we have a similar box (minus the lock!) and it's been in an antique cabinet of ours for a little over 3 yrs! I'm not a huge fan of scattering ashes, so they sit in the cabinet.... it seemed weird to bury them because we don't have a 'forever house' at this point..

Still have all my pet ashes - cats. They were all indoors their entire life. I just can't bring myself to scatter them outside or bury them and leave them behind some day. Keeping them doesn't have to mean they have to be on display.

I think you should bury the box at your beach house, yes. That sounds like a good idea. For a marker, perhaps a nice stone that covers the disturbed surface area....no words or other marker on the stone. Or perhaps a cairn of smaller, egg sized smooth river stones on the surface of the grave, or plant a hardy bush over it that she might have liked to tinkle on?

Our dog was not cremated, we just buried him in the woods, but we live in the country and there aren't any county regulations governing this.

That sounds like a very sweet idea.

One of my friends recently lost a special dog. He's buried in her yard, just off one of the paths to the house. She made him a special spot in her garden. There's a large stone (no markings) as a marker, and a bench where she can sit and think. He had many friends and she received a tree, flowering bush, small statue, and garden ornaments to put there. There's nothing that says "cemetery" there, but she knows and that's all that matters. She lives in the PNW, so a garden fits perfectly with her landscape. Perhaps you can come up with something appropriate for your beach house. Driftwood bench, metal yard art or statue. Zen rock garden with beach plants.

Like others, I don't think we are in our forever house, so I haven't buried my dogs' ashes here, but they are not on display.

We have three decorative locked boxes for the 3 we lost. This one sits on top of the office bookshelf.

We have buried our deceased pets beside our house. Some were not cremated. We used rocks to mark the spots (no names) and then planted perennials around the rocks. Last year when our beloved Springer died we had her cremated and buried the ashes alongside the others. In your case, burial on the grounds of your beach house makes perfect sense. Thinking of you, it's not easy.

Our first kitty who passed we did not get the ashes. The second one we have the ashes and also don't know what to do with them either. They are still on the credenza. I think in the future we will not get ashes back.

There are a lot of interesting markers/stones on Etsy.

CindyMac, I like your decorative box idea.

Here's what we did for our Golden Retriever Casey who died at 15. I kept the ashes for a year tucked in our fireplace. (We don't use it for fires) Then, on the year anniversary of her death, my DH and I took the walk that we took with Casey for most of her life. I sprinkled little bits of her ashes during the walk which is mostly wooded /brook and then we buried the rest of the ashes beneath a tree, so she then in a sense, became part of this tree.

We have a guinea pig and a white mouse buried under the posts of our new deck. Not the fanfare of our dog, but loved and missed none the less.

Aw Sue, I think your idea is a sweet one.

Here's what NOT to do: keep them in the car (little blue box). dog liked to travel in the car, so it seemed like an ok temporary answer. I'm a caterer and we were doing a party with a wide variety of mini desserts. The many boxes of mini sweets traveled to the party in my car to keep them safe. I was shocked when I saw someone had unloaded the little blue box along with all the white pastry boxes and it was sitting on the counter in the catering kitchen. thank goodness the box hadn't been opened.

I have the ashes of three of my cats sitting in boxes with little nameplates on a shelf in my office. The same shelf has some icons and other religious items, so it's a sacred spot to me.

The first cat I had cremated was two years after my husband died. I fully intended to scatter his ashes over my husband's grave. I don't know if it's kosher to do that in a human cemetery, but that was immaterial to me. I tried to get the box open. After I fussed with it a bit, I decided the box isn't meant to be opened and my plans changed. I took Luther's ashes home with me and he's since been joined by Cosmo and Bunny.

We do what we're called to do.

1 have 2 rather large boxes on my book shelf. 1 dog was 178lbs, so yes, it was rather large but small in comparison to the gaping hole that remains immediately afterward. You will know what to do in time. I'd keep the box and yours is beautiful! I would add a special stone as you mentioned to your forever beach home. I'm sorry for your loss.

I've kept my dogs' ashes and have advised my family to bury them with my own ashes when the time comes. Not sure if that's allowed though.

Star Jeep, it's not allowed so you ask for forgiveness, not permission also in the ashes are a metal number plate that should be removed so its not later investigated. This from the funeral home when we picked out my Mother's urn.

We have the same dilemma. We just went from 2 boxes to 3 when our beloved beardie died. I don't know why I don't like this feeling of collecting the boxes and not knowing what's proper to do with them.

For now, they'll stay with us because I don't want to bury them here at our house. It's not our forever home or even where I'm happy living.

I'd love to scatter their ashes on the beach, as they all loved going there so much.

My DH and I have decided to bury our dog's cremains with whoever dies first. You can buy caskets with a small drawer built into them for whatever you choose to use it for.

I'm sorry for your loss, Sue.

I have the remains of three cats and one dog. Cat #4 was taken to them today, after passing away Saturday night. With the first four pets, I started out buying handmade pottery pieces (lidded jars) from etsy - based on the color of their eyes (windows to the soul and all) and their size - but I'm varying that now so they are not too similar. The cats are in small (4x5) jars.- room for paw print, metal tag, hair, and velvet pouch holding remains.

I left a beloved dog and cat buried at our last house and couldn't bare to do it with pets we owned once the first cat passed away at our new house. I've decided to either make myself (visited Hobby Lobby today and searching etsy) or purchase on etsy a pendant frame for each pet's photo and ceramic beads (round, heart shape, etc) to go on each jar after seeing "prayer jars" for sale on an etsy store. I also found copper tags that can be stamped with their names.

I've always loved pottery, but not purchased many. It is the least I can do for a part of our family. The cat that just passed away was almost 12yo and a big part of our every day life, as are they all. They are indoor pets, so spreading outdoors or burying isn't ideal for them, at least in my mind. That said, I realize everyone is different and deals with grief in their own way.

The sight of that pretty little box is very moving, Sue.

We've buried two cats in the back garden of our old home, marking the graves with flat flagstones. That whole area became a bit overgrown and wild - but I sort of liked it that way. A few years ago I was conversing with one of the women who grew up in our house in the 1940s (I believe the house was in her family until the late 70s), and she recounted all the many pets that her family had buried in the backyard. I thought it was kind of cool to know that there was practically a pet cemetery out there! That spoke to me of the nature of the people that had lived in the house throughout the years. Dedicated animal lovers, to be sure.

If we handle this the way we handle most things we aren't sure about, the box of ashes will still be sitting on our mantel at Christmas, and we'll just decorate it with some holly.

I had a nice 4x6" photo of her printed and put it in a frame, so that has now joined the box on the mantel. Not forever, but for a little while. She loved laying in front of the fireplace so it seems appropriate!

We're in a rural area on 100+ acres. We buried our beloved black lab, Cassie, in a beautiful peaceful little spot near the river, at the back of our property about 15 years ago. Since then, we've lost several other pets, and we buried them there as well.

We now have a serious full-on pet cemetery! Several friends and family members have asked to bury their pets here, and of course we said yes. We have to laugh when we think that someday, an archeologist is going to wonder WTH happened here!

It is a hard thing to deal with. Hope you find an answer that works for you.

I continue to keep the ashes of my "best friend" -- a chow -- on the corner of the fireplace mantle, out of sight. However the granite grave marker with his picture and dates, were placed in the brick walkway where my daughter found him dead.

This was timely for me today as I had to bring my indoor cat to the vets to be put down. I've never had to deal with this before and it was heart wrenching. I was not able to deal with her ashes, and certainly am not in a position to bury her even though I just moved in to my forever home. She was only in the new place for 3 weeks. : (

My friend had her dog's ashes in the car for a couple years. College age kids borrowed the car and went to a bar.After a few drinks they brought the ashes into the bar so everyone could toast their beloved deceased pet. After a few more rounds they went home but forgot the box of ashes. No one knows what became of them.

I am feeling guilty that my pets bodies were part of a mass cremation. I did make donations to the SPCA that took the bodies.

my father and his wife practically had a mausoleum in the backyard for their dead Doberman. As part of the agreement of sale when they sold the house, the new owner was to maintain the grave site. Who knows if they did.

Condolences to those who have lost a beloved pet.

dedtired, Please don't feel guilty about your pet being part of a mass cremation. We did that with our beloved Sparky. 2 reasons, one was that he never wanted to be alone and since his ashes were scattered with other dogs we felt his spirit was happy. 2nd reason. Our previous dog we buried in the woods behind our house. After several years the ground in that area started to dry out. The water table changed. What happened was that the ground of his grave collapsed exposing his skeleton. We felt so bad as a neighborhood kid found it exposed. We then had to bury him again. We never want to go through that again.

Grama -- so sorry!

Debrak -- that's awful...how traumatic.

Phoebe's ashes have been relocated from the mantel to a less prominent spot on a bookshelf. Eventually we'll decide what to do! The vet sent us a card with her paw print, and we placed that with her photo in a double frame near the fireplace, which was her favorite spot. I prefer displaying her photo vs the ashes, even though the box is nice looking.

Sue, thank you so much! I was so upset Saturday I never added my condolences to you - so, so sorry for your loss.

I'm sorry I also did not offer my condolences. Sorry for the loss of Phoebe. Perhaps in time you will find the right spot to bury the box.