The Dallas Zoo's inaugural Dog Day brought dogs and their owners together to explore the grounds.
Costumes, Vendor Booths and Familiar Faces
According to The Dallas Morning News, visitors browsed vendor booths before heading into the zoo's exhibits, including a SPCA booth offering dogs up for adoption. Emily Scaccio, 43, brought her 4-year-old poodle Jupiter, whose fur had been dyed black, orange and red for the occasion. Scaccio told the paper it was Jupiter's first seasonal costume.
Alma Salinas, 24, attended with her German shepherd mix puppy, and the pair wore matching witch hats for the outing. Salinas adopted the puppy less than a year before the event, the newspaper reported, and said her dog especially enjoyed the gorillas and chimpanzees during their walk through the zoo.
A Stitch-Themed Tribute
Dawn Pillittere, 51, a Dallas Zoo member, dressed her dog Jessie as Lilo from “Lilo & Stitch” while she herself wore a Stitch onesie. Pillittere said she enjoys opportunities to dress up alongside her dog and added that she hopes the zoo will eventually offer a dog-specific membership. Photographer Shafkat Anowar captured the costumed crowd for the newspaper's coverage of the Halloween gathering.
From Trial Run to Sold-Out Tradition
The Dallas Zoo's inaugural Dog Day took place on Feb. 27, 2026, drawing nearly 200 dogs and owners who wandered the grounds together, Dallas News reported at the time. That first event started small, with a trial staff day preceding a public date that sold out all 250 dog tickets well ahead of time, according to the same report. Kari Streiber, the zoo's vice president of marketing and communications, said the zoo hoped to grow Dog Days into a large, recurring event.
The inaugural outing let dogs and owners roam areas including the Wilds of Africa and the flamingo habitat, the report noted. In planning that first event, the zoo consulted other institutions, including the San Antonio Zoo and Pennsylvania's Elmwood Park Zoo, per the same account. D Magazine reported that the first event was designed as a test of whether limited dog-friendly dates could keep dogs, visitors and zoo animals safe and happy, with Streiber saying its success could pave the way for additional Dog Days.
Demand Keeps Climbing
Streiber said demand for Dog Days clearly exists and that people look forward to it, with visitor numbers climbing at each installment. The Dallas Zoo confirmed the October tickets sold out, following the same pattern as the debut event.
Other Texas zoos have run similar dog-friendly programming this fall. San Antonio Zoo held its own Dog Day on Oct. 18 as part of its Zoo Boo Halloween festivities, according to San Antonio Zoo, featuring dog trick-or-treating and a costume contest, with the first 200 dogs through the gate receiving a bandana. That event charged $27.99 per dog in addition to zoo admission or membership, and required up-to-date rabies vaccinations along with non-retractable leashes no longer than six feet, limiting attendance to one dog per adult.
Next Dog Days Set for February
The Dallas Zoo has already scheduled its next Dog Days event for February 2027, with tickets set to go on sale Jan. 20, 2027. Visitors are being encouraged to buy early, given how quickly previous dates have sold out.
