It was clear to the vet upon our first visit back in March with Molly that the dog we adopted was a good fit for our family. He was referring to her energetic personality.

We now see that she is a good fit for our family in another way–her size. The Johanik boys are a bit on the burly side. For example, the velcro on Derek’s football cleats doesn’t even come close to fitting around his beefy ankles (or as Jim would say, what ankles?). In the same way, Molly is on the stocky side for a lab. Not fat, just big-boned.

For kicks, the kids and I decided to put together a costume for the dog so she could join them trick-or-treating. Our first stop was Joann Fabrics to look at available dog costume patterns. What we discovered was that nearly all the patterns were made for small dogs (as in toy or teacup, as these kinds of rodents dogs are referred to). But lo and behold, we finally found one pattern made for “large dogs”. The model on the front was even a yellow lab.

After putting together the basic shape of the costume, I thought I’d better try it on Molly before continuing so as not to waste unnecessary time if it didn’t fit right.

Well, good thing for the tryout. The hot pink satin fabric was stretched to its limit on her back, and there was no way the shirt would come up on her shoulders.  I needed at least another yard of fabric to make it fit.

But all was not lost. I was able to turn the shirt into a little skirt and then sew some elastic in for the waist. Now the challenge will be keeping the dog from chewing it to shreds…