How to Dress Your Dog as a Princess

You may say that your precious pooch wants to be a princess for Halloween, but deep down, you know the truth. The fact of the matter is that you want your puppy to dress up as the adorable royalty that she is, and she probably could not care less if she wears the tiara or eats it whole. In fact, she would probably rather eat it. Dressing up your dog is a fun thing to do at Halloween and any other time of the year, but if you want the crown to fit, you are going to have to train the dog to wear it.

Things You'll Need

  • Dog princess costume
  • Velcro dog princess hat
  • Pink princess dog booties
  • Shiny pink rhinestone leash
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Instructions

    • 1

      Help your puppy practice wearing dog clothing before the big day arrives. If your dog has never worn clothes, then you are going to have to break her into this gently. Start out with a sweater or a pullover "dress" that does not fit too tightly but also does not have a lot of extra fabric that she can get her teeth into. You need to start letting her wear this outfit and sleep in it as soon as possible. It is quite likely that she will spend a fair amount of time running in circles trying to grab hold of the clothing or pawing and scratching at it, all of which will have little impact on a simple outfit but can ruin a princess costume. Your dog needs to realize she is stuck with the clothes you put on her and give up trying to remove them long before you ever try out the princess costume.

    • 2

      Try on the costume. At first, just put on the dress and, if you decide to have her wear shoes, the little pink dog booties. Keep a close eye on your dog while she gets used to the costume, and be ready to step in if she tries to take it off or chew it up. Scold her gently when she interferes with the costume in any way, and praise her when she leaves it alone. If your dog has no trouble with the princess costume, then you can move on to the hat or tiara. If she hates it, then you will need to practice with the costume by having her wear it for longer lengths of time over the span of several days until she figures out that you want her to wear it and not destroy it. Because little dogs in particular tend to love attention, lavish it on her when she is wearing the outfit so that she will look forward to putting on her princess costume.

    • 3

      Put on the tiara. If your dog is already accustomed to wearing clothing, then this will probably not be a very big deal and you can practice with the tiara or princess hat while you are helping your puppy get used to the rest of the costume. However, if your dog has never worn a headpiece, then she will probably hate it and run away whenever she sees it. You will need to fix it firmly around your dog's head using the Velcro pieces, and then decide based on her reaction whether to expose her to it again before the big night.

    • 4

      Dress up your dog for her big night. When the big event finally arrives, make sure your pooch is ready for the royal parade. Put on the costume as close to the last minute as possible in case pre-event jitters make your puppy a little more inclined to tear up her clothes than usual.

    • 5

      Finish off the look with a beautiful pink, sparkly leash. Parade your princess in style on the end of a truly royal jewel-encrusted leash.