Golden retrievers set modeling goals in artistic DIY Halloween costumes designed by their pet mom

Golden retrievers are known to be a giant ball of sunshine and playful energy. They are always ready to get along with their owners for any creative or crazy idea. Katie Palamara's fur buddies Chandler Bing (named after Matthew Perry’s character in "FRIENDS") and Ernie are more than ready to step into the Halloween season this year with style. The golden retrievers have gone viral on social media and TikTok, in particular, for setting modeling goals. 

On Palamara's TikTok account (@katieandchandler), the dog owner continues her tradition of dressing up Chandler and Ernie in a range of different costumes throughout the month of October. She creates wholesome DIY costumes for her dogs as the canines confidently pose for pictures and videos like pro models. PEOPLE also had a chat with Palamara where she revealed that she loves the Halloween season and now, she includes her dogs in celebrating the month with joy and lots of dresses.

“I was trick-or-treating until I was 18 years old and I've always DIY-ed my own costumes,” she told the outlet. “So, of course, just the next step when I got a dog was to dress my dog up. I've got a creative bone and I just love doing DIY projects.” She came up with the idea to dress up her 3-year-old dog back in 2021. The pet mom welcomed another golden retriever named Ernie in June this year. 

So now, Palamara has to double her efforts in order to craft costumes for both of her canine buddies. She mentioned how each costume takes anything from 30 minutes or 3 hours to finish. It all depends upon the intricacies of the outfit. Palamara draws her inspiration from her well-curated Pinterest board, friends, family and social media. She also makes costumes based on trending pop culture moments each year and in 2023, she plans to dress Chandler and Ernie as Ken and Allan from Greta Gerwig's film "Barbie."

Throughout the years, Palamara has made a whole lot of costumes and she has some of her personal favorites such as "Food Network" personality Guy Fieri, Froot Loops cereal and a take on macaroni and cheese crafted from yellow pool noodles. “I love using pool noodles, so any chance I can get to use pool noodles for something is hysterical to me,” she joked. Chandler in a corn costume has gone viral on TikTok twice, raking up millions and millions of views.

In a viral video of Chandler, which has over 10 million views, some people joked about how Chandler became a literal "corn dog." @c0nstate humored: "I have no sound on cause kids are sleeping and I thought this was pineapple, not corn." @truefolse24 wrote: "Thanks for the inspiration. I made this last year for our son. Everyone knew what he was and most knew why!" @fox.in.mocs added: "Where do you get this idea from? It’s so fun and creative."

However, Palamara admits that she puts a lot of effort into some costumes at times, such as Chandler's Energizer Bunny and Paddington Bear costumes but they did not get the kind of response she had anticipated. “He makes me laugh all the time,” she said, describing Chandler. “He's just got quirky facial expressions.” She added that she definitely won't be making one costume for each dog throughout October so she will alternate between dressing up Chandler and Ernie.