For the 10th year in the a row, the DogWatch® Howl-O-Ween Costume Contest entertained us all October long. We received nearly 200 amazing entries this year, and were thoroughly delighted by all of the adorable, silly, creepy, super-cute and fantastically creative costumes on display. And we want to give a special salute to all of the pets who patiently posed for the photos – these good boys and girls have definitely earned some yummy treats and belly rubs!

As usual, the DogWatch team had a VERY hard time choosing a winner. After lots of deliberation (and many laughs), we are thrilled to announce the winners of the 2023 DogWatch® How-O-Ween Costume Contest!

THIRD PLACE: Romeo as Yoda

Photo by Deneen Hollywood

SECOND PLACE: Ben as Speed Racer

Photo by Jennifer Hoffman

FIRST PLACE: Birdie and Bogey as “Peaky Barkers”

Our 2023 winners Birdie and Bogey are dressed as 1920s gangsters Tommy & Arthur Shelby from the hit Netflix crime drama “Peaky Blinders”. Mom Jenn says “We chose this theme because we love the show Peaky Blinders and we thought they had a good look for it.” In fact, this isn’t Jenn’s first foray into TV costumes – her dogs Sprocket & Ratchet (who have sadly gone to Rainbow Bridge), won third place in our contest back in 2016 for their “Breaking Bad” inspired photo!

Birdie (left) is an American Pit Bull Terrier, and Bogey (right) is an American Bully. Both are 1 year old: Birdie turned 1 on May, and Bogey turned 1 earlier this month. When they’re not posing for Halloween photoshoots, these two love to wrestle, play and run around together. “They are two peas in a pod,” says Jenn. “Both love people more than anything which is great, as we try to help educate people about the breeds. They are both so loving and friendly and won’t think twice about smothering a complete stranger with kisses.”

Congrats Jenn, Birdie and Bogey!

HONORABLE MENTIONS

In addition to our top three winners, we also wanted to give a shout out to some of other favorites this year! Here are our 2023 Howl-O-Ween Honorable Mentions:

Last year’s third place puppy, Neptune the Golden Retriever, is all grown up and certainly didn’t disappoint with this year’s ensemble. Can’t wait to see s’more costumes next year! (Photo by @magicgolddogs on Instagram)

Last year’s second place pups Phoenix and Syre impressed us again with several great costumes. Our favorite was this adorable tribute to Star Trek, complete with a kitten cameo! (Photo by @weeweefrenchie on Instagram)

How can you make a Chocolate Lab even more adorable? As Carmella shows us in her costume, make her into a teddy bear, of course! (Photo by Jenn Butt)

Jake is just here for a groovy good time, man. Can you dig it? (Photo by Patricia Eskridge-Wilson)

Getting one dog to stay still for a photo is a miracle, right? Well, Margie May went above and beyond, and captured Stella Star, Yogi, Lacie Lou, Zoey and Nakita in perfect poses in their ghost getups. Bravo! (Photo by Margie May)

We loved Oscar the Dachshund’s creative costume as the Mayor’s Car in the Tim Burton animated classic “The Nightmare Before Christmas”! (Photo by Krysten Kerrick)

Heidi’s Addams Family costume is spot on, complete with piranhas! But it’s her perfect deadpan expression that truly captures Wednesday, right? (Photo by @heidis.wildlife on Instagram)

German shorthaired pointer sisters Maddie and Sophie (pointerpawprints on Instagram) are scarecrows that are just too cute to scare us away! (Photo by Kelly Hoffrage)

Beastie’s costume is definitely more frightening, but let’s face it, we’d hug her anyway! (PS, her underbite is adorable, too.) (Photo by Susan TF)

And last but not least, a Halloween 2023 contest wouldn’t be complete with a Barbie movie costume. Check out border collie mixes Stretch and Stitch as Barbie and Ken! (Photo by Jyl Smith)

We’d like to say a great big THANK YOU to everyone who participated in this year’s DogWatch Howl-O-Ween Costume Contest! And if you don’t already, follow us on Facebook and Instagram (@dogwatchfence) for more fun, informative and adorable pet content all year long.