Pets In Halloween Costumes Who Really Just Want To Stay Home This Year

But, boy, do they look cute.

This year for Halloween, I will be dressing up my cattle dog mix called Annie Oakley Tater Tot as Captain America. Last year, I put her in a bandana and cowboy hat and said she was her namesake. My first dog, who passed away last year, had been a queen, a mermaid, a dinosaur, and Superman. She didn’t much like being dressed in costumes, but the pictures were cute, and got all those likes on Facebook and Instagram.

This all feels a bit silly, but I’m far from the only person to put stuff on her dog for as long as she tolerates it. Of the $9 billion Americans are expected to spend on Halloween this year, $480 million of that is on our pets, according to the National Retail Foundation. That’s up from $5.8 billion total and $220 million on pets in 2010.

Unlike Christmas or Valentine’s Day or even Mother’s and Father’s Day, Halloween doesn’t have the stress of gift giving, so shopping for the holiday is a lot less about pressure and a lot more about joy.

“With Halloween, it’s less about the want and more about the fun,” confirms Ana Serafin Smith, director of media relations for the National Retail Federation (her miniature pinscher Apollo will be a skeleton this Halloween). “When it comes to pet costumes, people find it fun and funny to dress up their cat as a dog or dog as a hot dog or cat like a lion,” she says.

Yoshi, Penelope & Cleopatra as Cop and Robbers

Bailey, Paddy & Autumn as Ghosts

Zoe as Marylin Monroe

Truman as Spock

Frank as a UPS Man

Pip & Seymour as Wonder Woman and Batman

Pippin as a Monster

Grodie, Blanche & Harvey as Mario, Yoshi, and Luigi

Yorkie as a Ladybug Witch

Brooklyn as Ruth Bader Ginsburg

Harley as the Creature from the Black Lagoon

Honey as a Real Housewife of Beverly Hills

Charlie & Chachi as Dumb and Dumber

Daisy & Bella as Lumberjacks

Oliver as Superman

Stella as Chucky

Terri as a Cow

Mia & Mason as The Joker and Harley Quinn

Bentley as a Ghostbuster

Monkey as The Queen Of England

Charlie as Superman

Maddie as Wonder Woman

FerNanDo as a Monster

Twiggy DeVille as a Spider

Toby as a Gnome

Mr. Pigglet James as a Lion

Axel as an Ewok

Brodie as Willie Nelson

Ducky as Katt Williams

Murphy & Josie as Bride and Groom

Meatball as a Clown

Macy as Waldo

Maya Zoe as Bob Marley

Grizzly & Winnie as Beauty and The Beast

Mia as a Minion

Hazel as Batman

Lincoln & Newman as Superheroes

Olive & Dobby as Yodas

Google as Sherlock Holmes

Mousse as a Chicken

Penny as a Spider

Pita & Luna as a Witch and an Alligator

Astro as an Astronaut

Opie, Jackson & Teddy as Football Player and Referees

Bogey as Freddy Krueger

Remi as Darth Vader

Julian as a Hip Hop Artist

Finn as a Pirate

The National Retail Federation predicts that the most popular costumes this year for cats and dogs will be pumpkin, hot dog, bumble bee, devil, cat, dog, lion, Star Wars characters, superhero, and ghost. So Annie Oakley Tater Tot as Captain America will be a bit on trend without being the most obvious dog costume of 2018. I imagine she doesn’t give a shit, though she’ll sit still for all the cookies I’ll give her to get a good photo to, of course, post online.