Pet burial

Just wondering what everyone does for pet burial?

I buried the last dog in a blanket. It was a doberman and used the backhoe to get down 6'. Kinda decided that maybe natural decomposition in the ground is best. Dust to dust kinda thing.

Before that I buried my favorite small dog in a plastic container with a lid (that seals from Walmart) kinda the way people have a casket and vault. The people caskets and vaults are supposed to be water proof but it kinda bugs me that maybe the plastic container would just fill up with water anyway underground and I kinda regret it now.

We had a burial tree and whenever a cat or dog would die, we'd go out 4' in a direction to bury it. That tree is gone but we have a circle for a flower garden out there. Lately, we just pick a spot in the flower garden. In hard clay, it is hard to go more than a couple feet deep.

Usually lay them curled up on their side with their head to the west. Can't really lay them on their back like a person.

The older I get the more people funerals and pet burials I attend.

two weeks ago we had to put down our faithful old dog of almost 16 years. We have a pet cemetery in the back corner of one of our fields where pets for the past 55 years are buried. I put a layer of hay down then the pet and over top a blanket, then another layer of hay then the earth. Allways a sad day burying a favorite pet. My sister buried there old dog last year in a corner of their pasture and the grass grows better over the grave than elsewhere but the horses do not eat it. Kinda weird.

Natural is my style. Cotton cloth or shroud is fine. Alwas sad especially if children are around. But it is as in the Lion King The great circle of life. JimN

I've always just used a cardboard box of appropriate size (shoe box for cats). Usually wrap the animal in a towel or its blanket, as well. The idea of just throwing dirt on them always seemed harsh, especially since the kids were also attending "the services". Planted a lilac over the graves of two of our "best dogs" who were buried side by side. Lilac doesn't grow worth a darn- don't know if its going to survive. 'Course, when I fell that tree on it, I don't think I did it a bit of good.

Some might think this weird but we had our last dog cremated and her ashes are in a container on a shelf in our living room. We were out of town and had put her in our vets kennel while we were gone.. Vet called with the sad news, down and was no longer able to walk, we made the decision, vet took care of the arrangements and had her ashes waiting for us when we got back. We can"t decide on a proper burial place and it"s been 9 years.. Now have two cats and another dog.. Not sure what we"ll do when the time comes..

I lost my faithful friend and helper Bart, a golden retriever, last spring. In fact, I held him in my arms when he died. If anyone doesn't think that their pet isn't part of the family, I guess they think different than me. Bart had his own sock with a dog bone in it on the mantle at Christmas, knew about 15-20 words, always went to the woods with me when I hunted mushrooms or cut wood, would play endlessly with the kids and grandkids, would always fetch a toy thrown in the yard -- but would never give it back! In the winter he would usually sleep in his doghouse at night but sometimes he would rough it and sleep outside and I would find him in the morning with snow all over him. He was a tough guy with a golden heart. Every year on his birthday I would put a whole can of solid dog food in his bowl and put a lit candle on it. One year he took a look at it and gulped down the whole works, lit candle and all! I would be engrossed in some job and I would look up and Bart would always be near me, watching and wagging his tail when I would talk to him. In fact he was "helping" me when I was out in the shop when he died. When he died my wife and I wrapped him in some old blankets and buried him in one of her flower beds. She planted some flowers over his grave and I also put a solar light at the head of his grave. I know that sounds silly but I just wanted to do something like that for my faithful friend. I don't know if I will ever have a dog again. It just wouldn't be the same. Pat

We have a small "hill" with a couple of oak trees where we bury our pets.

Usually wrap the cats with a towel and wrap the dogs in a blanket.

Nancy has the hard part of taking them to the vet.

Laying them to rest is my job.

Try to get it done early in the morning while Nancy is asleep.

We bury them wrapped in a sheet or blanket. The last 2 were kinda hard. Bogart was my best buddy and Diamond was as well. They were each other's best companion as well, and they had 1 litter of pups. Mom kept one, one of my brother's kept 2 more, one made her way up to Alaska and we sold one to someone else.

For Bogart it was espescially hard- he got hit on the road at night and we had absolutely no time to prepare for it. I would dig for 5 minutes and cry for 15. Still tear up a bit about him.

Donovan from Wisconsin

My favorite Golden Retriever died a couple of years ago. I could sit on the couch and the dog would sit beside me on his haunches and hook his arm around my neck. People used to get the biggest kick out of it. He died of a massive undetermined infection in 48 hours...chasing squirrels with me on Tuesday and dead on Thursday. BarBQs are the hardest as he always sat and waited for a little treat to be thrown to him off the grill. I still grill and think of him. I was devastated by his passing and had him cremated. His urn sits on my bar with his picture in front. Everyday I walk by and give the urn a rub to let him know I still think of him. Good dogs are family.

Usually wrap them up with a sheet or blanket and cover them with something else, then soil. Have our pet cemetary also. It just keeps going in a line and I add to the end. This next one will be the hardest, the kids are old enough to know what is happening. Last one was hard too, sweetest Alaskan Malamute you"ve ever met. 140+ lbs, looked mean as hell, but was gentle around everyone. Kept the deer away too.

That's a great story about the candle in his birthday treat. : ) God Bless pets.

Pat, nice story.

In about 1997 a stray Calico cat made her way to the shop and after a month of so of coaxing, I got her to come in. She made her bed on a chair and pretty soon the shop was her home.

Customers would stop by and want to visit with Mavis. I named her after Punk Anderson's wife on Dallas (the series) because I thought it was such a unusual name.

Mavis became my best friend. We have a kitchen table out here and pretty soon she felt the table was her domain. One night a friend stopped by and leaned on the table and she got up out of her chair and smacked the *hit out of him, turned around and went back and laid down. I don't think I've ever laughed so hard.

Then she got sick and after several nights at the vet, without a clue as to what was wrong, I found her dead on the floor.

She is resting under a bush, her favourite outdoor spot with a note and some of my clothing wrapped around her.

Mark Osborne

I had a favorite dog for years when my wife and i first met. She was Cockapoo and was smart as any young child would do anything that you ask her to do. Always talked to her just like a child do this do that and she would. When i was out and my wife wanted me she would just say "Go get Walt" I always new what it was when she would come up to and start whining and looking at Winnie. I was at work when she passed away and Winnie called i took a whole week off to help get over it. Some thought I was crazy but other new her and new the love we had for each other.
I spent a weekend in the shop making a nice coffin out of mahogany for he it was real nice Winnie lined it and we had buried in a pet cemetery with a nice head stone. Can't type this with out crying and it been about 30 years since passed.
Walt

Wow! I didn't realize how ritualized people are with their pets. I like my dogs as much as the next person but I still see them as farm animals. When it's time to put them down I dig a hole, roll them in and cover them up.

I thought I was the only one who went to extreme measures to bury the family pet. We also have the pet burial area in a corner of our property. I just got through burring our little Pug last week. With the Pug I dug a hole and put bricks around the bottom two high, put in the little pug wrapped in a towel, then put cement pieces over the bricks, then fill in the hole. I also add a metal stake with the name and date stamped on it. I keep a map, my memory isn't as good as I think it is. I let out border colie see her before she was buried. Some people say that is the thing to do, so the other dog knows what happened to her friend. Stan

I admire Walt who made a wood coffin for his dog. We lost both of ours in the fall of 2005. I stay in the city and wanted to bury them at our farm where they had been happiest. The pet store sure had a nice plastic coffin . The girls at the vet's office "pallbearered" both of ours out to the car.We have two new dogs we dearly love but we both still miss the two we had. My wife cried for two weeks after we lost the beagle to old age. He was her baby.

I"m with Mike (WA) - just put em in a cardboard box and bury em in the 50 acre woods surrounding my house. I cover the spot up with a stump or log to keep the creatures from trying to dig them up.

I deliberately do not make any permanent marking because my wife is just too emotional to have all of the permanent reminders of the many dogs and cats we have had in the past 45 years. (I don"t mean to imply anyone else is wrong in the way they choose to handle them - just know what works best for us. I get her another pet and she moves on with her life. Of course, I have told her she can do the same with me when my time is up. I do wonder if she can find a cardboard box big enough to fit me in???)

i wrap the dog in a big blanket or beadspread and bury him or her on the place wherever that particular animal liked to spend its time the most, all dogs have a favorite spot the wildest i know about is a fried of mine who had a welder make his dog a coffin out of 1/4 inch plate, he used a backhoe to dig its grave and lift the whole coffin into it, it may always be there

I had Zoe, my Airdale, creamated and spread her ashes on the Butte in the pasture. That is what I want for me.

Our 14 year old Shar Pei was like a child to us.
He had a stroke, and couldn't walk, so was put to sleep, 3 years ago. We had him cremated, and he will rest at the foot of the vault of the first of us to go. We thought that we could never love another dog as much, but finally saw an orphan
dog on sharpeisavers.com, and gave him a home.
He goes everywhere with me, in the pickup truck,
is boss over the rabbits and squirrels, and had a
good fight, running off an old boar woodchuck.

Rubbermaid containers from wallyworld with dogs fav. blanket and a few photos and momento's say our goodbyes and silicone/duct tape the lid on. Usually find an accurate small statue for marker and name. We live in the woods , they have their own little cemetery out back.