These two white golden retrievers are Pickles and Big Boy. In this picture, they were 9 months old. Big Boy is in the devil costume, and Pickles is in the angel costume. They have so much love to share with everyone. We are proud God has blessed us with these two beautiful dogs in our lives.
—Judith; Rockville, Maryland
This is Sylly Sylvia! She's always rockin' the town in her wigs and hats, entertaining people big and little! Halloween is her favorite time of the year.
— Christy; Atlanta, Georgia
Clapton is our family pet. He is a sweet, fawn, 22-month-old pug who is very lovable and sweet. (Of course, he is named after my husband and kids' favorite musician.)
Since he is so nonintimidating at 14 pounds, I decided to give him a "fierce" makeover. Now when he wears this costume, he takes command of the "prairie jungle."
I guess he is now our urban guard dog.
After having larger dogs, we needed a smaller pet since we now live on top of an old historic building. (Little dogs leave "little deposits.") This smart little guy is trained to use a litter box out on our deck.
I also have materials to create a Holstein (black-and-white) cow costume complete with a pink udder! I am sure he would be udderly adorable in that, as well.
— Anita; Sioux Falls, South Dakota
Wally found me 12 years ago when I was looking for a bowl for my other dog. He stared at me without wagging his tail. Love at first sight. Here he is as the witch "Wally Potter."
— Ann; Cincinnati, Ohio
These are two of my five dogs. Carly is the Boston and Coco is the chihuahua. Carly likes being dressed up more than Coco, but they both will dress up and be okay with it.
— Chris; Branson, Missouri
I always dress my animals up for Halloween. One year, Holly and I dressed up like hunters, and the pig, Polly, went as herself, the pig. We went trick-or-treating to all the neighbors. They had a blast. The first year I did it, I put Holly and Polly in front of my neighbor's door as I hid around the side of the house. When he answered the door, he threw the candy dish into the air. He was expecting kids, not a dog and pig. Animals are so much fun.
— Melanie; Palm City, Florida
When Blossom was about 5 years old, we jokingly put those funny Christmas antlers on her and realized that she didn't mind it. We were shocked, having never before owned a "dress up" dog. Well...from there, the floodgates opened and Blossom became the invitation picture for every party we had from that point forward. Just like the Barbie doll, Blossom has done it all, from being a chef, bride, witch and Easter bunny, to being a biker chick, princess and Rasta dog. She's our girl, and she is not even afraid to be seen first thing in the morning wearing curlers and slippers (just like Oprah).
— Lisa; Northfield, Illinois
Our kitty cat gets to participate in Halloween. I think this strawberry costume is the sweetest! I look forward to Halloween every year because it is a fun way to express my creativity.
— Trisha; Canton, Georgia
Our local puppy-raising club has a meeting each October where the dogs are dressed up in costumes, and this was Marilyn's costume last year. Since she is a black lab, we figured that she would make a lovely black widow spider—complete with a red, hourglass-shaped spot on her tummy. The costume is made almost entirely of items from our junk drawer, recycling bin and rag bin. Isn't she the cutest? She is 15 months old now, and she will go back to Guide Dogs to begin her formal guide training at the end of October.
— Linda; Walnut Creek, California
I always dress up my dog for Halloween, and last year, she was a skull cheerleader. This year, I wanted to do something more girly and pink. I went to the store to see if they had anything good. The first thing I saw was a Pink Lady outfit, and I thought it was the cutest thing ever! My mom bought it, and we took it home to see if it would fit her and to see if it was cute. She loves the camera, and she likes to pose. I just thought you would like it because Sugar is an adorable dog.
— Erica; Tecumseh, Michigan
This is Isabella Cornelia...or Izzy for short (my daughter named her when she was 10). Her name is rather ornate compared to her personality. She's actually an alpha female who takes on pit bulls in the dog park. She is a shih tzu/poodle mix and is 9 years old. I dress Izzy up regularly to make cards with captions to send friends for birthdays, etc., and Halloween is especially fun. This year, I found a pirate costume, which is perfect to accent her raw, tough personality and her crooked underbite. She's really a sweetie underneath!
I swear she really enjoys dressing and having her photo taken—now she knows the routine so once the clothes are on, she walks around in them proudly and then poses for our photo shoot. There is always her favorite treat afterward.
— Lisa; Plymouth, Minnesota
My son, Sam, was 6 years old and wanted to be Obi Wan Kenobi for Halloween. He came up with the brilliant idea to dress up our black lab, Costa, as Darth Vader. When we were online looking for costumes, we saw another dog costume that Sam envisioned on my sister's dog, who is a pug named Bertha. This costume was Yoda. My sister and her dog spend Halloween with us every year helping us pass out candy and taking Sam trick-or-treating; therefore, this idea was feasible.
I called my sister, who thought it was a fabulous idea. Furthermore, when Julie showed up for Halloween, she had dressed up as Princess Leia. We are now in debate of what we are going to do this year!
— Kelly; Avon, Indiana
My dog, Pooh Bear, loves to wear get ups—not just on Halloween but any time! When I hold a hat out for her, she actually pushes her head into it. She dresses like a bunny for Easter, wore a cow costume (complete with the "eat more chickin'" sign) last year for Halloween, has several Christmas outfits and loves to wear her Tony Stewart (#20, Home Depot Car) when we go to NASCAR events.
Pooh Bear likes to ride with me on my bike and has her own sun visor to keep the glare out of her eyes! We'll be looking for a new Halloween costume this year. We've seen some real winners but haven't yet decided on which one to buy. I live in a community that is pet friendly, and we have a Halloween costume contest. Pooh really wants to win. Maybe we'll go for scary this year.
I have learned a lot in life from my dog, in particular, to love unconditionally. She greets us with exuberance when we come home, even if we were only out for a few minutes. I hope that I am half the person that Pooh thinks I am. We really love her.
— Gerri; Titusville, Florida
My sister, my husband (recently married) and I love to make people laugh and smile by dressing up our dogs for the local costume contest in Winter Park, Florida. Our dogs have been featured on the advertising fliers and posters for the event and in the Orlando Sentinel. They always receive a warm reception from the crowd. Bulldogs pretend to be so tough, but in their hearts, they are all about love. They know how much people enjoy seeing them all dressed up and sometimes, I swear, they are smiling or posing for the crowd. Our dog is Bosco (middle dog). My sister's dog is Bullseye.
This year, we plan to have Bosco and Bullseye compete as "Surf and Turf." They are the greatest dogs.
— Kellye, Mel and Courtnie; Orlando, Florida
This is Eddie, a 7-month-old West Highland white terrier. We decided to dress him up as a vampire for his first Halloween because he loves to bite and chew on everything he can get his teeth on.
— Rachael; Bloomington, Illinois
This is my dog and second child, Mac. I adopted him from the Humane Society, and he is 5 years old. If he could talk, he would say ... "My mommy put me in this stupid lobster costume."
— Mileen; Mason City, Iowa
Smokey is a 2-year-old Australian shepherd who loves to chase around our three cats (who did not want to pose for the photo). Smokey loves having people around and gets a kick out of greeting the trick-or-treaters in his Halloween costume.
— Dianne; Hoffman Estates, Illinois
My dog, Brinkley (a 4-year-old Cavalier King Charles spaniel dog), is my baby who I treat just like a little child—if I had a baby/child, I'd dress her/him up for Halloween. So my baby dog, Brinkley, gets to dress up too for Halloween! I belong to a Cavalier King Charles spaniel group (of other moms with the same breed as my dog), and we have a Halloween get-together each year where we bring our dogs/babies dressed up. We give awards for their costumes and have a Halloween party with them.
We also take Brinkley to Petsmart each year—they have a Halloween costume get together, and they give awards for the "best, cutest, etc." costumes. We get our dog's picture taken with a nice Halloween background there.
The kids/parents also love seeing my dog (and me) dressed up when we give out candy each year. ... As his mom, I dress up each year with him so we both get to enjoy Halloween in costumes together.
— Laurie; Mount Laurel, New Jersey
Madison is a 7-year-old mixed breed, and at times, we don't believe he's all dog. He's sometimes human, sometimes bunny, sometimes doggy. So...every Halloween it's the perfect opportunity to make him a full bunny—just for the day!
— Robyn; Chicago, Illinois
Sophie's taco costume is a tribute to her Mexican heritage and nickname, Taco Paco, given to her by my mother-in-law. It's a family tradition to make Sophie a mini taco every time we eat Mexican food—lettuce, tomatoes, salsa and all!
— Anna; Tampa, Florida
Phillip might be dressed as a rooster, but he's no chicken. And those whiskers aren't part of the costume...they're real.
— Liz; Chicago, Illinois
Kokane grew up in an environment rich with music and art, provided by The Kirkpatrick Family. When it came time for Halloween, Kokanee prefered a costume which exemplified the beauty of his very own green pastures. Claude Monet was the obvious choice!
— Tina; Seattle, Washington
