Halloween Costume and Treat Kit
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Halloween is two problems wearing one costume. You want the dog in the photo before anybody leaves the house, and you want the dog occupied from six o'clock onward, when the doorbell goes every ninety seconds and the front door keeps opening. This kit splits the evening into those two halves: a costume and a reward for wearing it, then a stuffed rubber pumpkin that keeps a dog in the back room while strangers in masks come up the path.
The doorbell half is the hard half
Photos take ten minutes. The other three hours are the part people underestimate. A dog that barks at the first four groups of trick or treaters will still be barking at the fortieth, and by then it has had two hours of practice. Giving the dog a job somewhere away from the door is the whole plan, and the job needs to be loaded before the first group arrives, not after. Our home alone enrichment kit is the year round version of that same idea. The rest of the seasonal kits are on the bundle guides hub, and Explore will filter our treats by protein and format if you want to swap something out.
The costume, and the price of putting it on
Halloween Store describes the Pirate Dog Costume as a waistcoat and hat, with a velcro closure running along the underbelly. Read the measurements rather than the word small. Halloween Store lists the waistcoat at 9 inches long on the bottom, 12 inches on top, 12 to 13 inches at the neck and about 17 to 18 inches at the chest. Halloween Store says the One Size fits small dogs such as Bichon Frise, Brussels Griffon, Maltese, Mini Pincher and Papillon. A chest tape measure settles it in fifteen seconds. Halloween Store items are sold and shipped by Halloween Store through Shopify Collective, not made or shipped by Sniff and Shift.
Cheddar bites are what you pay the dog with while the velcro goes on. One ingredient, cheddar cheese, freeze-dried in small batches in Malvern, in an eight ounce bag. Standing still while fabric goes over the head is not something dogs do for free, and the first fitting is the one that decides whether the costume comes out again next year. Break a bite into three pieces and feed continuously while the waistcoat is being fastened.
The dispenser, loaded and frozen
SodaPup describes the Jack O' Lantern eDispenser as a rubber, pumpkin shaped chew toy and treat dispenser with a carved face, made for large dogs. SodaPup says it is orange rubber with a hollow interior that can be filled with treats, kibble, peanut butter or wet food, and that it can go in the dishwasher on the top rack. The hollow interior is the reason it is in this kit and a plush pumpkin is not. Fill it in the afternoon, freeze it, and hand it over at ten to six.
Our Pup-Ornaut pumpkin and apple ice cream is what goes in it. Ingredients in full: apples, pumpkin puree and nonfat Greek yogurt, freeze-dried in ghost and pumpkin shapes. Crumble a few pieces into the dispenser, add a splash of water, and freeze the whole thing upright so the load sets at the bottom. Given straight from the bag it lasts about four seconds, which is a fine use of it on a different night. Our freeze-dried treats are made in small batches in Malvern, Pennsylvania and ship from us, and the rest of the single ingredient range is in the freeze-dried treats aisle.
What we left out
No flashing collar light and no pumpkin shaped plush. Lists under this search usually carry both. A light belongs on a dog that is out walking in the dark, which is a different evening to this one. A plush pumpkin gets opened at the seam in the first hour, and then you are picking stuffing off the hall carpet between groups of trick or treaters. If you want the costume without a costume, the Basic Witch Bandana is the alternative in the drawer. Good Thomas describes it as a one size dog bandana with a spooky season, love spell theme, and says it can be styled in your hair, on a bag, or as a matching bandana for your pup. Good Thomas items are sold and shipped by Good Thomas through Shopify Collective, not made or shipped by Sniff and Shift.
How the evening runs
- Afternoon: load the dispenser, add liquid, stand it upright in the freezer.
- Half four: costume on, cheddar bites flowing, photos done in ten minutes. Costume off again.
- Ten to six: dog and dispenser into the back room with a door between them and the front hall.
- Through the evening: swap in a second loaded toy if you have one, rather than opening the door to check on the dog.
- End of the night: dispenser out, rinsed, top rack.
Never leave a costumed dog alone, and take the costume off before the dog is left with anything chewable. The velcro strap and a bored dog in a quiet room is a combination that ends with a vet bill rather than a photo. SodaPup/True Dogs, LLC items are sold and shipped by SodaPup/True Dogs, LLC through Shopify Collective, not made or shipped by Sniff and Shift.
Questions
My dog is 40 pounds, will the costume fit
No. The pirate waistcoat is a small dog item at 17 to 18 inches around the chest. The Spider costume in medium is the alternative for a bigger dog, and Halloween Store lists it as a plush hooded bodysuit.
How long does a frozen dispenser actually last
Thirty to forty minutes for a determined adult dog, against about five minutes for the same load unfrozen. That is the difference between covering the doorbell rush and not.
Can I use ordinary peanut butter instead of the ice cream
You can, and SodaPup lists it as one of the fillings. The reason to use ours is that it freezes into a block rather than staying soft, so the dog has to work rather than lick it out in one pass.
Related guides
The other dated kits sit under seasonal gifting.
