Maybe you wanted to do it yourself this year. Save a few dollars, show off your creative talents … whatever it was, now it’s October and you’re looking down the wire at the upcoming neighborhood Halloween Strut and you can’t see a crafty moment in sight. Before everyone grabs up all the good stuff and leaves you with nothing but a measly bandanna to tie around your pup’s neck—again—take a look at our favorite pre-fabricated costumes for dogs.
We based our picks on costumes’ scariness potential balanced out with cuteness potential—once the scary factor has been pushed aside. For example, if you think of most of these costumes in terms of how we react to them in real life (eating dogs—yuck! Giant bees—eek!), or what really happens to the characters (Alice is nearly beheaded, and Zelda always has to be rescued from certain demise), you will see that they are all worthy of any monster-themed ball or parade you might be attending.
10. Dog as Food. A perennial Halloween favorite—yum! Who needs candy when you have dogs around? Here we present the pumpkin dog and hot dog.
9. Superdogs. If you’re more into saving the world than scaring the world, you can go with the Superdogs … of course, the aftermath is a pretty scary mess that needs to be cleaned up, but hey, the good guys win again, right? They can’t be bothered with such details. Seen here: Wonderdog, Superdog, and Batdog.
8. If Dogs Could Fly. And speaking of messy aftermaths … Classic and economical, the winged dog is a Halloween favorite. When dogs fly, indeed!
7. Jedi Dogs. For the sci-fi geeky dogs, Star Wars favorites Leia and Yoda … May the fire hydrant be with them.
6. Monster Classics. For the dog who likes a little literature with his milk bones … Dracula and Frankenstein’s creature.
5. Garden Gnomes. The real match made in heaven: the flowers and the bees. Alone or in a pair, either can be scary (especially if you happen to be allergic), and either can be a delight (especially if you like honey).
4. Little Princesses. Here’s two of our favorite damsels in distress, Zelda and Alice. Maybe they do need to be saved sometimes, but they’re no weaklings.
3. Prisoners of Love. Here is a very good example of perspective. Being in jail is scary stuff, but a dog in a prison uniform? Cute!
2. Dem Bones. We’re almost there, but there is still something even scarier, in our mind, than a moving skeleton. This is pretty hard to beat though—because, really, what holds a walking skeleton together? It’s just bones! Crazy!
1. Phew! You wanna talk scary? Having lived in the Midwest for a brief time in the 1990s, we know this smell all too well, and know to stay far, far away. A giant skunk? This is real-life scary.
Originally published on PetMD
