Trick or Treat?! Our Favorite Dog Halloween Costume Ideas

Just when you think your pooch couldn’t be any cuter, Halloween rolls around and there’s really nothing more adorable than dogs in Halloween costumes. Whether your four-legged family member will be joining the rest of the family trick or treating or you’ll be heading out for a doggie Halloween event, I’ve rounded up some of the best dog Halloween costume ideas I could find. Most of them you can even make yourself. Here are my favorites:

• Beanie Baby Pup – Karina of You Bet Your Pierogis has one of the most genius DIY dog Halloween costumes I’ve seen: a Beanie Baby pup! It’s super simple, cheap and it’s perfect for dogs who refuse to wear a full costume. She transformed her goldendoodle (@freddy_doodle) by enlarging a Beanie Baby tag on cardstock, folding it in half, punching a hole in it and attaching it to a red string that she tied around his neck. Inside the tag, she included her dog’s date of birth and a rhyming story just like the original stuffed animals had. Visit the blog post for the full tutorial and a link to the printable tag.

• Hot Dog and Hot Dog Vendor – I’ve seen a lot of great dog and owner Halloween costumes but this combo of a hot dog vendor and a hot dog is really perfect. Stephanie Lynn created a DIY hot dog vendor costume for her son using common craft supplies. See the full tutorial here. She purchased a hot dog costume for her dog to fit the theme. However, Annie Sews has a video that walks you through how to do it yourself.

• A Chia Pet – Turn your pooch into everyone’s favorite 1980s terracotta pet. Brit + Co has a great video for a DIY chia pet dog costume that doesn’t involve sewing. You cut a baby onesie into a dog t-shirt (you could also use an old dog sweater) and cover it with fake grass using a hot glue gun. You’ll also create little terracotta pots to go around your dog’s legs using orange felt. It’s a fairly easy costume to put together and it looks fantastic. Watch the video here.

• Superhero – @Wolfgang2242 went with a superhero theme last year with Wonder Woman, Superman, Batman and The Green Hornet and the result was amazingly cute. If you’re looking for dog Halloween costume ideas for multiple dogs or even a mix of humans and dogs, I love the idea of sticking with a theme. Amazon has a huge selection of affordable superhero costumes for dogs like this Wonder Woman getup. 

• A Flower – DIY Network has numerous tutorials for different easy DIY dog Halloween costumes, including a flower. The costume involves cutting petal shapes out of colored felt and sewing them to a piece of elastic. The elastic goes around your pooch’s head and the petals frame their face. Even though this one does require a little sewing, it’s minimal and you don’t need to be a pro with a needle and thread to pull it off. Check out the tutorial here. The team at Muttville Senior Dog Rescue (@muttvillesf) even did a version to spice up a #coneofshame. Don’t let a recent procedure keep your dog from enjoying the festivities!

• A Chef – Crusoe the Celebrity Dachshund (@crusoe_dachshund) knows you don’t have to wait for October 31 to wear a costume! His Instagram account is a treasure trove of dog Halloween costume ideas because he dresses to the nines all year long. One of my personal favorites is his little chef outfit. To recreate the look for your own dog this Halloween, you’ll need a pooch-sized chef hat and jacket. You can buy one or try your hand at a DIY costume using this tutorial from Woman’s Day.

• Little Red Riding Hood and the Wolf – Lucy of Craftberry Bush came up with a great dog and owner Halloween costume and it was entirely homemade. Lucy dressed as Little Red Riding Hood by fashioning herself a cape with a red hood and her dog served as a sweet version of the Big Bad Wolf. She made wolf ears with felt and faux fur and glued them to a headband. Her husband stood in as the hunter with a flannel shirt and an axe. She outlines the steps to make your own wolf ears on the blog.

• Light-Up Porcupine – Alison Lewis created an illuminated porcupine costume for Martha Stewart. Out of all of the DIY dog Halloween costumes we’ve mentioned, this one definitely takes a little more skill and a fairly tolerant dog but if you can pull it off, it’s fabulous! It involves sewing a little sweater out of faux fur, poking fiber optic strands through the fur to create porcupine quills and rigging up an LED tube with a battery holder and hiding it in the costume. The outcome? Porcupine quills that actually light up.

For an extra special treat this Halloween, how does the chance to win a free Dogger dog stroller or $300 worth of Dog Quality products sound? Since the contest is about making every moment count with your dog, snap a picture of your pooch in their Halloween costume. Then, visit our post to watch the new Dog Quality video and add your picture in the comments section to enter. Good luck and Happy Halloween!