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Halloween costumes and safety for pets
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Once a year its not only OK to dress totally inapropriatly for work, its expected. Halloween invites us to feel like kids again for the day, playing dress up, eating candy and playing practical jokes. Inviting a pet to join in the fun can be a great way to get into the spirit, as long as your pet is in a festive mood.
The key with costumes is to keep it as comfortable as possible, so your pet can enjoy herself insead of focusing on getting the costume off.
Many retailers now carry costumes specifically designed for pets, from disney liscenced princess costumes, to run of the mill pumpkins. These costumes are sized to be easy to pick out and generally fit very well. Expect to pay between $15 and $50 depending on your pets size and the style of costume.
For those who preferr to DIY, a trip to the fabric store can yield impressive results, turning Fido into a cheetah, or zebra need only require a yard of fabric and some well placed safety pins. Accessories such as hats, jewlery and feathers are available at most craft stores. Many fabric stores also sell patterns for those who have a sewing maching and know how to use it.
Adding a splash of color to you pet is also an option! Many groomers offer small amounts of color as an add-on service. Impressive temporary color is easy to add to your own dog (I strongly reccomend against coloring cats) with the use of sidewalk chalk or atists chalk and a little water. Simply dip the chalk in warm water and applyit to the dogs fur, use a hair dryer to dry the area and bush it out when its dry. The color will remain until it wears off or it washed off, generally a few days.
Costumes, even ones designed for pets should be put on immediatly before and removed immediatly after the intended event to minimize the chance of an unsupervised pet injuring himself. Never attempt to cover your pets face with a mask, as it could cause panic and aggression. Most dogs resist having thier feet covered so instead of boots, try nail polish to accent toes.
The most important things to remember about including your pet in Halloween concern his health. Candy sould be limited to dog treats, as all sugar based treats are dangerous to pets. Chocolate, in any form can be fatal not just fattening! Remind guests that your pets may not have any human treats and explain to children the importance of using dog treats to avoid a midnight trip to the emergency vet.
If you are hosting a party consider a pet freindly food theme, with carob, penut butter and vanilla treats. Even if something drops (or is put) on the floor, pets are safe! There are loads of pet freindly cookie recipes available online that are safe for pets and taste great to people.
Even if your intentions are good, there are some pets who although dressed like one, are not social butterflies. Respect your pets limits and demand that others do the same. Children especially do not always understand that just because a pet is dressed up doesn't mean its freindly. If you take your pet trick or treating, consider waiting at the curb with him instead of taking him up to the door where the family dog may not be so freindly. Your pooch will be less tempted to sneak a snack and less threatening to both the resident dog and any dog-fearing humans.
If you plan in advance, follow safety precautions and have a sense of humor, adding your pet to your Halloween festivities can be a blast for both of you.
Remember to send your pets Halloween photo to the Examiner for the weekly slideshow!
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