Dog-o-Lanterns: The Safe, Adorable Halloween Trend for Your Dog

Everything you need to know about the most lit ​howl-o-ween​ trend ever!

If you're looking for a ​pet-rifying​ way to include your canine in the Halloween season that doesn't include wrangling them into a Baby Yoda costume, look no further than dog-o-lanterns.

After an artistic veterinarian, using nothing more than a reference photo and an x-acto knife, carved a life-like, seemingly glowing picture of his Pomeranian Sophie into a pumpkin and shared a time lapse video (watch it below!) of the process, dog lovers everywhere have embraced this social media challenge, making, photographing, and uploading ​pup-kins​ of their own to pretty much every platform out there.

Honestly, combining a dog's face with a jack-o-lantern is a true stroke of genius.

Thanks to the beauty of the internet, you can easily find or order a stencil of your furry friend's face for your own carving adventure. And with some patience and a little creativity, you can create an end result the whole neighborhood will be barking about (even if your artistic muse is somewhat less than impressed with the finished product 🤣).

There are some truly impressive pumpkin carvers who are embracing the dog-o-lantern trend.

But not all dog-o-lanterns have to be complicated. A few easy strategically placed shapes can give you that perfect puppers feel.

But, if you've got the time and the talent, why not go all out?

These pup-kins look good no matter what the lighting.

But nighttime is truly when these cute canine carvings shine.

Really ambitious carvers even add lettering for an added dramatic effect.

The most talented carvers can truly personalize their pup-kin with their pup's name included on it.

Some people include both their dogs on one pumpkin.

And others are capturing artistic action shots.

And other less knife-savvy artists are choosing another dog-o-lantern route completely.

If you're willing to give carving your Fido's face into a pumpkin a shot, there are plenty of inspiring pumpkin pup portraits available for your perusal.

Remember you can do something straightforward...

Or commit to the complicated — whatever works best for you!

(The trick is to make cuts of different depths and not all the way through the rind, because this will lend a three dimensional appearance.)

Some dog-o-lanterns are eerily realistic...

While others are just downright impressive.

And you can always just create an ode to all dogs that will be appreciated by pets and animal-lovers alike throughout your neighborhood.

Heck, even cats can get in on the fun.

Dog-o-lanterns fit in perfectly with other glowing pumpkins at night.

And they make a great additional accessory to your canine's costume.

Of course, one drawback to the dog-o-lantern is the most obvious one: When the canvas is both delicious and edible, your subject might be tempted to nom on it.

"I was super proud of my Elmo gif Jack-o-lantern, but that didn’t stop my dog from eating it."

My dude, that's just not how it works. 🤦‍♂️

​Are you ready for even more holiday-winning canine projects? Wag on over to our tutorials about making candy corn dog treats or a haunted house for your pets out of cardboard boxes!​