Halloween is a strange one for dogs. For about six weeks the house fills up with new smells and orange things, which is excellent. Then on one specific evening the doorbell rings forty times and a series of small screaming strangers appear at the front door, which is not excellent at all.
This is a guide to both halves. The fun part, which is the toys, and the part that actually matters, which is getting your dog through 31 October without the evening going wrong.
The Howling Toy Collection
Our Halloween range is by DoggySquad, a female-owned British brand founded in 2020, and it is five plush toys at £9.99 each. All five have a built-in squeaker.
- Halloween Pumpkin Plush Toy, £9.99. The classic, and the one that photographs best.
- Halloween Pumpkin Head Plush Toy, £9.99. Same idea with more face.
- Halloween Bat Plush Toy, £9.99. Wings, which dogs find enormously satisfying to carry.
- Halloween Vampire Plush Toy, £9.99. Creepy in a cute way rather than a nightmare way.
- Halloween Tug-of-War Plush Rope Toy, £9.99. Available in orange, green or white, and the only one in the range built for two-player use.
Honest note on which to pick. The four plush toys are soft toys, which means they are made for gentle to moderate chewers and for supervised play. They are not indestructible, and no plush toy is. If your dog dismantles a soft toy in under a minute as a matter of principle, the tug rope is the better choice of the five, and the properly hard-wearing options live in our guide to durable dog toys that survive the garden.
All five spot-clean with a damp cloth and air dry, and there is nothing stopping any of them being a February toy. Seasonal is a design decision, not an expiry date.
Why a new toy in late October is more useful than it looks
It is not really about the pumpkin.
A novel toy is one of the simplest forms of enrichment there is, and late October is exactly when dogs need it. The evenings have gone dark, walks are shorter and often on-lead, and the outdoor half of your dog's day quietly shrinks. A dog getting less physical exercise and the same amount of nothing else is a dog who starts finding their own entertainment, usually in the airing cupboard.
Two things make a new toy work harder. First, rotate rather than accumulate: keep three or four toys out and the rest away, and swap them weekly, so an old toy becomes interesting again. Second, introduce the new one during a calm moment rather than in the middle of chaos, so it becomes a settling thing rather than an excitable thing. That matters on the 31st in particular.
If the dark evenings are already showing, our seven indoor enrichment games covers the rest of it and costs nothing.
The bit that actually matters: 31 October
Halloween night is genuinely hard for a lot of dogs, and it is worth planning for now rather than at six o'clock on the night.
The doorbell is the problem, not the costumes. Forty doorbell rings in three hours is forty adrenaline spikes. Turn the bell off if you can, put a note on the door asking people to knock quietly, or better still sit outside with the sweets and remove the door from the equation entirely.
Feed and walk early. Get the main walk done in daylight, before the streets fill up. A dog who has already been out and eaten is a dog with less to be unsettled about.
Give them a room away from the front door. Curtains closed, a familiar blanket, something with a chew or a stuffed toy in it, and background noise from a radio or the television to blunt the sound of the street.
Do not force the greeting. If your dog wants to come and inspect the visitors, fine. If they want to stay on their bed, that is also fine, and dragging them out to meet a group of costumed children teaches them the front door is not safe.
Fireworks come with the territory. In the UK, Halloween and Bonfire Night now bleed into a single fortnight of bangs. If your dog struggles, speak to your vet in early October rather than the week of, because anything genuinely useful takes time to put in place.
Halloween food, and the short list of what is actually dangerous
There is more chocolate at floor level in your house in late October than at any point except Christmas. Worth being specific.
Chocolate contains theobromine, which dogs cannot process. Dark chocolate is worse than milk. Any amount is a call to your vet, and take the wrapper with you so they can see the type and quantity.
Xylitol is the one people underestimate. It is a sweetener in many sugar-free sweets and gums, and it is far more dangerous to dogs than chocolate. Treat it as an emergency.
Raisins and grapes in any form, including in cakes and biscuits.
Sweet wrappers. Not toxic, but a genuine blockage risk, and the most common Halloween vet visit of all.
Carved pumpkin. Plain cooked pumpkin flesh is fine for dogs in small amounts. A pumpkin that has been sitting on a doorstep for a week with a candle in it is not, because by then it is going mouldy.
Candles and battery tea lights. A wagging tail at coffee-table height is a fire hazard, and a swallowed button battery is a serious emergency. Use LED lights and keep them high.
On dressing the dog up
We will not pretend to be neutral about the photographs, but there is a line. A costume is fine if your dog can see, hear, breathe, walk, drink and go to the toilet in it, if nothing is tight around the neck or chest, and if it comes off the moment they look uncomfortable. Ears flat, whale eye, freezing in place or trying to shake it off are all a no.
If in doubt, a bandana or a seasonal collar does the same job for the camera without asking anything of the dog. Our Branni Star Handmade Italian Leather Collar is £26.99 and does more for a photograph than most costumes, and it still works on 1 November.
Frequently asked questions
Are Halloween dog toys safe?
Ours are plush toys with squeakers, designed for supervised play with gentle to moderate chewers. Pick a toy suited to your dog's size and chewing strength, supervise them, and replace it once it becomes damaged. Strong chewers are better served by a rope tug or a purpose-built durable toy.
What can dogs eat at Halloween?
Their usual food and their usual treats. Plain cooked pumpkin in small amounts is fine. Chocolate, sugar-free sweets containing xylitol, raisins and grapes are all off the list, and wrappers are a blockage risk.
How do I keep my dog calm on Halloween night?
Walk and feed early, disable the doorbell, set up a quiet room away from the front door with familiar bedding and background noise, and let your dog choose whether to come and greet anyone.
Should I dress my dog up for Halloween?
Only if they are genuinely comfortable. They must be able to see, hear, breathe and move freely, nothing should be tight, and it comes off immediately if they show any sign of stress. A collar or bandana is the low-risk alternative.
Is my dog's carved pumpkin safe to eat?
Plain cooked pumpkin is fine in small quantities. A carved pumpkin that has been on the doorstep for days is not, because it will have started to go mouldy.
When should I buy Halloween dog toys?
Earlier than you think. Seasonal ranges are small runs and sell through, and buying in September means the toy has become familiar before the night itself, which is exactly when a settling toy is most useful.
Where to look
All five Halloween toys are in Soft Toys at £9.99, and the wider range is in Dog Toys. If you are buying for a person rather than a dog, Gifts is the place to start.
Free UK delivery on orders over £30.