You Want Me to Wear What?

Brace yourself: Officials are warning Americans of a scarcity of pumpkins this holiday season. The horror! Higher fuel costs, in addition to low rainfall and hotter-than-usual temperatures in much of the country, has severely affected this year’s crop. The hardest hit has been the Jack O’ Lantern variety, which is popular for carving freaky faces.

While these oversized orbs may be in short supply this Halloween, thankfully, there is a copious crop of canine costumes available for your four-legged diva or devil. Just ask the folks at www.classbrain.com, who have once again carved out their list of the 10 Best Pet Costumes for 2008. While this year’s ghoulish get-ups don’t feature glow-in-the-dark strips as in years’ past—a must-have safety feature for dogs (and their people) who are planning to stroll at sundown—I’m sure you can easily add them to any costume you purchase.

Here are the wicked winners in order of popularity:

1.  SUPERMAN. Faster than a speeding bow-wow, your furry friend can leap tall buildings in a single bound (or at least sprint to the food bowl faster than you can say DINNNNNER!).

2. BATMAN. Your canine caped crusader will be the hit of any party in this black cape with matching black bat ears and orange Batman belt.

3. STAR WARS YODA. May the fur be with you!

4. PRISON DOG. Watch out; this black and white convict striped costume will make even the leanest pet look chubby.

5. DOGULA. Dogs can really sink their teeth into this one.

6. HIPPIE. The flower power in this polyester pantsuit is enough to induce psychedelic doggy dreams. Far out, mutt!

7. ‘50s GIRL. Rock around the clock with your pooch in this black shirt, pink bandana and attached pink poodle skirt. Oh, Happy Days!

8. SKELEDOG. Other dogs won’t stand a ghost of a chance of winning Best Costume when your pup appears in this black t-shirt adorned with white skeleton bones.

9. ARMY GRUNT. This tan and moss green camouflage shirt with matching helmet is a great choice for the patriotic pooch in your family.

10. DEVIL DOG. The devil made me dress up my dog in this red cape with matching red devil horns.

11. Honorable Mention: CAT/DOG JESTER. Bring out the inner clown in your pet with these adorable court jester collars with pumpkin bells.

When the most frightful day of the year materializes this Friday, keep in mind that some pets would rather bury the outrageous outfit and simply wear their own furry birthday suit. Costumes and masks can increase a pet’s risk of injury because they feel confined or nervous about the noise. If you’re all about trick-or-treating with the kiddies, consider bringing your pooch au naturale or leaving him home and resisting the urge to call him a party pooper.

Halloween may be a time to binge on buckets of Butterfinger bars—or is that just me?!—but chocolate is downright dangerous for dogs and cats. Studies have shown that ingesting just a wee bit of the sugary sweets (which contains Theobromine) can cause trembling, vomiting, diarrhea, muscle spasms, coma, and in rare cases, even death. (An interesting side note: unsweetened (baker’s) chocolate contains 8-10 times the amount of Theobromine as milk chocolate, while semi-sweet chocolate falls roughly in between the two for Theobromine content. White chocolate contains some Theobromine, but the amount is so small that poisoning is unlikely.) Be sure and keep all candy (and cellophane wrappers) out of reach of your confection-loving canines. And beware of other Halloween dangers such jack-o-lanterns with lit candles, pets escaping the house when the front door is open to welcome trick-or-treaters, and pranksters who may try and harm black cats. Have a safe and sane howl-o-ween!

SMALL DOG IS BIG HERO. Here’s your feel-good story of the week: Leo, a Terrier mix from Australia, on Sunday, saved a litter of newborn kittens from a burning building. MSNBC reported:  “Leo had to be revived with oxygen and heart massage after his ordeal. Fire broke out overnight at the house in Australia ’s southern city of Melbourne, where he was guarding the kittens. Firefighters who revived Leo said he refused to leave the building and was found by them alongside the litter of kittens, despite thick smoke.”

“Leo wouldn't leave the kittens and it nearly cost him his life,” fire service Commander Ken Brown told reporters.

The plucky pooch—who was nicknamed Smokey by firefighters—as well as the four kittens and their mother, who was initially missing and feared dead, are all doing well. Good job, mate!

This feel-good story has Karen feeling giddy this week (the extra jolt of Halloween candy helps too!). She’ll be on a sugar high well into the weekend, so she’ll have plenty of energy to answer your email. Send her a message at karenleestevens@cox.net.

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