Celebrate Winter Holidays With These Dog Costumes!

There are many universal customs people observe around the holidays: Gathering with family and friends, sharing meals, and exchanging presents. A newer tradition that is becoming more popular is dressing up dogs in holiday-themed costumes. While this practice used to be limited to Halloween, there are now canine costumes available for many more winter holidays. If you'd like to dress up your dog as part of your celebration, here are some options to consider.

Thanksgiving Costumes

Traditionally, extended families gather together for Thanksgiving to share a big holiday feast. Though many entrees are acceptable to serve at Thanksgiving, the turkey has become iconic. This turkey dog costume in decorative fall colors from Puppe Love should elicit a chuckle from your guests. Your pet can be the main attraction in his own Thanksgiving Day parade.

Puppe Love shows significant commitment to Thanksgiving-themed costumes for dogs. They also offer pilgrim costumes for boy dogs and girl dogs. Sadly, the costumes don't include buckled shoes, but they are cute nonetheless.

Veteran's Day Accessories

Veteran's Day is a more somber holiday in which we express gratitude to those who served in our Armed Forces. While an elaborate dog costume may not be appropriate for this occasion, something simple and tasteful, such as this patriotically colored dog bow tie from Mirage, could bring a smile to the face of a veteran or let a service member's family know that they are seen and appreciated.

Hanukkah Costume

For people of the Jewish faith, the celebration of Hanukkah includes many beloved traditions, such as lighting the menorah and spinning the dreidel. There aren't a lot of dog costumes specific to Hanukkah available, but this canine yarmulke and tallis is available for dogs large and small from Rubie's Costumes.

New Year's Hat

Will your dog be staying up with you to watch the ball drop on New Year's Eve? If so, you can help her get into the festive spirit with this Happy New Year dog hat from Rubie's. The hat is rigid black felt with sparkly gold letters that read "Happy New Year." Gold sequins and a black feather add extra pizazz. The elastic chin strap makes it easy to put on, and the toggle makes sure it fits snugly. It should be comfortable enough for your dog to wear all night, assuming your dog doesn't wear herself out and turn in early.

Costumes for Any Holiday

There are some costumes that are appropriate for your dog to wear at any festive winter holiday occasion. For example, this Jack Skellington Santa hat is from the movie "The Nightmare Before Christmas." It takes place in a universe in which each holiday is a different world. Since its release in 1993, families have been watching it from Halloween through Christmas. Therefore, this costume would be equally appropriate for your dog to wear from Halloween to New Year's.

In Mexican culture, many holiday celebrations include a pinata. If the pinata is part of your traditional holiday celebrations, your guests may especially appreciate you dressing up your dog in this pinata costume from Rasta Imposta.

Christmas Tree Costume

There are probably more dog costumes for Christmas than for any other holiday, except Halloween, of course. Therefore, it makes sense to look at a few Christmas dog costumes separately. With this Christmas Tree costume from Puppe Love, your pet can match your holiday décor while still standing out from the crowd. Soft white garland and colorful puffballs accent the shaggy green material. It's the perfect blending of fur and fir.

Santa Claus Costume

At Christmas, good boys and girls, including the ones with fur, await a visit from Santa Claus. Now your dog can be the harbinger of good cheer with this Santa Claus hoodie from Parisian Pet. Appropriate for family pictures and parties, this costume doubles as a warm quilted jacket. Therefore, if you have a holiday event to attend outside and your dog has short hair, he can wear this to keep warm while delighting the crowd around him. He may have to temporarily change his name to Santa Paws.

Walking Elf Costume

A relatively new trend in dog costumes is the so-called "walking" costume. This type of costume has fake "arms" that wiggle when your dog walks and makes it look like he is walking upright. For example, this elf dog costume from California Costumes transforms your dog into one of Santa's helpers carrying a present for someone.

Other Walking Christmas Costumes

Walking costumes for dogs are increasingly popular. Walking gingerbread man, snowman, and angel costumes are also available to dress your dog up in for a Christmas party.

Reindeer Antlers

A simple costume is sometimes the cutest. It is close to impossible not to smile when you see a dog who otherwise looks completely normal wearing a pair of reindeer antlers on her head. There are several varieties of reindeer antler costumes for your dog available, ranging from the extremely simple to the more overtly decorative.

Fun fact: In most deer species, only the males have antlers, but reindeer are an exception. Contrary to popular belief, both male and female reindeer have antlers. Therefore, if gender neutrality is a quality you look for when choosing a holiday-themed costume for your dog, this may be your best choice.

When you decide to dress your dog up in a holiday costume, make sure to consider his safety and comfort. Not all dogs like to wear costumes. Your dog may prefer a simple bright accessory attached to his collar rather than a full costume. Take your cues from your dog and remove the costume if he seems uncomfortable.