Pups put their best paw forward at Thursday's costume parade in the East Village's Tompkins Square.
Halloween may be a couple of weeks away, but a competition to concoct the coolest canine costume has already been unleashed.
"People start working on their dogs' costumes right after Labor Day," said Garrett Rosso, organizer of the Tompkins Square Halloween Dog Parade.
"People take it quite seriously."
The annual pageant in the East Village park drew some 3,000 spectators and more than 500 dressed-up doggies last year.
The kooky contest began in 1990 and has grown bigger each year.
"We started out by giving a box of Milk-Bones to the top dog," Rosso said.
"Now we're giving out $5,000 in prizes. We expect the biggest crowd ever."
While Charlie Sheen costumes are all the rage among humans this year, the look hasn't translated to pooches as smoothly as some other celebrity impersonations.
"Last year, it was all Lady Gaga," Rosso said. "There was a Great Dane who didn't need a costume if you just looked at the face."
Irma Cede?o, an animal trainer who writes about dogs for About.com en Espanol, staged a runway show Thursday at Belvedere Castle in Central Park to give Daily News readers some inspiration.
She dressed friends' dogs as Spider-Man, a hot dog, and the Devil. A Shih Tzu named Leon rocked a pumpkin costume handmade by Cede?o's mom.
"It's so important to do something like this with your dog because there's a lot of bonding going on," she said. "You can get matching costumes?- I always suggest Scooby Doo and Shaggy."
Not every dog is down with wearing duds.
"I have a Rhodesian ridgeback who practices avoiding me from September on just in case I get any ideas," Rosso said. "She would be mortified."
bpaddock@nydailynews.com
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