Owner Terri Kraus dressed one-year-old Chihuahuas Sukoshi and Chotto in matching cheerleader and football player costumes for Dogtoberfest at the Chibana Recreation Area Sunday. (Cindy Fisher / S&S)
Owner Terri Kraus dressed one-year-old Chihuahuas Sukoshi and Chotto in matching cheerleader and football player costumes for Dogtoberfest at the Chibana Recreation Area Sunday. (Cindy Fisher / S&S)
Nine-year-old Ashley DeGong and her 3-year-old terrier mix, Baby Girl, compete in a game of owner and pet Simon Says at the Dogtoberfest at Chibana Recreation Area Sunday. (Cindy Fisher / S&S)
It’s not easy being a lobster for Halloween as Bogey, a 2-and-a-half-year-old Chinese pug, found out at the Dogtoberfest at Chibana Recreation Area Sunday. Her owners were constantly readjusting the tail of her costume and pulling her head up so she could see. (Cindy Fisher / S&S)
Nathan Lucas picks dirt off of Lightening’s hot dog costume afer Lightening rolled on the ground at the Dogtoberfest at Chibana Recreation Area Sunday. (Cindy Fisher / S&S)
KADENA AIR BASE, Okinawa — Picking a costume for your dog is fairly easy on Okinawa: You buy the one that fits, said several dog owners Sunday at Dogtoberfest at Chibana Recreation Area.
Buying costumes online offers a better selection, said Terri Kraus, whose two Chihuahuas wore cheerleader and football player outfits.
Or you could do what Ashley DeGong did. Ashley’s grandmother sewed matching poodle skirts for her and Baby Girl, her terrier mix.
The hard part, many owners at Dogtoberfest — an opportunity for pets and pet owners to socialize and included a dog and owner costume contest and other games — said, was not picking the costumes but getting the dogs into them.
Pam Davis whose mini Schnauzer mix Buddy wore a clown costume said, “It took two of us to get [Buddy] into it.”
The trick, said Krista Williams, is to get them wearing cloths when they are young. She’s been dressing up her Doberman, Jack, since he was a puppy.
Candi DeGong, Ashley’s mother, admitted, “The little dogs are easier to dress.”
But, once dressed, it’s harder to keep them in costume, she said.
