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Styling My Dog Using The Halloween Clearance at Pet Stores

leave it up to writing and photography to bring back the memories of old dogs that you thought you had forgotten

By MelPublished 2 years ago 4 min read
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If you saw a previous work I written for this same challenge about my current pup's last Halloween costume, you would have seen that I mentioned a Halloween costume seen on this pup from a photo I had found (Article found here). After doing a bit more looking, I actually found another costume that this dog had worn in the time he and I were in each other's lives. This was a costume I found at PetSmart in the "Clearance" section one day when my mom and I went one night close to closing time for some dog food- I just knew I had to buy it the very second I found it. I was not putting it back on the shelf.

I still remember the costume being way too big for his torso, but I still made it work anyway. It was a clearance item. I didn't really pay much attention to the size.. I just knew I had to have it (Plus, it was the only one left besides an extremely tiny version of the same costume). In order to get the costume to stay on his body, I pulled the Velcro straps tight enough as much as I possibly was able. To get the hat to stay on his head, I made a small knot in the strap before Velcroing it together; it still wasn't the most sturdy hat for him to wear, but under close supervision, I still made it work.

I basically only brought the outfit/costume to take pictures of this dog, Harley, in if I'm being quite honest. It was definitely worth it. Although Harley was able to slip out of the hat in .02 seconds and flip the costume over so that it hung upside down over his body as he ran about the house trying to take it off, at least I still managed to get a damn cute memory in the process for the day we no longer will be in each other's lives. I didn't know it at the time, but that day was coming quite rapidly and I am proud of this moment.

Another costume I brought for Harley was yet another clearance item. This item wasn't actually brought for an "official" costume; it was apart of the belated Halloween sale that occurred in the November after Halloween (so basically the time of year when stores are selling the Halloween merchandise that they couldn't get rid of for a complete 90% off). I saw this costume and immediately knew I wanted Harley to wear it on his walks and be the absolute baller that he was.

See what I mean? Cowboy Harley has struck and he's looking real handsome. Although this purchase was made for Harley to wear around as an actual outfit (who wouldn't want to see a dog walking about his walks while wearing a little cowboy hat.. i know i would), I still felt it needed to be added to this article for Vocal's "Pet Halloween Costume" challenge. It felt right.

After Harley, I still kept this hat. I couldn't bear to part with it after Harley. It just felt wrong to get rid of it after the memories created with it. Although my current pup has grown nearly out of it, he used to wear it all the time as a pup. I felt it was just the right thing to do to keep Harley's memory alive. Plus, Mercury looked so freaking adorable in the hat - just like the former before him.

See what I mean.. #ADORABLE

Although, unlike Harley, the hat didn't fit to be fully on his head, I still made it work. As you are able to see in the two photos above, the hat was perfectly positioned to look as if it was hanging off Mercury's ear; pretty much giving off the perfect side angle to wear about.

**

Although Harley is no longer in my life, I wrote this for the challenge after finding those photos of him as a way to keep his memory alive. What use is having a memory of a dog after they're gone if you cannot relive the stories over and over again? It's a huge part to why being a writer is a plus.

Thank you for reading.

humanity
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About the Creator

Mel

Ever since I was a kid, I've always wrote for fun. I never saw anything of it; I just wanted to write just to write. That's why I love Vocal.

she/they

instagram: stufflestream

tiktok: mercuryandme

youtube: Melon Melon | TheMelonVlogs

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