Hi All.
Our beloved old lab is going to wrap it up one of these months, if not weeks. We’ll bury him on our property. I’m wondering how deep a grave needs to be. We’ve got lots of wildlife (bears, wolves, coyotes, cougars) and I don’t want any exhumation. Soil is gravel & clay, fairly dry.
Thanks,
Scott.
Replies
Great question, Scott. I've been wondering the same thing lately as our buddy is 15+ now and slowing down (just like me).
We're in a rural area, too.
Maybe the DW will put us side by.................................................never mind..........
Hope we can bump this and get a good answer
bum
I'm not flippin' you off.........just counting cubits
would you consider cremation and scattering your buddy where he like the best...
Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming
WOW!!! What a Ride!
Forget the primal scream, just ROAR!!!
I've cremated my last 2. Burial was much easier and after thinking of the size of hole I'd have to dig as well as good-enough depth for 75lbs of best friend. the costs of cremation weren't so bad afterall.
There's lots of places on the web that will sell riverstones with whatever you want engraved in it as a memorial/marker. Right now mine are on the surface but when we move, I'll burry them down aways so that any future digger will find them before finding the ashes. Not burying them leads to successive owners doing odd thigns with the stones.
I've buried at least two dozen animals here and never had one dug up, and we have all those predator critters that you have locally except bears. I believe cats and wolves like a fresh kill, don't they? Anyway, i dig a hole about 3 feet deep, then plant a tree on top that reminds me of some part of their personality, i.e. "Bob" got an apple tree.
In the wintertime, i carry my pets to a secluded hilltop overlooking the valley and lay them there on the frozen ground. The workout hauling them up there seems to help the grieving process. I wonder if it's the euthanasia meds that smell funny, but they've always remained undisturbed until the spring when the bugs start decomposing them. I was surprised by that. Checking back later in the warm season, i found the carcasses scattered, barely a bone and only a few tufts of hair.
Edited 5/25/2009 3:06 pm by splintergroupie
Same method for my lab last year.
10 days shy of her 16th birthday I had to put her down myself.
Buried her with 2 old hunting shirts that she stole out of a basket in the garage while she was getting sick.
Planted a palmetto on top of her at my camp _her favorite place- Palmetto is 4' tall now.
Thought I was over it till about 3 months later a barmaid went out to my truck to give "Lady" a treat and she wasn't there.
Told her the story... she started crying..... I start watering up.....6 other customers are crying.
Laughing, crying, drinking and telling "Lady" stories, she was welcome in at least 6 bars in town, and spent the night with many more pretty barmaids then myself.
Lady would have been tail waggin happy..................
I buried her 4' down from this picture.
I'm fostering two enormous Labs right now. Man, they can take up some real estate! I'll be kinda glad when they go home so i have a chair to sit in. They've definitely made themselves at home chez Miller.I put my 19-1/2 year old dog to sleep last December. I put a layer of rugs over the spot by the garden gate where i intended to plant him, so it wouldn't freeze. He was too weak to go through another winter, so i finally let go before really cold weather hit and had my vet d the deed. I brought Reese's home and dug the grave. I looked up and saw a herd of deer watching me...they just stared and i just dug, then filled. After i planted the lilac on top of him for his hardiness and sweetness, my other dog spent three days circling the grave. The deer hung out for the same length of time, bedding down in the field, then left.
Yep, good dogs always have a place dear to my heart.
Have you heard about the spouse test?
You lock your spouse or significant other in the trunk of your car with your dog.
After 5 hours you unlock the trunk and see who's happier to see ya.
Case closed.
We have rescue dogs so a lot of them die. I always dig the grave at least 3 feet deep and 3 feet wide so they will not be disturbed by the other dogs.
Sorry to hear about your pet.
This post is sort of ironic since I had to bury my mother's 13 year old lab yesterday that I gave her as a puppy. It was easier to do than I thought it would be as I kept reminding myself that these are the things grown men are supposed to do. It just hit me that at 44 this is the first dog I have ever had to bury. Usually our dogs seemed to wander off into the country side when it was their time or we had them put to sleep.
You don't realize how big a lab is until you have to bury one. I dug the hole about 3 foot deep and I covered the dog with a piece of osb board to ward off any potential diggers. Mom lives on a farm but she does not have alot of "diggers" around. I don't know if my method was right but I just knew I had to get it done before the grandkids saw what was happening. You are wise to be thinking about this situation before the need arises.
I just thought that you could pour a small concrete slab over the grave and let family members etch words and pictures in tribute in it before it dried.
Thanks all; not exactly a home building question, but you're all helpful nonetheless.Scott.
When our old blue tick hound passed on there was a cremation and the ashes were spread around a certain bunch of flowers. Wife figured the dog had dug there too many times to count so it must have been a favorite spot. Sorry for the forthcoming loss.
As an aside my late father-in-laws ashes were scattered across the start/finish line at a horse race track. They then ran a race in his honor. According to SWIMBO (AKA the Wife) he said since the horses pooped on him while he was alive they may as well poop on him dead, kinda have to respect that. On a subsequent memorial race years later a horse named "Honor Thy Father" won, we bet him big!
Let's not confuse the issue with facts!
FOUR FEET.
I've done 3 to 4 feet in the past without problems.
Cremations are going for about a touch under $200 nowadays.
I'm sorry about the dog.
that's a good price. ~$300 here.
Wild animals have an incredibly sensitive sense of smell; I have seen a fox sniff out and then dig up a small fawn 3 months dead and frozen two feet under hardpacked snow and ice.
Bears are the worst problem because of their sheer size and power. They can dig through almost anything, and can destroy a wooden coffin easily. If you really want your best friend to rest in peace, you'll probably have to construct some kind of stone or concrete vault and bury it a good 4-6 feet down.
Dinosaur
How now, Mighty Sauron, that thou art not brought
low by this? For thine evil pales before that which
foolish men call Justice....
Boy that's tough. My old lab died about two years ago. I sat with him in the kitchen on the floor until he died at about 3:00 AM. He was my best buddy.
I had him cremated and his ashes are in a little cedar box on the shelf above my desk. Cost about $200.00 IIRC. I suppose some would think I am being foolish. Tough. My heartfelt feelings go out to you.
I just had to do it 2 months ago. Bella weighed about 100lbs then. Sherry dug the hole while I took her to the vet. She might have gone 2'. When I got back, the hole was what it was.Something started digging in, we covered her with rocks. That worked. She was an exceptional dog, so the monument the rocks have made is fitting.I'm sorry for you for the friend you're going to lose.There's an advantage in chiwawas<G>http://www.tvwsolar.com
Now I wish I could give Brother Bill his great thrill
I would set him in chains at the top of the hill
Then send out for some pillars and Cecil B. DeMille
He could die happily ever after"
Scott,
I am sorry to hear about your dog.
I have two labs myself and know it will be tough to face the day you are describing. Just remember all the great times you have had with him...it has helped me with all my previous four-legged friends that have passed on.
Mike
Hi Scott,
I'm sorry to hear of your upcoming loss but alas you have been blessed to have shared in his life of joyful memories.
When our family has lost such a loved one, we bury them about three feet down. Bed him in his favorite blanket or bed pillow and put his most precious toys with him. Wrap him in two heavy duty bags and lay him gently in the center of the grave. Mix a couple of bags of concrete and pour around and over his remains. Just forward of his resting head, place a four foot long section of rebar. Fill in the remainder of the grave with the excavated soil and add some flower seeds. At the top of the rebar that's protruding out, bend it into a secure loop and string his collar and tags through it. Don't forget to add some oraganic material or peat moss to the soil so your flowers will grow. Choose the flowers according to the location whether shady or sunny.
Best to you,
Pedro the Mule - Lovin' all animals
Dogs we'd go down 4'. Cats about 3'. Never had one disturbed. Always dug with a shovel.
Horses we'd go about 7 or 8' with a backhoe.
Even with just dogs around you need to go at least two feet deep. With bears I'd think 3 feet minimum.
Thanks again all. Here's a pic of the old friend. He'll be missed, but it's been a great 15 year life....mountains climbed, rivers and lakes swam, bears and deer chased....many crotches sniffed (a vicarious envy, occasionally...oops)
View Image
....a warm house every night...you get the picture....
Scott.
Edited 5/26/2009 1:13 am by Scott
I have a regular grave yard in my back yard for my former pets : ie 2 horses i cat 2 poodles , 1 husky , 1 bouvier & a ram
all the dogs were buried in coffins + the cat
I dig all the graves using my backhoe
If i was trying to discourage digging i would first throw in some earth then some bags of concrete mix
Having been a grave digger in the past i get to bury a lot of the neighbours animals also
I never missed any human i buried but i sure missed my pets in comparison !
Years ago, our family dog died suddenly during the night in the living room. I was afraid our daughter, who was pretty young, would get up and see him on the rug, so I buried him before dawn.
A neighbor lady opens her door and looks out and sees me in the dark, with a shovel, standing hip deep in a grave. Her eyes pop open and she quickly shuts the door. She never said a word about it.
Long story to say three foot worked fine.
The dog would get up 3-4 times in the middle of the night and listen at all our doors for a minute. For about two weeks, I couldn't sleep because I was used to the toenails clicking on the wood floor.
They could be some good buddies.