# What do you do if your dog dies?



## Fnaar (19 Oct 2015)

My dog hasn't died, but I found myself waking up this morning wondering what you do in such a situation. I've buried hamsters, buried goldfish and other expired pets, but a dog is a bit bigger. Are you 'allowed' to just bury it in your garden, if you have one? Are 'supposed to' take it to a vet for disposal? Can you compost them? etc etc.
I look forward to some illuminating answers. I think my dog will probably last another 6 yrs or so, so no rush.


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## earlestownflya (19 Oct 2015)

i'm not in agreement with your train of thought..enjoy every moment with your beloved pet..but yes you can bury it in the garden,compost it,cremate it..what ever you want.


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## Tin Pot (19 Oct 2015)

I buried my cat in the garden, I asked the insurance guys what to do, they thought it was ok.

It was a bit embarrassing that it turned out not to be my cat, but that part of the garden needed digging over anyway.


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## Arjimlad (19 Oct 2015)

I think the vet retained our dog when she had to be put to sleep. Certainly, our nanny goat was left at the surgery. I think they charged a fee to dispose of the body. Other domestic pets were indeed buried in the garden. I often wonder what the builders unearthed when the garden was dug up for development years later. We used to bury the odd fox which got too familiar with our chickens and I think some billy kids were euthanized at birth & buried (it is very hard to home a billy goat compared to a nanny).


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## SD1 (19 Oct 2015)

Tin Pot said:


> I buried my cat in the garden, I asked the insurance guys what to do, they thought it was ok.
> 
> It was a bit embarrassing that it turned out not to be my cat, but that part of the garden needed digging over anyway.


Was it dead?


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## Fnaar (19 Oct 2015)

earlestownflya said:


> i'm not in agreement with your train of thought..enjoy every moment with your beloved pet..but yes you can bury it in the garden,compost it,cremate it..what ever you want.


Oh yes, I do, don't get me wrong. I enjoy taking her out for long country/beach walks etc... I was just wondering.


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## Drago (19 Oct 2015)

My dog is a big lad so I'll have him cremated.


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## Cush (19 Oct 2015)

Four of our old dogs are buried in our garden but then it is a big garden behind a detached house. Local busybody tried to pass a sarcastic remark but went quiet when I pointed out that the garden is big enough to take several human graves.


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## Chromatic (19 Oct 2015)

We buried a horse in our garden. 
Our dog will be buried there too when she pops her clogs.


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## earlestownflya (19 Oct 2015)

i could bury my garden in a horse


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## ScotiaLass (19 Oct 2015)

I had the vet cremate our great dane and then we spread her ashes in her favourite spot in the garden (under the apple tree).
Our 2 dogs after her, were disposed of by the vet and no ashes requested.


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## Drago (19 Oct 2015)

Cush said:


> Local busybody tried to pass a sarcastic remark but went quiet when I told him to eff off and mind his own chuffing business


Fixed that for you.


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## ColinJ (19 Oct 2015)

A friend of mine had a very nutty (but nice) border collie. They were together for years but she eventually died. He put her body in a very large rucksack and carried it and a shovel on the route of one of their favourite local walks, finally burying her in a beautiful quiet spot up on the hills. I knew the exact spot from his tearful description of it and when I walked up there a few weeks later I spotted the small cairn he had built there. I found it quite moving.


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## Crackle (19 Oct 2015)

One of my dog walking acquaintances has had it put in her will that her dog is to be cremated with her. I only hope the dog dies before she does.


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## jefmcg (19 Oct 2015)




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## hedder2212 (19 Oct 2015)

When i were younger the dogs got buried in granddads garden up by the big tree. The dog we have now though will be taken to a pet crematorium, taken up to our favorite spot near snake pass and ashes scattered.


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## Fubar (19 Oct 2015)

Fnaar said:


> My dog hasn't died, but I found myself waking up this morning wondering what you do in such a situation. I've buried hamsters, buried goldfish and other expired pets, but a dog is a bit bigger. Are you 'allowed' to just bury it in your garden, if you have one? Are 'supposed to' take it to a vet for disposal? Can you compost them? etc etc.
> I look forward to some illuminating answers. I think my dog will probably last another 6 yrs or so, so no rush.



Have you asked your dog what his wishes are?? Never a right time to bring these things up mind...


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## biggs682 (19 Oct 2015)

when we were kids our dad worked in the building trade and he use to bury them in the footings of the houses they were building


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## Lonestar (19 Oct 2015)

Dunno as I haven't got a dog.


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## shouldbeinbed (19 Oct 2015)

Our dogs are too big for a garden burial so we have them individually creamted (costs more but they're family and my humans wouldn't go in a communal cremator) and scatter the ashes at a place where the hound in question had a particular fondness.


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## shouldbeinbed (19 Oct 2015)

biggs682 said:


> when we were kids our dad worked in the building trade and he use to bury them in the footings of the houses they were building


That's a bit Kray twins innit.


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## buggi (19 Oct 2015)

You can take it to the vet and they will arrange a cremation and the ashes to be returned to you (which are easier to then bury) Or you can bury them where you like (probably not the neighbours garden tho as they may complain) Why the hell would you compost your dog? I think you are underestimating how much you love your dog if you think you can stick him in a composter.


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## SpokeyDokey (19 Oct 2015)

I cried every day for 13 months when my dog died - I was very attached to him. 

Private cremation, and his ashes are at a nice spot where he used to walk in the Lakeland Fells.


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## Drago (19 Oct 2015)

SpokeyDokey said:


> I was very attached to him.


you were conjoined twins?


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## Joshua Plumtree (19 Oct 2015)

Look on the bright side, you might die first.


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## Brandane (19 Oct 2015)

When I was younger we always had dogs in the house. One or two got buried in the garden, the others IIRC got given to new owners as we lived abroad and tended to move around every few years.

What to do when a cat dies? My ex GF's 6 year old daughter had the answer to that one. When their cat died (which had been around long before the daughter was born), ex GF broke the news to her. She thought about it for all of five seconds before her reaction .... "Can we get a dog now?"


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## User169 (19 Oct 2015)

Nice little bit of trivia - Giro the Nazi dog..

http://secret-cities.com/2010/08/29/the-nazi-dog-memorial/


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## shouldbeinbed (19 Oct 2015)

@Brandane's Ex GF's daughter makes a good point too even if not for the below reasons.

The time to get a new dog / pet can seem callously short after one dies but there is a physical emptiness in the home and on walks or on not going on walks anymore that hits you as hard as the emotional loss of your companion and friend.

The emotional loss rolls on long beyond you filling that physical void with a different (not, never, ever a replacement) hound.

Also as someone committed to taking dogs from rescue rather than breeders, it feels wrong to have an empty bed in a loving home while so many dogs are crying out for that stability and a proper single family relationahip


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## Globalti (19 Oct 2015)

It'll be a hole in the garden or the field at the back for our cats. 

Fact: After a long battle the daughter of the founder of the company that employs me won the right to be buried in Rossendale Pets' Crematorium alongside her dogs.


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## Milkfloat (19 Oct 2015)

A few months ago I helped a friend who a few months after moving house found a poorly buried dog in the garden. He was doing some simply gardening when he found the dog buried less than an inch below the surface. It was a thoroughly unpleasant task disposing of the considerably smelly remains. If you are going to bury a big animal in your garden, please make sure you dig a big hole - and ideally don't move house within a year or two.


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## Jayaly (19 Oct 2015)

The one that died at home is buried off the beaten track in the local woodlands. The other three were cremated individually. Their ashes were supposed to be scattered but every time, I pick up the box containing my dog in a million, look at it, then put it back in the bottom of the wardrobe. One day I'll manage to scatter them.


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## Elswick Cotterpin (19 Oct 2015)

I'm going to have mine stuffed and use him for a draught excluder, payback for all the times he crashed out in front of the fire and stole all the heat.


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## threebikesmcginty (19 Oct 2015)

Fnaar said:


> My dog hasn't died, but I found myself waking up this morning wondering what you do in such a situation...



Like a happy blues song - woke up this morning and my dog wasn't dead. I expect your woman hadn't left you either?


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## biggs682 (19 Oct 2015)

shouldbeinbed said:


> That's a bit Kray twins innit.


saved them being buried in gardens etc etc


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## Fnaar (19 Oct 2015)

threebikesmcginty said:


> Like a happy blues song - woke up this morning and my dog wasn't dead. I expect your woman hadn't left you either?


No, and the wind storm that came just the other day left our house totally unscathed 
And my mule has four functional limbs and a perfectly normal gait.
And I actually won at the poker game too!


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## longers (19 Oct 2015)

What did Ken Dodds dad do?


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## SD1 (19 Oct 2015)

longers said:


> What did Ken Dodds dad do?


I don't know?


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## threebikesmcginty (19 Oct 2015)

longers said:


> What did Ken Dodds dad do?



Longers! Where the hell have you been?


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## SD1 (19 Oct 2015)

Sway won't die before me. So it may be the other way round!


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## Dave 123 (19 Oct 2015)

Write a country and western song.


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## subaqua (19 Oct 2015)

brother dog died on Thursday. went to the vets and will be was cremated.


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## Mrs M (19 Oct 2015)

shouldbeinbed said:


> @Brandane's Ex GF's daughter makes a good point too even if not for the below reasons.
> 
> The time to get a new dog / pet can seem callously short after one dies but there is a physical emptiness in the home and on walks or on not going on walks anymore that hits you as hard as the emotional loss of your companion and friend.
> 
> ...


We lost our 2 cats in 2013, both old boys. They are both in the garden.
We got Thomas from SSPCA a month after the last departure.
The house seemed empty without a cat and it was a good feeling to help a rescue cat. When Tommy was rescued he was injured, crawling with fleas, nervous and depressed. Now he is a happy, confident wee character who thinks he owns the place .


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## Saluki (19 Oct 2015)

Some of our dogs are buried in the garden, others cremated. It has depended on the dog and our finances at the time. Millie will definitely be cremated, after she has died that is.


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## SpokeyDokey (19 Oct 2015)

Saluki said:


> Some of our dogs are buried in the garden, others cremated. It has depended on the dog and our finances at the time. *Millie will definitely be cremated, after she has died that is*.



Good to hear that - otherwise that would be cooking not cremating.


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## threebikesmcginty (19 Oct 2015)

Dave 123 said:


> Write a country and western song.



See if it was a country song it'd be more like...

I was sippin whiskey in my pick up truck
When I ran over my dog cos I'm shït outta luck

Then you'd have stuff about; round these parts, a jukebox, the creek, cheatin on yer woman...

Totally different.


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## ianrauk (19 Oct 2015)

Dags!


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## Dave 123 (19 Oct 2015)

threebikesmcginty said:


> See if it was a country song it'd be more like...
> 
> I was sippin whiskey in my pick up truck
> When I ran over my dog cos I'm shït outta luck
> ...




I remembered this whilst I was washing the dishes-


View: http://youtu.be/7d4cDMiUarA


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## SD1 (19 Oct 2015)

User13710 said:


> Only leave your dead dog for the vet to dispose of if you are happy for it to be thrown in a skip. A local rescue centre has a pet crematorium with a little garden. It raises money for the centre and is a nice place to say goodbye to a pet and a more dignified end.


Please feel free to supply the evidence that all vets throw pets they have been asked to dispose of, in skips.


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## Fnaar (19 Oct 2015)

Mrs M said:


> View attachment 107404
> 
> ...crawling with fleas, nervous and depressed. Now he is a happy, confident wee character who thinks he owns the place .


That's reminiscent of the story of myself and Mrs Fnaar


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## DRM (19 Oct 2015)

I'm sure the vet will send them to a medical waste disposal facility where they will probably be incinerated with the human bits and pieces from operations, friends of ours lost their dog and decided that they weren't going to get another,so they gathered up all the tins of food, basket, lead etc and took it to the dog rescue home to donate to them, they were shown round by a grateful member of staff, the only thing was they ended up having to ask for it all back for the dog that picked them while being shown round!


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## NorthernDave (19 Oct 2015)

When our dog goes (and he's had us bloody worried again lately) it'll be an individual cremation and then we'll scatter his ashes - probably in the dunes up on the Northumberland coast where we've spent many a happy holiday. Embleton Bay would be a good spot, it's certainly one of his favourite places.


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## EltonFrog (19 Oct 2015)

What do you do if your dog dies? Well, probably I'll sit in a corner of a room with my head on my knees sobbing my heart out for several days.


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## MarkF (19 Oct 2015)

I've buried cats in the garden, neighbours have buried dogs, you have to bury them really deep or they get "resurrected" by foxes. There have been some distressing incidents on my street with the re-appearance of much loved, but very dead pets.


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## Sara_H (19 Oct 2015)

My cats are both buried in the garden. 

As my dogs a big lad (Labrador) I hope he gives us a bit of warning when the time comes as it's gong to take the OH a while to dig the hole big enough.

We may hire a mini digger.


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## subaqua (19 Oct 2015)

I did suggest my brother sold his to the local takeaway , his response was " it's only cos I know you are trying to make me laugh that I won't get angry ya daft bleeder"


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## Renmurew (19 Oct 2015)

Each of our old dogs that have died is buried in the garden. It's a big garden. It needs to be with three Great Danes and two German Shepherds in there. Each one is buried with a special toy or blanket and each is in a spot that that was special to him. I keep telling my OH not to get too fond of any particular spot in the garden................


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## Accy cyclist (19 Oct 2015)

One of my previous dogs is buried on top of my grandparents grave. We pay for the plots, so as long as it isn't noticeable why not?


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## MichaelW2 (20 Oct 2015)

CarlP said:


> What do you do if your dog dies?.


"I don't think you understand. These boys killed my dog..."


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## jhawk (20 Oct 2015)

Not sure what I/we'll do when these two little buggers (one who is staring at my toast as I type) die.  Not something I want to think about as it'll likely utterly destroy me for a while. Always will remember Akaya like this, though!


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## steve50 (20 Oct 2015)

i lost my last dog three years ago, he is the retriever in this picture, he was only 10 year old and it happened suddenly due to leukemia. It totally destroyed me for a couple of weeks. We now have the german shepherd in the picture and one of her pups and I don't even want to think about anything happening to them.


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## threebikesmcginty (20 Oct 2015)

steve50 said:


> i lost my last dog three years ago, he is the retriever in this picture, he was only 10 year old and it happened suddenly due to leukemia. It totally destroyed me for a couple of weeks. We now have the german shepherd in the picture and one of her pups and I don't even want to think about anything happening to them.
> 
> View attachment 107430



Ooo that hound on the left is scary, it has the fires of hell burning in its eyes. Or something.


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## fossyant (20 Oct 2015)

Had the cats cremated after they passed away and buried their ashes


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## Chris S (20 Oct 2015)

Fnaar said:


> What do you do if your dog dies?


Keep it away from Oxford undergraduates.


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## SpokeyDokey (20 Oct 2015)

CarlP said:


> What do you do if your dog dies? Well, probably I'll sit in a corner of a room with my head on my knees sobbing my heart out for several days.



It might be worse than that - I collapsed on the floor when Lovely Wife took 'the call' from the vet. Just laid in a heap, blubbing for ages.


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## Fnaar (20 Oct 2015)

I'll miss my dog when she does eventually pop her clogs, but (unlike most on this thread) I don't think I'll look back... what started out as a dog "for the kids" (oh how naive I was!) is now more or less exclusively my responsibility, hampers potential evenings out after work (someone has to get home to walk the dog etc) and makes holidays problematic and/or expensive... I've decided I will never have another pet... I'm valuing my freedom more as I get it back with the kids' increasing self-reliance and independence


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## classic33 (20 Oct 2015)

Milkfloat said:


> A few months ago I helped a friend who a few months after moving house found a poorly buried dog in the garden. He was doing some simply gardening when he found the dog buried less than an inch below the surface. It was a thoroughly unpleasant task disposing of the considerably smelly remains. If you are going to bury a big animal in your garden, please make sure you dig a big hole - and ideally don't move house within a year or two.


Found multiple skeletal remains when the bushes were replaced with a fence. Later informed, upon mentioning it to the local police, that I should have reported the find to them. They may have been human.


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## slowmotion (20 Oct 2015)

My father was a vet. I grew up with his surgery about fifty yards from our house. Obviously, he was asked to put down lots of dogs and cats. In hot weather, the bodies start to smell really alarmingly quickly. I'm sorry, but it's true. I just want to spare you an unpleasant surprise if you go the DIY route. When our dog was "offed" by the vet three years ago, we paid for him to deal with "the arrangements".


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## Milkfloat (21 Oct 2015)

[QUOTE 3963141, member: 259"]We used to be given sentences like that to translate back into Latin.[/QUOTE]

In A505, nec longe a nobis, quod est Cantabrigiae Pet Crematorium maximae reliquiae totius regionis quae circa regionem.


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## ufkacbln (21 Oct 2015)

Milkfloat said:


> In A505, nec longe a nobis, quod est Cantabrigiae Pet Crematorium maximae reliquiae totius regionis quae circa regionem.



... and now we have Google translate:



> In the A505, not far from us, and this is the remains of the most important of the whole of the country with regard to the country of the Cambridge Pet Crematorium.


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## jonny jeez (21 Oct 2015)

MarkF said:


> There have been some distressing incidents on my street with the re-appearance of much loved, but very dead pets


This is a very good point. We should not confuse our sentiment with the very clear, early warnings of the Zombie Apocalypse.

Keep your eyes open out there.


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## jonny jeez (21 Oct 2015)

Tin Pot said:


> It was a bit embarrassing that it turned out not to be my cat


How can you be sure...there are some really well documented stories of at least one person coming back from the dead in our history. Plus all the zombies that @MarkF has witnessed first hand.


There is a theme developing here.


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## Gravity Aided (21 Oct 2015)

In my county, cremation and burial , either in mass area-(used to be required) or at home. I have memorials, but no remains, in front garden. Little boxwood topiary for Missy, a Yellow Labrador and a gem of a dog, and a column for Sophia, a Hurricane Katrina survivor who came to us through many circumstances, and ruled canines in home and neighborhood before passing from bone cancer at 7.


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## Fnaar (21 Oct 2015)




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## Levo-Lon (21 Oct 2015)

Cunobelin said:


> ... and now we have Google translate:




on the translation theme..in a far easter country the product Gaviscon was described as..
"Like having a fireman come in your mouth".. not the usual cure for heartburn


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## Levo-Lon (21 Oct 2015)

My little border wont be long before its border heaven..she doesn't seem to be coping well with being blind ,partially deaf and maybe a little doggy dementia..but when the time comes I'll be very sad, but i wont let her suffer ..she will most likely be buried in the garden under the little tree she spends hrs sitting when the time comes.


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## ufkacbln (21 Oct 2015)




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## Bazzer (21 Oct 2015)

When my Mum's and Dad's dogs (Old English Sheepdogs (x4)) died, we buried them in a field attached to our house.
Oddly I have been thinking about the burial of pets recently as my youngest is hoping to pick up a couple of rescued rabbits this weekend. When my eldest was growing up, our front garden became the repository for a number of creatures: rabbit, fish and even a poorly hedgehog she tried to save. My daughter insisted on a small ceremony for the burials and our (then) regular postman always seemed to arrive mid ceremony.


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## Fnaar (21 Oct 2015)

User13710 said:


> Urgh, that's horrible!



[QUOTE 3965092, member: 9609"]that is just wrong.[/QUOTE]
I found it hilarious 
It was originally a gif of an overweight dog running. Someone took the body out somehow. Saw it on a friend's facebook page


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## twentysix by twentyfive (21 Oct 2015)

Apparently some might eat your dog 
https://www.cyclechat.net/threads/stupid-bloody-woodpigeon.189733/


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## longers (24 Oct 2015)

threebikesmcginty said:


> Longers! Where the hell have you been?



Been struggling to keep in touch with folk, that's where!
Not been out on bikes much either. Bought a bloody car and haven't even been commuting.

To keep on thread - We buried Heidi on fathers day this year and luckily had help with digging the hole from a tractor as I'd fell off on a rare bike ride that day and mullered my ribs. Everybodys dog is the best but she was a bit special.

Mind how you go


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## SteveF (3 Nov 2015)

Our old dog died yesterday and he's now buried in the back garden, a rescue, nearly 13 years old, he was very much part of the family and had a great life with us....


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## Crackle (3 Nov 2015)

longers said:


> Been struggling to keep in touch with folk, that's where!
> Not been out on bikes much either. Bought a bloody car and haven't even been commuting.
> 
> To keep on thread - We buried Heidi on fathers day this year and luckily had help with digging the hole from a tractor as I'd fell off on a rare bike ride that day and mullered my ribs. Everybodys dog is the best but she was a bit special.
> ...


I'm sorry to hear that, Longers.


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## Richard A Thackeray (3 Nov 2015)

The Ashes of both of my Border Collies reside on one of my bookcases, where I can see them every day

Jack, my Blue Merle, died in late 2005, aged 10, we'd had him since he was 10 week old, & he was scared of Sheep
Gypsy, was a rescue dog, from Leeds NCDL, we only think she was about 2 when we got her, so can only guess that she died at about 11 (2007)


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## Richard A Thackeray (3 Nov 2015)

This almost had me blubbing, as l added, after the pictures of Jack & Gypsy


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## SpokeyDokey (3 Nov 2015)

SteveF63 said:


> Our old dog died yesterday and he's now buried in the back garden, a rescue, nearly 13 years old, he was very much part of the family and had a great life with us....



Heart wrenching moment  Console yourself, at least a little bit, that he had a great life. Many dogs don't get that.


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## oldfatfool (3 Nov 2015)

I quite fancy having mine stuffed. 

Lucy loves to roach on her back with all four legs straight up, would make a lovely base for a glass table.
Maggie on the otherhand loves to pounce and worry her toys, head down, bum up, wire her up and shove a bulb in her arse she will make a novelty floor lamp.
Not sure about the boys.


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## Richard A Thackeray (3 Nov 2015)

oldfatfool said:


> I quite fancy having mine stuffed.


Like Rowdy, in 'Scrubs'?


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## Fnaar (3 Nov 2015)

I've told my kids I'm getting the dog turned into a draught excluder, one of those you lie across the bottom of the door.


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## Fnaar (3 Nov 2015)

Miss Goodbody wants her Schnauzer stuffed.


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## Crackle (3 Nov 2015)

Fnaar said:


> Miss Goodbody wants her Schnauzer stuffed.


I had a good stroke of a Schnauzer tonight, in the park.


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## Richard A Thackeray (3 Nov 2015)

Crackle said:


> I had a good stroke of a Schnauzer tonight, in the park.


That reminds me of one of the 'Janet & John' stories that Terry Wogan used to tell, all about stroking some ladys Schnauzer, & how she enjoyed it

It must be on YouTube somewhere, here's an example of the humour (almost as funny as Mark & Lards 'Fat Harry White')


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## Fnaar (4 Nov 2015)

[QUOTE 3987014, member: 259"]. Our neighbour's *Jack Russell *died... A gentleman of a dog, *he never failed to come up and sniff our arses as we came and went.* [/QUOTE]
Have you got very short legs, @User259 ?


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## Electric_Andy (4 Nov 2015)

My parents buried their dog in their field once, and a couple years later their other dog must have dug it up, and carried the old dog's jawbone into the house. Moral of the story; bury deep, bury good


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