anyone made an urn?

[ironstein]

My beloved dog passed today and i would like to make an urn for his ashes. I would just like to see some blacksmith made examples, or get advice.

[Fosterob]

Sorry to hear about you dog, that can be rough. I have two buried here guarding the drive still.

[BIGGUNDOCTOR]

I have been asked by a friend to make an urn for his father. In the research I did the size is around 1 cubic inch for every pound. Having some extra space is OK. Lots of pet urns out there for ideas. One of our Boxers was cremated. The box of ashes was around 4x4x6 IIRC.

[Ted T]

Ironstein;
I just wanted to express my condolences to you about your dog.

I would suggest that you make a hollow anvil of appropriate size.
I would make the face of the anvil to be the lid with the hinge (inside) near the table.
Then I would make a hardie tool to set in the hardie hole to use as the knob for the
latch to open it with. --- Just an idea only!

My dog and myself lived alone (I mean alone) for twelve good years.
She got so sick that I had to consider her needs above my needs and feelings to have her
put out of her misery and suffering.
So I took her to a vet that was located 130 miles away.

She was a Vet that my dog was not afraid of.
When the Vet gave her the shot it did not go well. It took almost 2 minutes for her to go.
The struggle she was going through to live, just about killed me as I held her.

The Vet said she had never experienced anything like it before!

I had to drive back a 130 miles out to my farm alone. It was only her and me living alone for
12 years with no one to talk to, I felt guilty about it (real bad).

So; I had to study about why I felt so broken about my dog’s death.
After volumes of reading I came across a few things that helped me through the process.
I want to share them with you if it gives you any Solis at all.

1. A dog does not have an agenda. It pretty well lives day to day responding to “Cue’s”
from its owner. Otherwise the dog keeps no calendar! So basically "gone today or
tomorrow" would not make much difference to them, but only to you!

2. I have had people chide me because I had her cremated, and she will be dumped
in the ocean with me when I die.
Several people said she was “ONLY “a dog! What’s my problem?
I finally found an article written by a physiologist who said the following:

When you grieve the death of a pet, you are grieving as much as it had been a human for this reason.
You are grieving the loss of a “RELATIONSHIP”, not JUST an animal!

Example: When you look at the obituaries in the news paper and do not see anyone you know,
you just turn the page and keep drinking your coffee as nothing had happened to all of those people who had died.
And that is because you did not have a relationship with them.

BUT, if you see a friend’s obituary in the paper, your body and emotions respond at a level as
your relationship was with that person.

And so it is with a close pet!

3. The kindest thing an animal’s master can do is helping it to die if it is in severe pain
and cannot get any better. The animal depends on that!

I truly wish you the very best, I know it is not easy!
Ted Throckmorton

[Francis Trez Cole]

loosing a pet really sucks there is a bond that can not be broken they fill a part of your life. The anvil idea is great but what was your dogs favorite thing make it out of metal and weld the ashes in. I have a cross in my yard that is where my dogs rest.

[Steve Sells]

I got Katashi, a half wolf, when she was about 1 week old. She died after over 16 years. While I was digging her grave, in the rain, 2 of my neighbors came walking up with their own shovels and they helped me finish digging.

Tears were pouring from my eyes, partly from my loss, partly from my friends aid in the cold rain. Later they told me their kids came to them to tell them they saw me near my forge crying next to my dead dog, so they came over to see if I was ok, saw me digging, so grabbed theirs to give me hand.

An acquaintance may help hide you, but a true friend help you bury the body. good luck with your urn.

[ironstein]

Thank you everyone. Ted, your story is very similar to ours. Chopper was a rescued pit bull, he changed everyones views of pit bulls. He was an amazing soul, and had eyes like a human. In the last few days he was in severe pain, after x-rays yesterday, the vet told us he most likely had bone cancer in a hind leg that was causing excruciating pain. While at the vet he had four bouts of howling, wincing pain which was a telling sign he was ready to go. In the many years, i never heard this dog so much as wimper.
The vet gave us our options and we decided it was time to let him go. We were both distraught with grief as we let the vet sedate him in preparation for his journey to the other side. we spent the last ten minutes with him, and expressed our love for him. The vet administered the final injection and he went peacefully. My wife and i couldn't let him live in pain simply to comfort us, and everything in that dog told us it was time. He will be missed by all who knew him. A true best friend.

[Marksnagel]

Ironstein,

My condolences on the loss of your companion. We have had two dogs that have been with with us 15 yrs and 16 yrs. Each were family members and after each we said no more dogs because their loss was great. The emptiness left was too much to bare so we have another dog.
She is my wifes nurse, our early warning system for visitors, protector of the farm, ridder of mice, foot warmer, child, plaything, crumb snatcher, alarm clock, and the list goes on. She shows affection even when we don't deserve it.

I hope you will find an appropriate urn for your dog.

Mark<><

[BIGGUNDOCTOR]

It is rough when you lose a pet, and you have my condolences.

This April it will be 2 years since I lost Samantha. She was a Australian Shepard mix that was given to my Mom by my brother who is a vet. She had been found in a field with a 3" wound over her shoulder, and a chunk missing off of her right hip the size of my fist. She probably got into some farming equipment, as it was such a clean cut. The owner when finally located declined to pay the bill, even though it was cut in half. He just signed her over to the Vet hospital. My Mom had recently lost a dog, and my brother brought her over to see if she would work out. She showed no loss of motion from the wounds, and she turned out to be a good dog for my Mom. Samantha stuck with Mom until she passed away in 03. That is when I inherited her, and she was my partner for 6 years. One thing that she did have was a wandering spirit, and it eventually caught up with her. I was out for the day in Las Vegas, and she tried to get out of the yard. In doing so she got wedged in a spot, and was unable to get loose. It was,or close to 100 degrees that day. My neighbors heard her later that evening, and got her unstuck, but the damage from dehydration was done. She passed away that night as I slept on the floor by her side.

I took the next day off from work, and spent the next few hours in the heat digging her grave in the hard rocky ground under a Palo Verde in the front yard. It wasn't that the ground was that hard, but I had to stop several times to gain my composure. I have had several pets over the years, and they all broke my heart when they passed.


I have felt guilty about not being home sooner, and not repairing that part of the fence better than I did. She was around 14 years old, but had shown no signs of slowing down. She had a lot more life left in her if this hadn't happened. At my last job I was able to take her to work with me, and as long as she knew where I was she was content. The house is a lot lonelier now when I get home from work.


Being single it was nice to have a buddy here at the house. Dogs have that whole unconditional love thing going on with them. It didn't matter how bad of a day I had, Sam Dog was happy to see me, and that cheered me up. Even after having to scold her from time to time, she would forget it shortly, and come back nudging me for more attention.

When you get the urn done please post pictures.

[ironstein]

Chopper was a rescue. My wife rescued him from a prison dog program where he had his own cell! His previous owner neglected him to the point that he almost died from malnutrition. My wife had him before we met, so she is really taking this hard (so am i), this was a dog like no other. He lived a wonderful life, and my wife spent thousands of dollars on him with his many ailments after being so neglected.
I made his urn from quarter inch plate tig welded. I used a top fuller and my swage block to create the wave on two sides. I gun blued the whole thing after welding and "washed some off to create a grayish color which i waxed.

[kevan]

Ted,
I too have a close relationship with the animals in my life, and your moving and sensitively written account brought a film of moisture to my eye.

If one looks at the nature of the mails in response to Ironstein's postings, its reveals an outpouring of sincere emotion on the part of the people who are members of this site. It is uplifting and encouraging to witness the human spirit at a time of sadness...even if it is the death "of only a dog"

I salute the people who have replied to this post and Ironstein I understand the loss of your beloved dog.

Kevan

[nelson]

Ironstein,

Sad story,my condolence to you, and to all those here who have lost their love pets recently. Nobody realizes how heartbreaking can be to loose a loved pet, unless you are an animal lover and have one, or have lost one. The relationship in my view, is particularly strong with dogs,as one interacts so closely with them, as we could with a dear friend, not just that but the best of all. We`ve had dogs in the family since were kids,and ever since I won`t stop having one any where and for as long as I live. Right now we have three pits, but they used to be four.Recently the female dog gave birth,so I`m keeping one for replacing a recently dead one. Wish they stay small to keep them all. The look on your dogs eyes is just pure love!

[rustyshackleford]

it sounds borderline cliche to say that dogs are better than people, but xxxxxx if it ain't true. Good luck making your urn, I think the relevant advice has been put forth already.

[Frosty]

Brian:

My condolences for the loss of a family member. You did the right thing, hard as it is it's our duty to let them go when it's time. I'm sure you know the story about how Libby and Abby saved my life when I was ambushed by the great white birch so I won't go into it again.

We lost Libby last June to bone cancer, we were giving her pain meds till we were sure but giving her enough to take enough edge off the pain had her dopey. You could see it in her eyes, she knew her time was coming so I stayed as happy and matter of fact as I could. We had the vet make a farm visit and I held her head in my lap, thanked her for my life one last time, told her I love her and told her what a good dog she was as the sedative put her to sleep. My last memories of Libby were her snoring gently in my lap and slobering on my leg as the vet shaved a spot to find the vein. The next thing I remember was waking up in the hospital after a grand mal seizure. Stupid tree!

The only thing worse than losing a pet is never having one to love you. Why do dogs mean so much to us? We and dogs have been pack mates for tens of thousands of years at least, DNA shows all dogs to have the same wolf DNA from some couple dozen wolves from the mid east/N Africa. We've watched each other's backs and babies, shared the hunt, shared the dangers, shared the food and graves for at least 35,000 years. Humans and dogs are pack. That so many humans can treat dogs so badly makes me ashamed to be a human sometimes.

Be well Brian, you done good, you're a credit to our species. Here's a toast to your next dog!

Frosty the Lucky.

[Tim McCoy]

All the dogs and cats I have had as an adult were cremated when they died. The last two dogs died within a month of each other (one was 17 and the other 13 years old)about two years ago. All of them (the cats too) are in beautiful oak boxes that set amoungst my favorite books. Never thought about puttin' them into urns. Cool. Pets, dogs especially, never ask for much, but will take all you can give'm. Never worry about how some one else responds to the way you memorialize the love/loyalty they shared with you.

[ironstein]

Thanks Tim, another great response to this thread. I just would like to thank everyone for their wisdom and compassion, this thread has been very comforting. Thanks to all who responded, much appreciated.

[ironstein]

Thank you very much Frosty. I had missed your response, and a heartwarming response it was. I have had dogs all my life, and will continue to have them. Yes, its tough losing a friend, but its worth all the good times. My dogs really pick me up when i'm down, and no matter what, they are loyal. A happy dog, excited to see you sure makes a crappy day better somehow! I think we have enough furry friends for now (2 dogs, 2 cats) but when the time comes, we will rescue a lucky animal!
Thanks again Frosty it meant a lot.
Brian

[nuge]

Man, my bud has been gone for two months. It plain sucks. He went quietly laying on his spot outside the shop doors where he spent a lot of time. That was a great gift, I am so glad I didn't have to make the call to put him down.



Good luck.

[ironstein]

Yep, you were blessed. Good looking dog there Nuge, he looked like a frisky one!

[Dave Murray]

Timely thread , my jack russel that my wife and i have had for 15 years was diagnosed with cancer this week. although he dosn't seem to be in a lot of pain he refuses to eat much.
we are spending the weekend spoiling him as much as we can and then were taking him in monday morning to be put to sleep.
hope i'll be able to drive home.

[Ted T]

Dave,
I truly beleive it is the kindest act you can do for your friend.
It is a sincere act of un-selfish love that requires courage that is powered by duty, love, and compassion to do the right thing at this time.
I have had times in my life that I was scared out of my witts to do what I was being depended on to do.
But, I was more afraid to live with myself if I did not do what was necessary at the time!
And I will tell straight out, helping my dog out (out of suffering) was one of the very hardest things that I have done in my life.

In time (and it takes time), you will surly miss your dog for sure, but you will also know that you thought more of your dogs needs than your own emotions of seperation. Your dog will only be a thought away!

I am posting again in this post only because I feel you need to know that your words of concern are heard, understood and shared by (I am sure) all others that have posted here!
Please read very carefully all of the posts that have been posted. They may give you some supportive insight, and you will know that you are not alone!

Please keep your mind on the positive side of the good you are doing for your dog, even if some tears leaks out here and there!
I wish you and your wife the very best.
Ted Throckmorton

[Dave Murray]

Thanks Ted, that was just what i needed, we are taking him in at 9am tomorrow. going to be a bad week i quess.
Thanks again.

Dave Murray.

[ironstein]

My heart goes out to you Dave. Its a tough decision to make.

[Bill in Oregon]

Awe, gee, folks, this is a heartbreaking thread. My Brittany is 10, and my Aussie and her little blind mutt brother are four. I can't imagine having just one dog at a time, and losing that dog. I feel so sorry for people who have never had a dog in their lives. The love and companionship they bring more than pays for the pain we must endure when it is time for them to go.
Thank God they do live for the moment, and care not a fig about tomorrow's worries.
Dogs, not beer, are proof God loves us and wants us to be happy.