The Funeral.com Journal

Resources to help you create tributes as unique as the people (and pets) you love. Learn how engraving, photos, colors, and symbols add meaning; discover scattering rituals and at-home memorial ideas. We focus on the details that matter—because small choices can carry a lifetime of comfort.

Pet Cremation 101: The Full Process Explained (Identification Tag to Return of Ashes)

Pet Cremation 101: The Full Process Explained (Identification Tag to Return of Ashes)

If you’re reading this, you may be in that strange, tender space where grief and logistics overlap. You’ve said goodbye (or you’re about to), and now you’re being asked questions...

Nose Print Jewelry for Dogs & Cats: How It’s Made & How to Capture the Print at Home

Nose Print Jewelry for Dogs & Cats: How It’s Made & How to Capture the Print at Home

Your dog’s nose has probably tapped your hand a thousand times without you noticing the exact pattern it leaves behind. It presses against the window when someone pulls into the...

Pet Cremation for Large Dogs: What’s Different (Timing, Cost, Transport & Urn Size)

Pet Cremation for Large Dogs: What’s Different (Timing, Cost, Transport & Urn Size)

The house feels different when a large-breed dog dies. Not only because their presence filled so much space, but because the practical realities arrive fast: a heavy body you can’t...

Backyard Pet Burial Safety Checklist: Depth, Water Table, Wildlife Risks & Legal Basics

Backyard Pet Burial Safety Checklist: Depth, Water Table, Wildlife Risks & Legal Basics

When a beloved pet dies, the urge to bring them home and keep them close can be powerful. For some families, a backyard burial feels like the most natural goodbye—quiet,...

Teen Pet Grief: Why It Can Look Like Anger, Numbness or Withdrawal (and How Adults Can Help)

Teen Pet Grief: Why It Can Look Like Anger, Numbness or Withdrawal (and How Adults Can Help)

When a teenager loses a pet, adults often expect tears, talking, and visible sadness. What they sometimes get instead is a slammed bedroom door, an eye roll, a short fuse,...

Pet Memory Box for Kids: Free Printable Template, Prompts & Simple Keepsake Ideas

Pet Memory Box for Kids: Free Printable Template, Prompts & Simple Keepsake Ideas

When a child loses a beloved pet, the grief can show up in small, surprising ways. One minute they seem fine, and the next they are crying because they found...

Appetite Changes After Pet Loss: Why Eating Is Hard & Small Steps That Help

Appetite Changes After Pet Loss: Why Eating Is Hard & Small Steps That Help

The day your pet dies, the world doesn’t just feel quieter. It can feel physically wrong—like your body forgot how to do the simplest things. If you’re dealing with loss of...

Eco-Friendly Pet Burial and Cremation: Greener Choices for Animal Aftercare

Eco-Friendly Pet Burial and Cremation: Greener Choices for Animal Aftercare

Losing a pet rarely feels “small.” It is a real death, a real absence, and a real set of decisions arriving at a moment when your heart is already trying...

Jewelry from Pet Ashes: How It Works, Costs, and Choosing a Design You’ll Love

Jewelry from Pet Ashes: How It Works, Costs, and Choosing a Design You’ll Love

When a pet dies, grief rarely arrives in one clean wave. It shows up in ordinary moments: a leash still hanging by the door, a food bowl you can’t bring...

Bible Verses About Animals That Bring Comfort After Pet Loss

Bible Verses About Animals That Bring Comfort After Pet Loss

There is a particular kind of quiet that follows pet loss. It shows up in the places your life used to move automatically: the food bowl you keep forgetting to...

Answering Children’s Questions About Where Pets Go When They Die

Answering Children’s Questions About Where Pets Go When They Die

There is a particular kind of silence that arrives after a pet dies. It is not only the quiet of an empty food bowl or the absence of paws on...

Pet Burial When You Rent: Options for Apartment and Condo Dwellers

Pet Burial When You Rent: Options for Apartment and Condo Dwellers

When a pet dies, many people instinctively imagine a peaceful burial—a small ceremony, a favorite blanket, a place to visit on hard days. But if you live in an apartment,...

Creating a Small Family Pet Cemetery on Private Land: Rules, Records, and Respect

Creating a Small Family Pet Cemetery on Private Land: Rules, Records, and Respect

When a pet dies on rural land, the instinct to bring them home can feel both tender and practical. You know the trees they slept under. You know the paths...

Helping Children Through a Pet Funeral: Age-Appropriate Roles and Gentle Explanations

Helping Children Through a Pet Funeral: Age-Appropriate Roles and Gentle Explanations

A pet’s death can rearrange a household in a way adults don’t always expect. The routines that used to hold the day together—morning feeding, the familiar bark at the door,...

Planning a Pet Funeral on a Budget: Simple, Meaningful Ideas that Don’t Cost Much

Planning a Pet Funeral on a Budget: Simple, Meaningful Ideas that Don’t Cost Much

When a pet dies, grief has a strange way of colliding with paperwork, prices, and decisions you never wanted to make. You might find yourself trying to plan a goodbye...

The Rainbow Bridge Poem: History, Meaning, and Alternatives

The Rainbow Bridge Poem: History, Meaning, and Alternatives

If you’ve ever lost a pet, there’s a good chance someone sent you “Rainbow Bridge” within days—sometimes within hours. It often arrives with good intentions: a friend trying to offer...