How to memorialize your deceased dog?

We unfortunately had to put down one of our 3 dogs this morning. He was unable to get up on his own and had a really hard time seeing and hearing. He was 12 years old so he had lived a good life. The only problem I'm really struggling with is he leaves behind a brother from the same litter who is perfectly healthy and still getting around just fine. Now he does have a sister that we got 3 years ago, so he isn't alone, but he has literally never been apart from his brother and when we got home from the vet he was looking around and wondering where he was. It just breaks my heart. But what I'm wondering is how you all have memorialized your deceased dogs. We are getting him cremated and put in an urn but I think we're going to do a couple of other things to. Thanks in advance for the suggestions!

I am sorry for your loss!

Sorry to hear about your loss. Losing your little buddy is so hard, and is as difficult as losing a family member, or a close friend.

When my brown tabby Iris had to be put down, I had her cremated, and I have her remains in a little box where the vet also included a nice frameable certificate with her name on it.

As odd as it may sound, as a kid I knew some people who very much loved their family dog, but its death happened to coincide with a death in the family, so taking a back seat to that, the dog's remains were placed in their garbage can, and put out on the curb the next garbage day for removal.

A friend of mine buried his dog in the back yard of the apartment where he was living at the time of his dog's passing, yet he no longer lives at that location, so that's certainly something to consider for those burying their pets that they're pretty sure that they don't have any plans of ever moving.

Local funeral home and cemetery had a pet graveyard. It is not remotely close to the regular cemetery. Some have place small tombstones at the pet grave sites just like a regular burial.

Breaks my heart hearing about his brother looking for them.

I don't know what I'm going to do the day my little buddy isn't around anymore. Never understood it until him.

My heart hurts for your loss. I can't get beyond that, to offer you suggestions for a memorial. I'll try later.

Really sorry to hear man. We had to put our Golden down almost a year ago. One of the hardest things I've been through in my 42 years.

We had him cremated and I buried him in a our back yard. I have a landscaped corner that he use to love to sit in and bark at the neighbors dog. I buried him there. My wife's co-workers bought us a marker to put there with his name on it.

How about taking a picture of your dog and getting one of those silhouette pictures? It hurts now and you will never forget your pal, but in 35-40 years, are you going to still be holding on to the ashes or wanting to pass it on to your kids? Unlikely.

When our little guy, Dexter, had to be put down back in January we were devastated, so I understand what you're dealing with. It sucks, but it does get easier. We still have some days where we see something or remember something that causes us to miss him a little more or extra that day, but most times we think about him we end up smiling or laughing.

Right after it happened we couldn't bring ourselves to gather up his toys and stuff, so my mother-in-law came down and packed it all up for us.

A month or so later she came down and gave us a shadow box she had made that had a picture of us with him, his favorite toys and a few other little things like his leash and ID card (seriously, he had an ID card :lol2:) in it. It's a nice subtle memorial of sorts that I know we both look at on a daily basis.

We had the vet cremate him and dispose of the ashes. It's something where we had always said we'd bury him in our yard, or have his ashes in the yard, but when it came time, we decided to not do so as we most likely aren't going to stay in this house forever.

Check out some of these:

LifeGem for Pets

Artful Ashes | Your loved one's ashes memorialized in glass art

Handcrafted Glass Cremation Jewelry | Ashes in Glass | Unique Cremation Jewelry and Keepsakes

When our little guy, Dexter, had to be put down back in January we were devastated, so I understand what you're dealing with. It sucks, but it does get easier. We still have some days where we see something or remember something that causes us to miss him a little more or extra that day, but most times we think about him we end up smiling or laughing.

 

Right after it happened we couldn't bring ourselves to gather up his toys and stuff, so my mother-in-law came down and packed it all up for us.

 

A month or so later she came down and gave us a shadow boxshe had made that had a picture of us with him, his favorite toys and a few other little things like his leash and ID card (seriously, he had an ID card :lol2:) in it. It's a nice subtle memorial of sorts that I know we both look at on a daily basis.

 

We had the vet cremate him and dispose of the ashes. It's something where we had always said we'd bury him in our yard, or have his ashes in the yard, but when it came time, we decided to not do so as we most likely aren't going to stay in this house forever.

That sounds exactly like what we are going to do. We're making a shadow box with both of his collars and his paw print. We were going to spread his ashes in the yard but now we are just going to keep them in an urn inside so we can take them with us if we move.

That sounds exactly like what we are going to do. We're making a shadow box with both of his collars and his paw print. We were going to spread his ashes in the yard but now we are just going to keep them in an urn inside so we can take them with us if we move.

Sorry for your loss. I lost my 4 1/2 year old lab Henry, to leukemia about 10 months ago and I miss him everyday. Best dog I've ever had. My 2 year old was walking around the house looking for him the next day. Gut wrenching. We too had him cremated and as weird as it sounds we were glad to have him back from the funeral home. Luckily we did bury him as we are moving.

Sorry for your loss. I lost my 4 1/2 year old lab Henry, to leukemia about 10 months ago and I miss him everyday. Best dog I've ever had. My 2 year old was walking around the house looking for him the next day. Gut wrenching. We too had him cremated and as weird as it sounds we were glad to have him back from the funeral home. Luckily we did bury him as we are moving.

Thank you. I couldn't imagine losing a dog that young though. At least mine was able to live a full life. It's truly like losing a family member. The house just doesn't feel the same.

I'm sorry to hear this. Losing a dog is brutal. Amazon sells different items that allow you to remember\honor your pets.