October 23, 2009

Decorated with candy for the people and dog biscuits for the dogs, Ma Snax Halloween Gingerbread Doghouse is one of 10 great Halloween treats for pets this year.

Forget Tricks, Here's 10 Pet 'Purrfect' Halloween Treats: From costumes to holiday treats, pets have long been the beneficiaries of humans' never-ending love affair with Halloween and their animals.

But now pet-owners can take that love-affair up a notch, with gingerbread houses and even Halloween greeting cards that can be shared with their dogs. After all, if pets are part of the family, why shouldn't they enjoy every aspect of Halloween their humans do?

1. Ma Snax Halloween Gingerbread Doghouse Decorated with candy for the people and dog biscuits for the dogs, this Ma Snax Halloween Gingerbread Doghouse is decorated with bats, ghosts, and spiders, and made of organic unbleached flour, brown sugar, molasses, farm-fresh cage free organic eggs and other ingredients.

The 9-inch-high doghouse is festooned with wheat-free peanut butter dog biscuits, candy and nuts and is custom-baked with the dog's name. If dogs allow, humans can share the gingerbread with their pet. The four-pound doghouse sells for $65.95 from FunStuffForDogs.com.

2. Halloween Crunch Cards Dogs might actually encourage mail carriers to deliver this kind of mail. The Halloween Crunch Cards are edible greeting cards that both humans and their pets can enjoy -- one to read and one to eat. (You figure out which does what.) The sentiment is written in non-toxic water-based ink on a flat rawhide card. The cards with matching envelopes are now reduced to $4.95 at EntirelyPets.com.

3. Whisker City Angel Wings Cat Halloween Costume The Whisker City Angel Wings Cat Halloween Costume can turn even the most devilish feline into an angel. A PetSmart.com reader reviewing the product said it's "comfy for smaller cats but the polyester wings may be too snug for heavier cats." The owner must just get the cat's two front legs in the straps. The product, now reduced to $4.97, is available exclusively at PetSmart.com. The site offers a similar costume for canines, the Top Paw Angel Halloween Costume for Dogs, reduced to $7.47.

4. Rufflective Dog Vest Dogs can go trick-or-treating with their owners in safety, no matter how dark and spooky the Halloween night, with the vibrant orange and the high-visibility nylon mesh of the Rufflective Dog Vest. Its vibrant orange color and reflective 3M fabric detail assures a dog-owner that the dog is still highly visible at night. Tailored of breathable nylon mesh for comfort, the vest adjusts easily with Velcro side-release closures. The attire comes in sizes small to extra large, and can be ordered for $18.75 from FetchDog.com.

5. Halloween Horse Treat Equestrians can treat their horses to scrumptious homemade pumpkin treats, according to Katrina Thompson, creator of recipes on Easy-Homemade-Recipes.com. For a Halloween Horse Treat, remove the seeds from a small pumpkin and fill it with a mixture of sliced apples, carrots, grain and fruit. Replace the top and serve it to the horse.

"They will have fun squishing the pumpkin to get the treats out," Thompson wrote. "Most horses will even eat the pumpkin."

6. Halloween Dog Treats Sampler Dogs will probably "sample" the entire Halloween Dog Treats Sampler from The Healthy Hound Bakery. The assortment includes hand-made "Frosted Apple Oatmeal Ghosts, Very Veggie Pumpkins, Beefy Bats, and Chicken Skeleton Bones, baked daily. The bakery uses "human grade meats" -- no meat byproducts -- and all treats have been veterinarian approved. The 10-oz. boxed assortment retails for $12.95 on HealthyHoundBakery.com.

7. Creepy Eyeballs On the other paw, a pooch might prefer Creepy Eyeballs this Halloween from Buttercup's Paw-tisserie, a "gourmutt" dog bakery in New York City. The upscale dog bakery's cookies are made of peanut butter and hand painted with yogurt and carob. There's a 1.5-inch peanut butter hard biscuit for larger dogs, or a one-inch soft yogurt bonbon, recommended for smaller dogs. They're $2.50 a pop on ButtercCupsPaw.com, the Paw-tisserie's Web site, or $9.99 to $10.99 for packages of six.

8. Jester's Collar Dressing the cat for Halloween can be an affordable and relatively fuss-free matter with this Jester's Collar from DrsFosterSmith.com. The velvety, elasticized collar boasts alternating Halloween colors, and gold jingle bells warn the mice of kitty's every step. The washable color comes in small or medium, and has been reduced to $2.99.

9. All American Pet Brands Grrr-nola Bars Halloween candy is a pet no-no. But owners can safely feed their dogs All American Pet Brands Grrr-nola Bars -- a meal for dogs in bar form. The bars come in four flavors, including Chewa Bunga mixed berry flavor and Chompians bacon and egg. They're full of vitamins and high quality protein, and good as part of a heart-healthy diet, the company claims. The 4-oz. bars retail for $1.29 each, and are available from ShurePets.com. The site is also offering a hand-frosted, three-inch-thick baked biscuit, set on a 5-inch long munchy rawhide stick for $7.

10. Halloween Rope Ring Dog Toy The Petco Halloween Rope Ring Dog Toy is a multi-colored rope ring connected to a plush character head with a stretchable cord -- tailor-made for a gentle game of tug with the dog on Halloween. Each character has a squeaker inside and is made of non-toxic, pet-safe materials. It's now reduced to $7.19 on Petco.com.

BONUS: Three Dog Bakery Cookbook Once one has raised a pooch's expectations with special treats for Halloween, one might want to meet those expectations all year round. So it might behoove a dog-owner to buy "Three Dog Bakery Cookbook: Over 50 Recipes for All-Natural Treats for Your Dog" for other holidays as well -- even by Dan Dye of the famed Three Dog Bakery in Kansas City.

Sure enough, the cookbook does includes a recipe for Howl-o-ween Tricking Treats -- biscuits with pumpkin as a key ingredient. But there's recipes for other holidays, including Chanukah. The hardcover book published by Quadrillion Press is reduced to $10.17 at Amazon.com.