Halloween costumes for dogs (and some cats) are growing in popularity, and Kim Browning is ready. By mid-October, she had already picked out a Halloween costume for her dog  Harley, an 18-month-old yellow Labrador Retriever.

"A 'boo' cape,'' she said, ''almost like a Dracula cape. It's orange, with "boo!" spelled out in black letters, and a skull insignia. "He likes it," Browning said.

Browning works as a marketing manager in Petco's San Diego headquarters, so she has easy access to Halloween costumes for dogs--and employees are of course encouraged to dote on their dogs. But she's not the only one planning to dress up her dog for Halloween.

Sales of Halloween costumes for dogs (and also cats) are ahead of last year, even given the economy, Browning said. Part of that uptick, she suspects, is that Halloween falls on a Saturday this year.

But not all of the appeal is the weekend holiday. In recent years, dressing up the dog for Halloween has been gaining in popularity among pet owners, spurred partly by contests. A Savannah, Ga., television station is hosting its third annual ''Dress Up Your Pet for Halloween" contest. A hotel in Scottsdale, Az., has a costume contest for pets with prizes that include hotel stays. Petco pet owners are invited to submit a photo in their costume and explain why they chose that look. A dog bakery in Portland, Mich., has a Halloween costume contest for dogs judged by the mayor. .

Dressing up the dog (or cat) for Halloween is typically harmless fun, and understandable, according to Bonnie Beaver, DVM, a past president of the American Veterinary Medical Association and professor in the Department of Small Animal Clinical Sciences at Texas A&M University, College Station.

"It's a fun thing to do," she said. But she quickly added a caveat:  "Not every pet will tolerate it."

There's no way to predict whether certain breeds or ages or individual dogs will warm to Halloween costumes, says Richard Polsky, PhD, a Los Angeles-based certified applied animal behaviorist. His purebred Standard Schnauzer, Obi-Wan, has been known to dress as the devil, complete with padded red horns, while Polsky's rescue Border Collie mix, Swoozy, makes a fetching princess.

But there are some caveats and tips to know about dressing up the dog for Halloween:

• Try a test run before investing in a costume. ''Dogs are individuals, just like people," Polsky said. "Some dogs don't mind at all. Other dogs will resist." Beaver and Polsky suggested introducing the idea gradually by trying a hat or small T-shirt on the dog first. ''Put a hat on [your pet] and take it off again,'' Beaver suggested. "Give them a treat."
• The younger you start, the better. Browning began to dress up her Lab Harley while he was a young puppy. ''If you dress your dog earlier in their life, they will become accustomed to it," she said.
• Consider your dog's personality before you dress it up for Halloween. If you have a dog who doesn't particularly like people other days of the year, think twice about dressing the dog up in costume and letting the kids take him trick-or-treating, Beaver said. For more on aggressive dogs and children, click here.
• Even if your dog is fairly social, consider the stress it may experience by seeing your kids or others in costumes. The family dog may not recognize your kids and may become fearful or aggressive, Beaver said. If the dog does go along trick-or-treating, double check that it has its ID attached in case it gets spooked and runs.
• Don't force it. "There isn't anything inhumane or improper about putting a costume on your dog," Polsky said. ''But if a dog shows resistance, take the thing off."
• If your dog likes the dress-up idea, and you want it to be in the ''in crowd,'' know the top Halloween costumes for dogs, Browning suggested. The top 10 list, she said, includes pumpkin, devil, bow ties and fancy collars, witch, super dog, princess, bat, dog of a different breed (than the one wearing the costume), angel and bumble bee.

So, by all means, do include your pet in your Halloween festivities, but remember: your pet is an individual, too. Keep that in mind, and you'll both have a howling Halloween!

Reviewed by John A. Bukowski, DVM, MPH, PhD and Susan E. Aiello, DVM, ELS

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