When I first heard about dog Halloween costumes I burst out laughing. Who would go to the bother of dressing up their family dog for Halloween? Ridiculous - pathetic, even - was my reaction. But then I kept hearing about Halloween costumes for dogs, and even pet Halloween costumes for other animals. I even heard about a pet goat being dressed up in a Halloween costume.

There had to be a reason for this strange infatuation with Halloween fancy dress costumes for pets.

Sure enough, I finally figured out what was going on. Kids had very quickly worked out that animals are popular ice breakers when you first meet up with strangers. Moreover, cute animals are irresistible. Dress the family pet up in Halloween costume and take it trick or treating and you have an instant conversation starter and attention getter. Possibly just about as effective as persuading Paris Hilton to tag along, only infinitely easier. And what happens when you take your dog in costume from door to door and get all these strangers going "ooh ahh" over your cute family pet? Of course, you guessed it, the chances of filling your Halloween treat bag just went up several notches.

From the point of view of Mom and Dad I can also see this is not such a bad idea either. Even a small dog is sensitive to danger, and quite likely to bark if there is any sign of trouble brewing on the dark streets as your children go about their trick or treating at Halloween. I would have to say having the family dog along with the kids can only improve their safety. Children are also likely to be more responsible crossing the street and going other tricky places if they are responsible also for the safety of their pet. You would have to agree a small investment in a costume for the family dog starts to make sense when you see it this way.

The choices you have when selecting your dog Halloween costumes are huge. Your family pet dog can be dressed up in a popular Dracula outfit too (you might find the dog version is renamed Dogula), and almost any costume theme you can think of: Superman, Zorro, Spiderman, Wonder Woman, Snow White, Raggedy Ann, and many other possibilities.