundane household items can end up giving you the inspiration you need to make your pet look sharp this Halloween.

When I was 18 and just graduated out of high school, I received as a graduation gift, a tiny Bichon Frise puppy. We picked little Daisy up at the beginning of August, and not long after, she had her first Halloween with us.

We dressed her up in a Star Wars Princess Leia costume, but I always imagined we could do something more… original. So, I wrote down some of the more interesting ideas I had and I would like to share them with you now.

Regular Animal Themed Costumes – Okay, imagine this. A dog… dressed as a shark. Hear me out. Put a shark head hat on the dog’s head (The correct fish) and then put a fish tail and fin on their butt. Maybe on their tail. When they wag their tail or wiggle their butt… The tail will move too, making a fish-like movement!

Or maybe, dress them up as a different breed of dog! That would be a riot!

Mythical Animal Themed Costumes – I always thought that dressing up an animal as a different animal was always so cute. But not your traditional animals, like the cat and rat. No, I thought something along the line of mythical would be so much more unique!

So, why not a dinosaur like a Stegosaurus? Maybe a Halloween-themed dragon! With lizard skinned print? Or what about a black unicorn? Surely there must be one somewhere! The possibilities are endless! Cerberus! Hydra! Or a Centaur! Could you imagine that? A dog with a long neck and long legs could pull it off easily!

Food Themed Costumes – Have you ever thought of the origin of your particular breed of dog? Take the Akita, for example. The Akita originated in Japan, so… why not dress him up as a roll of sushi? Or the Chihuahua, originating from Mexico? Dress him up as a big taco! And the Barbet? Well, the Barbet came from France, so… how about a baguette! Do your research and make a choice!

Human Themed Costumes – Ever heard of the phrase, “animals look like their humans”? Well, why not take it a step farther with matching costumes? Just think about it for a second. Your kid dresses up as Robin, and “Spot” dresses up as Batman! You’re tall, moody teenager who likes video games a little too much dresses up as The Dark Knight, and “Fluffy” goes as the Joker from the same game! Superman. Indiana Jones. Elvis. I could go on all day.

I hope you got some good ideas out of this! I can’t wait to see your dogs halloween costume pictures online! Be safe, have fun and Happy Halloween! So now it’s time to go trick or treating!

I think it would also be cute to have a set of Wizard of Oz costumes for dogs. The Dorothy costume would have a blue/white gingham print dress, perhaps with a little yarn wig braided in pigtails, with an elastic band to fit around the dog’s head so that it doesn’t come off. 

A scarecrow outfit with a little dog sweater with yellow yarn to act as straw stuffing coming out of the leg holes, neck hole, and waist hole, and a hat with an elastic strap around the head to hold it in place. The tin man costume will be a coat of sorts made from shiny silver fabric, perhaps a lame-type fabric.

It will velcro down at the ribcage, and I’d put a red heart on the left side of the dog so it will be visible. The tin man’s ‘hat’ can be made with the silver lame fabric as well and stuffed with polyester filling to give it shape, and also it will have an elastic band running around the dogs head to keep it in place.

Finally the lion’s costume will be a tan/brown color made from fleece fabric, with a tail piece that can attach to your dog’s tail with elastic bands. There would be a head piece that you would stick your dog’s head through, with brown yarn replicating the lion’s mane.

Click here to see even more dog costume ideas

I love to dress up my dog as a ladybug. I got the ladybug dog costume online – just like the one you see here and used their specific size chart to make sure it would fit my little bichon. The ladybug costume had a head part attached like a hooded sweatshirt. The hood had a slit on each side for my dog’s ears to come out, which was very helpful when dressing him.

The dog costume I got was made of a light weight red fabric with black silk wings attached. To top it off, there are antennas on the hood to make my pup look like a real bug! The costume has Velcro strips on the bottom to make it easy to put on and take off.

Another dog costume I love to put him in is his dog bee costume. It is basically made the same with the Velcro attaching at the bottom. It is made of the same light weight fabric, which I think helps the dogs to stay cool. It is easy to add accessories to the dog halloween costumes by making anklets out of colored elastic and sequins, feathers, and jewels.

All you have to do is measure an elastic piece about 4 to 6 inches long, depending on the dog’s size, and then sewing it together at the ends. You can then use a hot glue gun to attach decorations and once dry they are very easy to slip over the dogs paw, and they add a lot to any doggie costume.

You can also accessorize dog collars and the dog leashes to match the dog halloween costumes as well, using the same method with the hot glue. Whichever dog costume you choose, it is best to make sure the dog is fully comfortable in it before being taken out.

Keep in mind that sometimes if a dog costume is too tight or heavy it can cause the dog distress to wear. But if a dog seems to not notice the costume, then that is a good sign. Check here for even more dog costume ideas for your own pet.