What Should You Do If Your Dog Dies At Home?

What Should You Do If Your Dog Dies At Home? Depending on the degree of your attachment to your dog, losing them can seem like losing a beloved family member.

Although we know that such a time would come sooner or later, such an experience will always be hard to go through. If crying your heart out could lessen the pain, then why should you hold it in?

After calming down your emotions, the next question is what to do with your beloved dog’s body. If you had to put down your pet dog due to their illness, the veterinarian could assist you with the aftercare.

But if your dog dies at home, especially if you are all alone, you need to do some extra steps. For that reason, we’ve made this article to help guide you in what you should do with your dog’s body.

Call someone to help you.

If your dog belongs to larger species, the likely scenario is that you will have a hard time moving them. In that kind of situation, you should ask someone for help. If you are not alone, call someone’s attention to help you move your dog to a more comfortable place.

However, if you are alone, try to contact a friend or a family member that you know is nearby. You just have to make sure that they’re both physically and mentally able to help in such a situation.

Also, avoid calling someone who might say some insensitive words regarding your current situation. They can only make you feel worse instead of making you calm down.

Wrap your dog’s body

Now that you have already moved your dog’s body to a comfortable area, the next step is to wrap it. This step is really essential since decomposition starts immediately after your dog dies.

If you left your dog’s body alone, it would attract many insects or animals that help decompose bodies. Bodily fluids might also out from your body. Hence, it’s better to place the body above a trash bag to save you from cleaning up those fluids later.

If you want to take your dog’s collar, it’s now the best time to do so. Carefully remove it from your dog’s neck and make sure you disinfect it thoroughly so you can avoid getting sick. Now, take some clothing pieces such as towels or blankets that you would like to go with your dog.

Gently wrap it on your dog, including the trash bag that’s beneath them. If you don’t have the time to bury or cremate your dog, you can preserve the body instead. For smaller dogs, you can keep them in your refrigerator but make sure it’s not near any food.

If you have a big dog, you can simply place it in your concrete garage. The cooler it gets, the slower the body will decompose.

Bury or cremate your pet dog

Depending on what you believe in, you can choose whether to bury or cremate your dog. The standard burial site for dogs is on pet cemeteries or your very own backyard. However, you have to refer to your local authority first if you can do it.

This is because some state regulations might prohibit you from doing this.

If you choose to cremate your dog, they will give you their ashes after the whole process is done. It’s really now up to you on what you would like to do with it. Some people like to sprinkle their dogs’ remains in their favorite places, while some just keep them.

The only goal for this is to choose a method that is aligned with your beliefs.

However, some people also believe that the body left is no longer their pet. It’s only now just some sort of shell that no longer holds any value. In this scenario, they will just call their local animal control authorities to deal with your dog.

In most cases, this will have no charge or have a low cost. You might also want to contact your veterinarian to help you with the disposal.

Take your time to grieve.

Grieving is a natural process whenever you lose someone important to you. Hence, do not hurry up yourself to move on and take little steps. Avoid those who might downplay your emotions and do your best to surround yourself with positive people. Once you are done grieving, don’t be afraid to get emotional once in a while.

We hope you learned something through our article – What Should You Do If Your Dog Dies At Home?