# Pondering; burial or cremation?



## wolfy dog (Aug 1, 2012)

Reading posts from 'Preparing to say goodbye' always makes me pause and think of the ones who have passed on, no matter how long ago.
My Whippets and my sweet old mutt dog are buried on our property. Now the weather is wet and cold and thinking about them there, sometimes makes me regret that I haven't had them cremated. They loved the heat of the woodstove and never wanted to go out in this weather. I know their souls are free but I also loved their bodies. We live rural but there comes a time when we have to downsize as I am not the youngest anymore. When that time comes, I plan to remove the markers on their graves and let them remain earth's secret. Deja is only 7 years and healthy and it looks like we will enjoy our lives for many more years. Reading Juno's post suddenly made me think of what to do if she passes. She is hardly more than 6 ft away from me, except in play/work with me, running with Bo or if I close the door behind me before she sneaks after me. Burying her would be so against the bond we have and probably the reason I would cremate her to keep her with me until it is my time and be scattered together. I honestly never knew that you could love a dog like that. These are my early morning ponderings on a rainy, misty morning in the PNW. Enjoy your dogs, have great day. Every day we have with them is precious, Covid or not.


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## David Winners (Apr 30, 2012)

I think it is a personal decision. We always cremated our dogs until the last few years. I not have 3 buried in our side yard with markers. We are currently in the process of downsizing and part of me wishes that we would have had them cremated and spread their ashes in an appropriate location for each dog.

My dogs will live forever in my heart and through the fond memories we shared.


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## Catrinka (Aug 6, 2020)

We're the same way. We've lived out in the country with acreage for the past 20+ years, so we've always buried our dogs and cats in a pretty spot here and put up markers and stones. We cremated my last big boy Ferg, though, because we were then contemplating a move elsewhere and I couldn't bear the thought of burying him and so immediately leaving. His remains are in a pretty carved wooden box.

But you're right, they all live on in our hearts and memories. The idea of taking the markers with you is a good one.


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## Bearshandler (Aug 29, 2019)

Very personal decision. I’ve buried most of mine. I don’t know if I would want to bury them if I planned on leaving the property anytime soon. I don’t see any issues with either choice.


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## Magwart (Jul 8, 2012)

Cremated, with ashes returned (you get a choice about that -- you can also cremate and not get the ashes back). 

When we retire and make our last move, I'll give the ashes to the wind in a desolate mountain canyon where all of my dogs would have loved to hike. For now, they stay with me in their little boxes, inside a cabinet.

I wouldn't bury an animal on my property for this reason: I've owned property and found a previous owner's pet's bones while putting in a new flower bed. It was disturbing. Since none of us is forever ourselves, consider how you feel about future owners finding their remains.


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## Sunsilver (Apr 8, 2014)

The price gouging veterinarians in my area meant when Ranger's time came, I had to just walk out of the clinic, and leave his body lying there. I did ask them to make a paw print for me, but cremation with return of his ashes was just not in the budget. Euthanasia and disposal (mass cremation) with the paw print was $360. Individual cremation with return of ashes would have been another $300 on top of that. If the weather had been warmer, I would have buried him at home, but the ground was still frozen, and I didn't have a freezer big enough to preserve his body until it thawed.

Hardest day I've had since my husband passed away... 😢


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## WNGD (Jan 15, 2005)

Most of my early dogs were put to sleep and left at the vets since I really didn't think of the alternatives.
My last dog was put to sleep after a last walk, by my very good friend vet (now retired) and buried in the woods here in her favorite spot. We still walk by it multiple times a day and I have a stone patio beside it where I occasionally sit but to me it's just a spot where her body rests, not a space where she does.

My hope is we'll all meet again one day but I'm not overly sentimental on the remains. I won't worry about leaving them here one day, she's long gone, running around with a perfect body and waiting for me. Man, her tail's gonna wag!

"Do not stand at my grave and weep
I am not there. I do not sleep.
I am a thousand winds that blow.
I am the diamond glints on snow.
I am the sunlight on ripened grain.
I am the gentle autumn rain.
When you awaken in the morning's hush
I am the swift uplifting rush
Of quiet birds in circled flight.
I am the soft stars that shine at night.
Do not stand at my grave and cry;
I am not there. I did not die."


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## Magwart (Jul 8, 2012)

I had a friend who had a taxidermist preserve his beloved cat. He thought it would help him feel like the cat was still around. He deeply regretted it -- it felt wrong and disrespectful once it was done. I think he eventually had what was left cremated, no ashes returned.


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## WIBackpacker (Jan 9, 2014)

If you live in an urban or suburban area, burial is rarely “permanent”.... 

As someone who does primarily residential design/build work for a living, I can attest to how upsetting it is to unearth pet remains. It might or might not happen to any individual homeowner in their lifetime, but if you dig tens of thousands of holes every year, you find pets.... somewhat regularly. Bones, tags. Sometimes the remains of boxes and dog toys alongside the bones. 

And then it becomes the new homeowner’s decision - do the remains get moved and buried elsewhere, or broken apart and mixed in with the soil around the newly planted tree or base for the retaining wall, or dug up in their entirety and hauled away in the contractor’s dumpster?

This is less likely to be a concern on rural lots or large wooded properties, obviously.


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## WNGD (Jan 15, 2005)

Magwart said:


> I had a friend who had a taxidermist preserve his beloved cat. He thought it would help him feel like the cat was still around. He deeply regretted it -- it felt wrong and disrespectful once it was done. I think he eventually had what was left cremated, no ashes returned.


No disrespect meant but I have often told my family I want to be stuffed beside my favorite dog of the day and sat in a chair in front of the fire with him/her in the Winter and on the dock at the lake in nicer weather. 
Animatronics to make me wave may or may not be involved ....


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## Heartandsoul (Jan 5, 2012)

WNGD said:


> No disrespect meant but I have often told my family I want to be stuffed beside my favorite dog of the day and sat in a chair in front of the fire with him/her in the Winter and on the dock at the lake in nicer weather.
> Animatronics to make me wave may or may not be involved ....


 Thank you I needed the chuckle. Very pertinent. DH and I want so much rocking chairs on a porch overlooking water. The being stuffed with an animatronic wave is priceless.


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## saintbob (Jul 14, 2018)

My last 2 dogs were buried by the pond that they liked. With all the pets we have buried I've always thrown in some garden lime on top of them before covering with dirt, then finished off with some appropriate words.


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## wolfy dog (Aug 1, 2012)

I just realized that I buried my dogs with their ID chips in them....


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## Heartandsoul (Jan 5, 2012)

Wolfie dog, I don’t think a chip would matter as it would be far reaching that it would surface and if it did, I doubt it would be activated.


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## Dunkirk (May 7, 2015)

WNGD said:


> No disrespect meant but I have often told my family I want to be stuffed beside my favorite dog of the day and sat in a chair in front of the fire with him/her in the Winter and on the dock at the lake in nicer weather.
> Animatronics to make me wave may or may not be involved ....


I tend to be very practical. IMO being a door stop would be more useful


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## Dunkirk (May 7, 2015)

Very respectfully, I wonder if they'd do pets...






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## Damicodric (Apr 13, 2013)

I retire their collars. I retire their leashes.
I retire anything specifically related to that given dog. Toys. Food bowls. Water bowls. Etc. Not to be used again. All hanging in individual spaces in my garage and work stations.

I’m with every one at their final moment and hold their beautiful heads as tight as I can and weep like a little boy ... ok, like a big boy.

However, once it’s done, it’s done.

Like David Winners mentioned - I have precise, heartfelt memories, distinct visions, pictures on the walls, videos on iPads, iPhones, MacBooks...... and on and on.

I remember and recall every distinction in each one of them.

Yet, any ritual beyond physical finality is not for me. Cremating, burying on my property, sprinkling ashes ...... naah!

As I’ve mentioned prior in a previous post, the closing of one chapter provides me the opportunity of opening the next.

I’ll own this breed, until the day I die. So, if the dynamics of my existing pack and household are on the right footing, I’ll be on the phone with my breeder within days of one passing. Literally.

The joy of carrying on with this breed, far outweighs the pain of passing.

Admittedly, the pain cannot be denied.

Just my style.....


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## WNGD (Jan 15, 2005)

Dunkirk said:


> I tend to be very practical. IMO being a door stop would be more useful


I'd be an awfully big door stop .....


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## Damicodric (Apr 13, 2013)

WNGD said:


> I'd be an awfully big door stop .....


Funny!!!!


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## Dunkirk (May 7, 2015)

WNGD said:


> I'd be an awfully big door stop .....


How about a draught stopper, family members could then change your outfit to fit the decor or the season.


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## WNGD (Jan 15, 2005)

Dunkirk said:


> How about a draught stopper, family members could then change your outfit to fit the decor or the season.


How about putting my ashes into a little box that afixes to my dog's collar so we can still beat it through the woods together?


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## Magwart (Jul 8, 2012)

I have a friend who wants his body encased in a Lucite block, with his arms outstretched like a zombie, and placed in a cemetary with motion sensors making growling noises at night. I told him he'd be stolen by high school kids within the first 48 hours.


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## Sabre's Mom (Jul 27, 2018)

I've had my dogs buried at a pet cemetery. It's comforting to me to go spend some quiet time at their graves. An when my time comes, I'll be in the mausoleum across the cemetery road.


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## middleofnowhere (Dec 20, 2000)

Well, there's talk of green burials for humans .... I suspect that my last tenants left the cremains of a pet here. The hole isn't deep enough. I should dig it up and do something else with it. I am also suspicious of a couple of piles of rocks. 

Two of my dogs had such luxurious coats that I was tempted to have their hides tanned. So far as taxidermy pets, this was a common practice in the Victorian era. The first museum I worked at had a taxidermied great dane or similar sized dog.

My personal decisions were based on the location, the time of year and what I knew about. The first two were burried at a house I was renting. I was unaware of cremation for pets at that time but I wouldn't have had the money for it. The ground was soft. The next dog, was burried because that's what I knew about and the ground was not frozen. I didn't get down as deep as I would have liked because it was darned hard soil,. Subsequent dogs have been cremated. Right now several share two GSD cookie jars, the third is still in his velvet bag. I doubt that I will move to a more suitable place in my life time so I should probably consider an alternative - maybe a memorial garden Don't think the warehouse I end my days in would be particularly thrilled with dog ashes. 

One thought though as we become more environmentally aware -- cremation is a big negative there but so is traditional western burial ...


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## drparker151 (Apr 10, 2020)

I worked as grave digger for a while. The funeral business is big racket. It is basically a sad family reunion with a few truly grieving people. 

Told my wife to cremate me, don’t care what you do with ashes. Don’t have a wake or viewing. Throw a lively party with good music and friends. 

For our dogs that have passed they are cremated I don’t want the ashes but do take a paw print. 

I won’t reuse a collar but will everything else. When our black lab passed the other dogs refused to eat if I put one of their bowls in his spot.


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## Magwart (Jul 8, 2012)

drparker151 said:


> Don’t have a wake or viewing. Throw a lively party with good music and friends.


One of my mentors, who was like family, forbade us all from having a funeral, memorial or anything serious. Instead, we had a big party where people went up to a microphone and told the funniest story they could remember about her -- for hours. There was a lot of loving laughter. She would have loved it, as I'd heard her tell some of those stories herself. It was so much better than a somber funeral--more in keeping with who she was, too.


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## HollandN (Aug 12, 2020)

What a great way to remember someone


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## Sunsilver (Apr 8, 2014)

Damicodric said:


> I retire their collars. I retire their leashes.
> I retire anything specifically related to that given dog. Toys. Food bowls. Water bowls. Etc. Not to be used again. All hanging in individual spaces in my garage and work stations.
> 
> I’m with every one at their final moment and hold their beautiful heads as tight as I can and weep like a little boy ... ok, like a big boy.
> ...


Okay, that made me cry! When I had to euthanize Ranger, he was still doing his job, listening to the sounds coming form the other side of the door (he was my hearing ear dog), even after the vet gave him the sedative. I finally had to push him over on his side, as he wouldn't relax. I lay on the floor beside him and held his paw, until the vet returned to give him the final shot.

It was SO hard to walk out of the room afterwards, and leave him behind! 😭


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## Damicodric (Apr 13, 2013)

Sunsilver said:


> Okay, that made me cry! When I had to euthanize Ranger, he was still doing his job, listening to the sounds coming form the other side of the door (he was my hearing ear dog), even after the vet gave him the sedative. I finally had to push him over on his side, as he wouldn't relax. I lay on the floor beside him and held his paw, until the vet returned to give him the final shot.
> 
> It was SO hard to walk out of the room afterwards, and leave him behind! 😭


..... the hardest!


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## wolfy dog (Aug 1, 2012)

We need a sad emoji for these stories.


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## KarmaPuppy (Nov 22, 2019)

Sadly growing up only my bio dad who i saw a couple times a year (he lived in another state) owned a dog. Chocolate Lab names Oscar. Awesome dog! However when the time came, i was no where near and he was laid to rest.

However 2 summers ago we lost our female bully. She passed in our back yard of our home. We lived in the city and i knew i couldn't bury her there since i KNEW we would be leaving. She was my wife's dog (got her before i met her), so i had her make the choice. We brought Cera (pronounced sarah) to my wife's parent's house for her final resting place. Buried her with her collar and tags along side all of her other dogs her family had growing up. 

FIL was gracious enough to pre-dig the hole for us/me. It was July, hotter and muggier than a dickens, and we had an event to attend to that night. So he dug the hole for us/me. I had my wife toss on the first shovel full of dirt, we said a few words, and i finished the burial process. We still see photos of her and miss her. She was an awesome bully. 

As for when Bubba and Karma pass i am unsure what we will do. We are pretty certain my wife's parents will be moving sometime in the next 5-10 years, and we know the current house isn't our forever home either. I guess we'll cross that bridge when it comes. Bubba will be 3 in August, and Karma will only be 2 this spring, so we have time (i hope)


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## Muskeg (Jun 15, 2012)

I re-use and pass on their collars and gear. It helps keep their memory alive. 

Tikko's collar is now on my girl Pemi. Every time I see it, I think of Tikko, and like the idea that a little bit of him still comes along on our happy walks and runs. His bowl, likewise. His bed, too. I did get his ashes back- the ground is too hard and rocky for me to dig a hole without hiring a backhoe. I would prefer to have him buried, but have a really hard time seeing their body after they've passed.... so it's a blessing the vet does that part for me. 

Saying goodbye is so hard...and once they are gone, their bodies I want respectfully disposed of, but beyond that I don't cling to their physical being anymore. Their souls have moved on, and I hope and pray I'll get to reunite after I myself am physically gone...and we will all run the mountains together again.


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## Benjaminb (Aug 14, 2017)

Over the years, we have always buried our dogs. 
I Don't know what others believe, but I think Dogs will be in Heaven.


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## WNGD (Jan 15, 2005)

Benjaminb said:


> I Don't know what others believe, but I think Dogs will be in Heaven.


Me too. But not in the bodies we bury them in. 
They will be perfect again like we will.


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## Benjaminb (Aug 14, 2017)

WNGD said:


> Me too. But not in the bodies we bury them in.
> They will be perfect again like we will.


That's the awesome thing about Heaven!


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## Cassidy's Mom (Mar 30, 2003)

We cremate. My MIL’s ashes are in a stunning custom wood urn made by a good friend of my husband’s, and our former pets are in urns on our bookcases. My kitties Punkin, Elvis, and Emmylou, and dogs Sneaker, Cassidy, Dena, Keefer, and Halo. If their cremains can be mingled with us when our time comes, great. Otherwise, they may be scattered somewhere.


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## coolgsd (May 1, 2010)

We regret not having all of ours cremated but things have changed in the last 45 years. The last think I would do now is let the vet take care of it. We have lost two (years ago while at the vet) and found that they had a rendering company pick up the animals. We now get a personalized cremation, returned ashes and my wife and I plan on being together with our last three.


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## Honey Maid (Dec 25, 2020)

We are also out in the country. There's 7 dogs, 4 horses, a bull, a steer, 2 goats, 5 cats, and a bobcat my husband found on the side of the road, and couldn't bear to leave such a regal animal laying there. Oh, plus a few chickens, and domestic rats, in our pet cemetery. We hadn't thought about having them cremated, as we plan on staying here, but now we wish we had. We had our GSD cremated, only because it was the middle of winter, had record snow fall, and couldn't get out to the graveyard. I'm glad we woke up, and had to have him cremated. Ever since, we've had all our animals cremated. So up on the shelf above the front door is our GSD, BC/QH mix, English Bulldog, and McNab mutt. We've told the kids that we want their ashes scattered with ours, now just have to decide where we want to be scattered, but hopefully we have at least 20 years to decide that


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## jarn (Jul 18, 2007)

I wanted to have Luc stuffed so he could stay with us, but Toby said it was morbid! What does he know! He did point out the cats would sharpen their claws on Luc.

Teagan we didn't have money to get her ashes back, but we got a paw print. Luc we got ashes and a paw print - we'll eventually scatter his ashes, but probably with Neb's, as we want to scatter them on a backpacking trail, and Neb is kinda decrepit to get there now.

I did have three guinea pigs. I didn't want to pay to cremate something so small, but was worried about burying them too shallowly. So over time, when they'd pass, I'd wrap them in a towel and stick them in a ziploc. Even moved with one like that. When Toby moved in, he eventually said I had to get rid of them so I had them cremated (it was winter). I think having them in the freezer grossed him out. (But it can't have been worse than the time I gave the dogs raw goat heads...for someone who eats meat, Toby can be remarkable squeamish).


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## cagal (Sep 3, 2013)

We do communal cremation and just keep the collars/tags. Everything else gets passed to the next dog for use. I figure they’ll be waiting for us any way so we’ll see them again eventually.


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