Bone-chilling cold can't curb parade of dogs
Perhaps it was fitting, given the bone-chilling weather, but Saturday's Halloween costume pet parade at Randhurst Village in Mount Prospect was dominated by the dogs.
"This is Cody, and he's a prisoner," Megan McNally said of her goldendoodle pet, adorned in a black-and-white striped prison inmate costume and wearing a cap reading "Bad Dog."
"We came up with it because he's a pretty bad dog," the 13-year-old Arlington Heights girl said.
But Cody was very good in the eyes of the judges, who awarded the 8-year-old dog the prize for best costume. The competition was close, but Megan helped propel Cody to the top by wearing a matching police officer costume as she led him on a leash, said judge Catherine Edman, editor of the Daily Herald Healthy Pet section.
"I'm glad I got this costume because it's cold and she's warm," Linda Greco of Wood Dale said as her dog, Mei Li, paraded in a Queen of Hearts costume.
"What we do for our dogs," said Debbie Seiller of Buffalo Grove, as people admired her dog, Ace, sporting a "Rufferee" costume.
Three generations of dog lovers won some hearts with one of the largest, and one of the smallest, dogs.
"He's a mutt, right?" said 8-year-old Winnie Evans of Palatine during the explanation of how she loaned her doll's cowboy hat to complete the look for Rudy, a large dog owned by Ratty LaRocca of Carol Stream. The dog was dressed as a horse, complete with a cowboy strapped to his back. LaRocca's daughter, Alicia Mason of Carol Stream, drew praise for Frankie, her Dachshund dressed as Eeyore from the Winnie-the-Pooh books.
A champion of dozens of costume contests, Mr. Hairy Pawter, a miniature Yorkshire terrier, arrived in his own tiny black limousine with a sound system and a bubble machine.
"It's actually a pink Barbie car, and we painted it black," said Denise Brigham of Streamwood, who took second prize with the help of her husband, Adrian, who has accessorized several vehicles for their dog, including a fire engine that shoots water.
"It's just fun," Adrian Brigham said.
In addition to the parade and prizes from the Daily Herald and PetSmart, the Hoots & H'owls event also featured live owls, a candy sculptor, stilt-walkers, face painting, pumpkin carving and balloon artists.