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costumes

Dress your dog up as Chucky, a lion and more.

Halloween is just around the corner, which means it's costume crunch time.

As people are making their final decisions about whether to go scary, silly, cute or obscure, some are also deciding how to dress up their doggos. Who doesn't love seeing a pup with a superhero cape or a dog in a wig and sunglasses bopping down the street?

Whether dogs truly appreciate being dressed up is up for debate. Some people might think it's cruel to put clothes on an animal, but according to PetMD, not all dogs dislike being dressed up. For those who clearly don't mind, it can be fun to find Halloween costumes that will make the neighbors giggle.


Some dog costumes are pretty basic, but some definitely exceed expectations. People have been sharing dog costumes on social media that are too clever and hilarious to pass up.

For instance, check out this pumpkin-carrying costume that creates an illusion of two people struggling to haul around a pumpkin.

So funny.

Or how about a doggo Chucky costume? These cutie-pies with their little psycho doll costumes are both so adorable and so creepy.

If you really want to freak people out and you have a small dog—especially one with short legs—grab a fuzzy tarantula or big black spider costume. Watch how people get pranked with eight-legged doggos:

If your dog is bigger and beige, try transforming them into a lion with a lion's mane costume. Super simple, but the right doggo can pull off a genuine dupe from a distance.

Also in the transforming-into-other-animals category, how about these cute little panda costumes? On a little white dog, the effect is pure perfection, especially when they're coming straight at you.

@aravosis

#Dogs dressed as pandas for #Halloween. You’ll thank me. #costumes #dogsofttiktok

And for a little yeehaw fun, check out this cowboy bull rider costume. If you can get your pup to run around in circles like this one, you've got some serious entertainment on your hands.

If you decide to get a dog costume, make sure you check the measurements to get the right size for your furry friend.

Happy Halloween, everyone!

Halloween is awesome, and we would know. We're dogs in costumes.

Pocky, a pug, is dressed in a military costume. Photo by Robyn Beck/AFP/Getty Images.

Adults, kids, and even pets like us get to dress up and make believe however we want on Halloween.

(There's even candy involved, which is a nice bonus.)


Superdog catches a frisbee. Photo by Amanda Edwards/Getty Images.

But sometimes people want to divide our imaginations by gender, and we're not into it.

Take a walk through any costume party or Halloween aisle and you'll see what we mean.

Boys and men get to be traditional police officers. Girls and women? Not so much.

Golden retrievers Champ (L) and Jordan (R), dressed as SWAT team members. Photo by Frederic J. Brown/AFP/Getty Images.

Girls and women get to be butterfly princesses. Boys and men? Well, you get the idea.

Daisy, a bulldog, is dressed as a princess. Photo by Robyn Beck/AFP/Getty Images.

The whole thing is pretty gross. (And we know gross. We eat cat poop.)

A dog dressed as a spider takes part in Halloween dog parade. Photo by Timothy A. Clary/AFP/Getty Images.

Why? Because men don't own masculinity, just like women don't own femininity.

Hanging a gender on a costume doesn't make much sense at all, especially for kids who are still sorting out their identities.

Dachshund-terrier mix Robin, dressed as a mail carrier. Photo by Frederic J. Brown/AFP/Getty Images.

As young people sort out their identities, who are we to keep them from expressing themselves?

Bon the dog poses as an iPhone. Photo by Mario Tama/Getty Images.

This Halloween, take a cue from us, the pets in your life (and our pet-parents), and dress how you want.

Bambi, a Dachshund mix, is dressed as Superman. Photo by Robyn Beck/AFP/Getty Images.

We're dogs in costumes, and unless you look really closely (why would you, though?), you can't even tell whether we're male or female.

We're just playing dress up.

Rudy (L) poses as Michael Jackson and Parker poses as his girlfriend in the "Thriller" video. Photo by Mario Tama/Getty Images.

We're walking, barking furry reminders that setting aside gendered costumes and outdated expectations matters.

Why? Because being who you want to be in this world matters.

A dog dresses as the wolf masquerading as Grandma from "Little Red Riding Hood." Photo by Robyn Beck/AFP/Getty Images.

This year on Halloween, do us pets a solid: Encourage the kids in your life to choose whatever costume they want.

After all, when children dress up, it's more than play — they're learning too.

Bella Luna, a Pomeranian, is dressed as a chef. Photo by Robyn Beck/AFP/Getty Images.

If that means shopping in a different section or skipping the party store entirely this year, so be it.

Terrier-pitbull mix Parker dressed as a unicorn. Photo by Frederic J. Brown/AFP/Getty Images.

Short of appropriating someone's culture or heritage, everyone deserves to play as they please.

A Chihuahua is dressed as an aviator at a Halloween dog costume parade. Photo by Robyn Beck/AFP/Getty Images.

That's what Halloween is all about.

Just when you've seen everything, a dog cowgirl. Photo by Timothy Clary/AFP/Getty Images.

So have fun. Be safe. And, most importantly, be yourself.

(Or, better yet,  the costumed version of yourself you want to share with the world.)

Tommy attends the 3rd Annual Bow-Wow-Ween. Photo by Amanda Edwards/Getty Images.

Julie Peveto has taken a lot of photographs, but her two favorite subjects are her husband and adorable 7-year-old daughter.

All photos by Julie Peveto, used with permission

In 2014, when her husband dressed up as the Baron Samedi for a trip to New Orleans with friends, Julie saw a great opportunity for a Day-of-the-Dead-themed photo shoot.

She dressed her daughter in similarly spooky attire and staged an awesome shoot near their home.

Friends and family couldn't get enough of the ghoulish pics, so the family decided to start a Halloween tradition.

The next year, Julie dressed dad and daughter as blood-sucking vampires.

The pair lurked around an old castle in Oklahoma as mom snapped photos.

This year, they dressed as ghostly spirits, restlessly roaming about a graveyard.

Julie's preparation was more elaborate than ever this year, too, with her daughter wearing a vintage nightgown and her husband an old, shredded, powdery suit.

"It's usually too much work to think about me also dressing up," Julie said with a laugh. "Right now it's just something special between dad and daughter."

"He's very involved, picks her up from school every day. They have a really great relationship."

Along with amazing costumes and impeccable camera work, Julie's photos capture two parents willing to go to great lengths to build amazing memories with their daughter.

Since she started the project, Julie's photos have gone viral several times.

"People say, 'Oh, what a fun memory to have,'" she said. "Just the togetherness of the family going out and doing something fun together."


The family plans on keeping the tradition going as long as possible, too.

"Until my daughter doesn't want to do it anymore," Julie joked.

My daughter tells me that Halloween is one of her favorite holidays because she “can dress up and be anything she wants for a day.”

Awwwww ... so cute! In a world filled with frustration and unlimited obstacles, I love that this day encourages her to foster her creative fantasies. As a supportive mom, I want to entertain her ideals and make her Halloween extremely special. And what could be more important than planning next year’s costume?

Like a proverbial PEZ dispenser of ensemble ideas, her Halloween costume planning begins on the floor, adorned in her current costume, sorting the sweet bounty of her prior hours of trick-or-treating. “Next year, I want to be a skeleton princess,” she’ll say with a mouthful of nuts saturated in high-fructose corn syrup. “Sure,” I say to her as I get her toothbrush ready. As a parent of an 8-year-old, I’ve learned better than to put too much weight into these premature moments of costume planning.


​Comic by Sara Zimmerman/Unearthed Comics.

I now wait until the grim reaper appears on those orange and black signs, promoting the opening of temporary costume shops in previously vacant storefronts. We then look together online, through thrift stores, and in these surprisingly overpriced costume outlets to explore exciting ideas for her Halloween future. She mentions she wants to be a hybrid of something that’s somewhat feminine and something utterly ghoulish. Despite how much I love how un-sexist these concepts are, her choices, unfortunately, always seem to include either accessories that make her invisible to drivers or something only suitable for a tropical climate thousands of miles away from our reality.

Comic by Sara Zimmerman/Unearthed Comics.

Eventually, we come to a costume consensus and we begin to plan the evening’s festivities.

Indulging in my own childishness from my years of juvenile past, I orchestrate what I think will be the best route to optimize our fruitful night.

Comic by Sara Zimmerman/Unearthed Comics.

Whatever we decide, I know the weather has the final say. So I plan accordingly.

Comic by Sara Zimmerman/Unearthed Comics.

However, plans change: People don’t show up to our Halloween party, kids quickly become overly tired, haunted houses are spookier than we assumed. I just want my daughter to have the best Halloween possible, so, thinking about her happiness, I scramble to facilitate whatever fun is left to be had. Yet in this damage-control-induced craze, I don’t notice she is not only fine but has actually been having fun and has simultaneously, kindly, been thinking about me.

Comic by Sara Zimmerman/Unearthed Comics.

Despite my tendencies to over-plan and commandeer her best and spookiest memories ever, I realize that Halloween with my daughter is not about making it perfect; it’s about having a good time together in whatever shape, size, or form. Whether it’s hitting all the “good candy” houses or missing them completely because it snowed, it’s all about going with the flow and enjoying whatever Halloween throws at us together.