It’s October, and soon all the little ghosts, goblins, and witches will be afoot in search of goodies. If you live in a neighborhood where trick-or-treating is still permitted (some do not due to safety reasons), Halloween means a steady stream of mini-ghouls parading across your lawn and onto your front porch. All the noise and strangers wearing strange costumes can send your poor pup into a tizzy. Here are some tips to help him keep his cool.

First of all, if you’re planning on dressing your dog in a costume, make sure it’s a costume designed for a dog. Don’t purchase a child’s costume thinking it will work for your CBF (canine best friend) because it won’t. Since dogs walk on all fours, the costume graphics must appear on the back. Anything on the chest side is pretty much wasted. The costume must provide freedom of movement for all four legs and not cover the abdomen or hindquarters (for obvious reasons), so fitting the costume (taking into consideration any physical issues the dog has) is paramount.

A dog costume can include a hood (perhaps with holes for the ears) but should never include a mask. Before the big night, allow your dog to wear his costume so he gets used to it and you can make any necessary adjustments prior to crunch time. If he’s going trick-or-treating with you and your kids, reflective tape on his costume or his collar is a good idea so he is more visible in the dark. In my personal opinion, a costume is usually a waste of money. They’re definitely cute, but dogs generally don’t like being dressed up (unless we’re talking about Paris Hilton’s ‘purse dogs’) and he may refuse to budge when he’s costumed. He’ll be much more comfortable (but still festive) wearing a cute Halloween bandanna or collar.

If you’re staying home to pass out treats (as I do), your pup may become unnerved by the parade of little monsters appearing on your front porch. If your dog usually goes nuts when someone is at the door, he’ll be jumping out of his skin when there’s someone every few minutes. The best thing to do to prevent this from happening is to put him in a room as far away from the front door as possible, preferably with a television on to distract him from the Halloween activity. Put his bed in the room, along with a treat that he really loves and will last a long time. (No rawhide, though–the cheaper ones are processed with bleach, and he can bite off a piece and choke on it. More on that later.) Check on him periodically to make sure he’s okay.

When your kids have made the neighborhood rounds and are safely home, make sure that their treats are well out of the reach of your dog. Most people know that chocolate is unsafe for dogs due to the theobromine, but raisins are also off limits, as well as gum. Many sugarless gums are sweetened with xylitol, which causes vomiting, seizures, and liver failure in dogs. If a dog ingests this poison, he will experience an almost immediate severe drop in blood-sugar levels, which causes dizziness and lack of coordination. Unfortunately, there is really nothing that a pet owner can do at home, so you’ll be headed to the emergency room STAT. Don’t let your Halloween fun turn into a tragedy.

And now for some funny personal Halloween pet stories…

The first one involves Cosmo, my Golden Retriever who is now 9 years old. His first Halloween with us was in 2008 when he was 3. We had just finished advanced obedience class with him at our local PetSmart and received an invitation to their annual Halloween party for pets and their parents. Since Cosmo was (and still is) a beautiful example of the Golden Retriever breed, and I was (and still am) so over the moon with him, I decided that I would dress up my furry little angel in an angel costume and we would attend the party. We also had received an invitation to a party at Three Dog Bakery in Plymouth for the same evening, so we planned on attending both.

I bought a doggie angel costume to fit Cosmo and realized after I brought it home that it had wings attached to the shoulders but didn’t come with a halo. What to do? So my husband and I fashioned a halo out of a wire coat hanger and covered it with foil, then rigged it to the costume. When we put the costume on Cosmo, he looked adorable (of course) but went round in circles trying to bite that silly halo. I guess I should’ve realized that his attempts to remove the halo were an omen of what was to come.

When we got to the party at PetSmart, there was a large table set up with all kinds of goodies for pets and parents. Cosmo was (and still is) WAY too motivated by food and saw this table as a golden opportunity to help himself without asking permission. He lunged at the table and gobbled about 6 treats before I could pull him away. That set the tone for the rest of the evening…the trainer wanted the recent graduates (including Cosmo) to show off what they’d just learned, but by then, Cosmo was so jazzed up over all the treats and other dogs that he refused to listen to any of the commands and was bent on grabbing goodies wherever he could.

We left in disgrace and headed to Three Dog Bakery, where we met up with our friends Dave and Candy and their Chocolate Labrador Retriever, Hunter, who is the same age as Cosmo and is his best buddy. Candy and I thought it would be cute to dress Hunter in a devil costume since Cosmo was dressed as an angel, but we both realized after a short while that the costumes should have been reversed. Hunter behaved like a perfect little gentleman while Cosmo continued with his ‘grab-all-you-can-get’ behavior. A photographer who happened to snap a photo of Cosmo captured the moment perfectly: Cosmo has this huge ‘THIS IS AWESOME!’ grin on his face, halo askew. We were politely asked to leave before my ‘little angel’ wreaked more havoc. Needless to say, Cosmo has never worn the angel costume again.

The next story is mainly about our little Border Collie mix, Tara, who I rescued as a stray puppy last October 22nd. Since I’ve learned my lesson about dressing dogs up in Halloween costumes, I decided to get a cute Halloween bandanna for Tara. (Cosmo already had his–it’s Day-glo orange with a black ghost on it and says ‘Boo!’) When the big evening arrived, both dogs, attired in their festive bandannas, politely greeted all the trick-or-treaters with smiles and wagging tails (although Cosmo tried to get his head in a few treat bags because he’s still way too food-oriented) and were just generally really cute and well-behaved.

All the Halloween activity stopped by about 8 pm, and it had started raining, so I decided to let the dogs out one more time before the rain increased. While they were outside, I patted myself on the back for Tara coming out of her shell and being so outgoing and well-behaved in the short time she’d been with us. My pride was short-lived, however. When I let the dogs in, I grabbed a towel to dry them off, starting with Cosmo. Tara was reluctant to let me dry her off, and when I got nearer her, I noticed a rather unpleasant smell. My sweet, cute little well-behaved girl had rolled in wet poop and it was all over her head and bandanna. The bandanna went in the washing machine and Tara went in the bathtub.

I hope you and your CBF have a safe and happy Halloween!