Dog Costume Ideas

Whether for Halloween, an Easter parade or a Harry Potter convention, pet owners can come up with some pretty wild dog costume ideas to get their four-legged friends in on all the dress up action. So long as your family friend is comfortable and easy going about all the silliness, a lot of fun can be had! With some clever originality, perhaps Fido will even win a contest!

When it comes to dog costumes, you're only limited by your imagination.

Some of the simplest and most basic dog costume ideas involve dressing your dog as another animal, usually in another genus. Costumes such as bumble bees, lady bugs, frogs, bunnies, bats and birds are all readily available, inexpensive and easy for the dog to wear.

Dogs aren't given names like "Rex" or "Queenie" without reason. They are often the rulers of their little kingdom in your home and if you treat them like royalty, it stands to reason that you would take occasion to dress them as such. Simple royal costumes include capes and soft crowns and perhaps the occasional, yes, ruff!

Superhero costumes have become very popular for dogs because not only can they personify the way many people think of their pets, but the costumes are very funny. The clever design of many of the superhero costumes builds in little arms, so that once your dog's front legs are encased in the costume's legs, it then looks as though the hero is a tiny person with a dog's head.

The look of the tiny arms is so appealing, designers and clever owners are continually setting their minds to more costume ideas that make their dog a small, funny-looking human. Nuns are a fun option, as are fairy godmothers, plumbers, construction workers, sailors and Indian chiefs. If you have several dogs, you can create a group costume and dress them up as the Village People.

Dressing a dog as a playful fairy is easy and can be inexpensive, but of course you can also get very elaborate. When it comes to fantasy costumes for dogs, you're only limited by your imagination. One popular choice is to include a dog as part of a Harry Potter-themed costume. A dog can be a dragon, an elf, Hagrid's dog Fang, an owl, a unicorn or the three-headed dog from the first book. If you opt for the latter, be sure you try a sample of the costume on the dog (if you can) before making an expensive purchase or engaging in a fussy sewing project. While many dogs will submit to a costume, anything that can actually interfere with a dog's vision or movement might create a problem. Your dog might be uneasy having two heads on either side of his peripheral vision.

You can also dress up a dog to take with you to Cosplay events and Faerie parties and festivals. This can be a great way to use remnants and scraps accrued from making your own costume. For these events, you definitely want a homemade costume so your dog better looks the part.

Dogs can also be dressed in period costumes if you bring your pet to the Renaissance Faire or something similar. Dogs were often dressed in fancy ruffs to match their wealthy owners in this era, so you'd actually be correct for the period. But if you want to get very silly, you can dress your dog as a knight of the round table, or Robin Hood, or Henry VIII. You can also dress a pair of dogs as knights preparing to joust, just be sure that the armor doesn't cover the eyes.

Whatever unique option you choose, make sure your dog is comfortable and showered in treats for being such a good sport!

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