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Original poster

What did you do with your dog's ashes?

52 replies

PawsForTea · 13/08/2026 18:40

My lovely girl died a couple of months ago. I have her ashes in the little box that the crematorium returned them in. I was intending to purchase a nice urn for them. However, I haven't been able to bring myself to choose one yet.

Im now wondering if putting them on display is just going to prolong the grief and upset me more. I lost my childhood dog many years ago and we scattered her ashes.

OP posts:
Original poster
PawsForTea · 13/08/2026 19:26

DorsetMermaid · 13/08/2026 19:22

I'm so sorry for your loss @PawsForTea.
We scattered our girl's ashes in one of her favourite spots on her favourite walk. She loved it there so much that even if we just passed the spot whilst out driving in the car she would stand up and enjoy the view through the window.
We walk there often to see her and on the first occasion we stopped to say hello a butterfly landed on my dress. Surely only a coincidence, but it meant the world to me.

Edited to say - I love to think of her there running free forever.

Edited

That's beautiful @DorsetMermaid. Thank you. I'm sorry for your loss too.

OP posts:
Realworld10 · 13/08/2026 19:29

7 years on and still got them, along with our cats. There's no need to scatter them, you can keep them close. Xx

ruthieness · 13/08/2026 19:30

We scattered our dog’s ashes under a bush in the garden but something in the ashes caused the bush to die off…
5 years later we haven’t planted anything else there but one day we will.

Unforgettablefire · 13/08/2026 19:36

Sorry for your loss op.
I lost my dog and cats around 2018. I’ve got four boxes of ashes and feel awful at the thought of scattering them I don’t know why. I think it’s just that letting them go completely.

noctilucentcloud · 13/08/2026 20:57

From this I think I'm quite unusual, I scattered them as soon as I picked him up from the vet. He went in the local loch where he loved sploshing around playing.

MudandMoet · 13/08/2026 21:11

My gorgeous boy’s ashes are still in the bluebell woodland theme cylinder he came home in. We have a tiny deep window in the cottage that doesn’t open, it overlooks the front garden and he’s placed there, he would love it watching the foxes and hedgehogs and birds etc. I always thought I would scatter him but I can’t bear the thought of him not being here.

Almost forgot to add - I have a small pendant on my chain made with a spoonful of his ashes.

FairViewRosie25 · 13/08/2026 21:19

Took my beloved Winnie’s down to Walberswick which was a beach/place she loved and buried them under a sand dune

WalterMittysPuppet · 13/08/2026 21:20

My first dogs ashes are in an outdoor pot with her picture on a piece of slate, under a rose - I couldn't find a rose with her name, so I found one called "Wildfire" which suited her feisty temperament. She's been gone 7 years and the rose never grows well! Not sure plants do well with ashes...

We did put a small amount of ash into a little keepsake ornament and it resides on a high bookshelf next to a picture of her (in a rare moment of NOT being feral) along with a rainbow bridge candle and a little paw ornament thing. 🐾 I still miss her, difficult as she was.

Sorry for your loss.

dudsville · 13/08/2026 21:31

Hugs for everyone who's been through this loss. We have a weird relationship with the ashes. We wanted the cremation rather than a buriel because of foxes. We paid for them to be on their own. We wanted to have them, but we don't know why. We've had one for about 9 years and the other for about 18 months and we don't really know what to do with them. It's an attachment, the thought of scattering the ashes feels like opening up a deep wound. But I also don't want them out on display as a potential talking point, so they're each in a nice tin side by side in the cupboard where I keep my old family albums. They aren't in obvious dog ashes tins, so I wonder what it will be like for whomever clears out the house if we're still here at the time of our deaths, but we just can't part with them.

mrstea301 · 13/08/2026 21:57

We scattered our last boys ashes on the beach where we had our wedding photos taken - it’s a few hours from where we live but he was at our wedding so it felt right, and that’s where we intend to have our own ashes scattered when the time comes. It’s very hard tho, it’s been two years since we lost our boy and we’re just preparing to rescue again soon.

Gcn · 13/08/2026 22:00

My mum kept multiple boxes of dog ashes and when she died she'd asked for them to be put in with her when she was cremated. We also found a box with just the name puss on it. We couldn't remember her having a cat, but it went in too.

Weelegs29 · 13/08/2026 22:03

My girls ashes are in a lovely Urn with her name on and they sit on the sideboard beside our sofa along with a framed photo and a candle that I light on special anniversaries. I also got a heart pendant made with some of her ashes in so she can always be close to my heart ❤️

OnTheBoardwalk · 13/08/2026 22:18

I used some of my cat ashes to have a globe made, they only needed a tiny amount and it’s on the fireplace

his mum would have hated this so both boxes are now on top of the fridge where they liked to sit

my insurance included crematorium fees and wooden boxes. If it didn’t I don’t think I would have paid the extra to get them in a box

my view is think about her but don’t put her on display. Think about getting another cat IF and when you are ready. I had loads of people trying to find me another cat when I wasn’t ready

i now have two wonderful hooligan sisters from cats protection. It took me 8 months to be ready for them

SpaceAngel1999 · 13/08/2026 22:26

My first dog died 12 years ago. She’s in a beautiful wooden box in my lounge. I can’t bear the thought of scattering her anywhere

LancashireButterPie · 13/08/2026 22:29

We didn't collect them from the vets.
I just couldn't. He was 17. We don't even go down his favourite walking route anymore, it's just too painful.

I feel guilty about not collecting his ashes but then he's not really in them. He's somewhere wild and free and safe in my mind.

Judystilldreamsofhorses · 13/08/2026 22:58

Cat here (I just clicked in to this from active) and she’s in a lovely urn on the hearth, next to a framed print of one of my favourite photos of her. She keeps an eye on the little racket of a boy cat we have now!

I got one of her paw prints tattooed on my inner arm a few months after she was pts in 2024, so she’s always with me.

longtompot · 13/08/2026 23:09

We scattered Neela's in our local park. Not my first choice of location but actually it has been the best place. We can say hello to her every time we go there, and last time when we took our puppy there she was playing in the spot we scattered the ashes, so it was like they were playing together.
I didn't really want to scatter her ashes, but actually when we did, I could suddenly breathe again. It was like I was in limbo, waiting to let go of her this final time. I still have the cardboard tube on the shelf in the living room under a portrait my ed painted of her for me for one Mother's Day.
Neela really was my soul dog and I miss her so so much. I love my puppy, but she is happy being with any of the family, though dh is her favourite, so I don't feel we have the same bond. But that is good as Neela had awful separation anxiety.

BiteyShark · 13/08/2026 23:34

We only recently lost our lovely boy. His ashes are in a box in our bedroom and will eventually be buried with us.

YeOldeGreyhound · 13/08/2026 23:42

I still have mine in a scatter tube.
I want to get a greyhound shape container for her, but I am not ready yet. It would mean exposing her and pouring her out into another container, and I don't think I can do that yet.

Decostyle · 13/08/2026 23:44

I have 4 boxes with little name plates. They all died many years ago and will be mixed with my ashes when I go and be scattered on a sunny hillside

DonttouchthatLarry · 14/08/2026 00:07

I don't have ashes returned - I know they bring comfort to some but to me when they're gone, they're gone (I feel the same about humans). I do have a couple of dogs' collars in a frame with a nice background, photos of them and appropriate quotation, and have hundreds of photos and videos to remember them by.

If I did keep ashes I'd probably have them put into some jewellery.

TheGospelAccordingToMe · 14/08/2026 00:53

I'm so sorry that you've had to start this thread OP, and also everyone that has posted. It's the saddest of times and the worst pain 💐💔

I fully expected to take mine to their favourite walk and scatter their ashes, but I can't bear for them not to be here with me. So - I had a big tin with their biscuits in, and their ashes are in there in their boxes with their favourite toys, their collars and a few snacks on the top of the bookcase in my bedroom, where they slept. Their leads are still hanging up in the hallway. I miss them so much.

ApolloandDaphne · 14/08/2026 05:54

We scattered her ashes under the rowan tree at the bottom of our garden. The garden was her domain and she loved it. We had a stone inscribed with her name and placed it there. I still have the box that contained her ashes in my greenhouse. She liked it in there too.

Fieldday26 · 14/08/2026 06:01

It took us a while but we got a beautiful small urn with his name on which we keep in the living room with a little ornament that looks just like him (we got this when he was still with us). We planted a rose bush in the garden and sprinkled some of him in the roots and finally we took him back to his favourite holiday place where we visited many times and left him in his happy place. We do still have a small bit left which I intend to get some jewellery for me and my DD.

Tel12 · 14/08/2026 06:14

I back into a field and I am going to scatter her ashes along the field edge where we used to walk. I can see it from my kitchen window. I have a new dog who is is an absolute joy, but I miss my old girl.

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